Natural Resources: Meaning, Types and Characteristics, Lecture notes of Natural Resources

Download Natural Resources: Meaning, Types and Characteristics and more Lecture notes Natural Resources in PDF only on Docsity! Natural Resources: Meaning, Types and Characteristics Meaning of Natural Resource Economics Natural resources are derived from the environment. Every man-made product in an economy is composed of natural resources to some degree.The long-term viability of the food supply depends upon the sustainable use of natural resources. Resource economists study interactions between economic and natural systems with the goal of developing a sustainable and efficient economy. Resource economists provide science-based information to deal with natural resource management based on economic management principle. Natural resource economics deals with the supply, demand and allocation of the earth natural resource. The field of Natural Resource Economics seeks to value natural resources to aid in the optimization of the production of goods and services from agricultural lands while protecting the environment. Main objective of natural resource economics is to better understand the role of natural resources in the economy in order to develop more sustainable methods of managing those resources to ensure their availability to future generations. In other words, the goal of natural resource economics is to develop an efficient economy that is sustainable in the long-run. Natural resource economics also demonstrates how policy incentives might motivate better choices by agriculture producers and makes predictions about the potential side effects of those choices. Meaning of Natural Resource In simple words, natural resources are natural assets (raw materials) occurring in nature that can be used for economic production or consumption. Natural resources can also be defined as the resources that exist naturally on the earth planet independent of human actions for its generation or production. It refers to any source of wealth that occurs naturally, such as land, water, soil, plant, animals and minerals, especially, fossil fuels, coal, etc. They are the natural capital out of which other forms of capital are made. These are the resources that are found in the environment and are developed without the intervention of humans. They are known as Natural Resources because they provide for the basis of life on earth. Types of Natural Resources There are numerous ways to classify the types of natural resources which are discussed as below: A) In terms of the source of origin, natural resources can be divided into the following types: 1. Biotic: The Biotic natural resources are the ones that come from the organic and living materials. These include resources such as animals, forests (vegetation), and other materials obtainable from them. Fossil fuels such as petroleum, oil, and coal are also included in this grouping because they are generated from decayed organic matter. 2. Abiotic: The abiotic natural resources are the ones that come from non-organic and non- living materials. Examples of abiotic natural resources are water, land, air and heavy metals like iron, copper, silver, gold, and so on. The main difference between renewable resources and non-renewable resources is summarized in the following table: (B) Natural resources can also be categorized based on their stage of development: 1. Potential resources: Potential resources are those natural resources which are already easily available but humans are yet to discover their real power. For example, solar and wind energy are two natural resources, which have a high potential for human life. Though we are using it, we can use these even more in the future once we understand their true potential. Similarly, if a country has petroleum in sedimentary rocks, it is a potential resource until it is actually drilled out of the rock and put to use. 2. Actual resources: Actual resources also known as developed resources are those resources which humans have discovered and developed over a long time. They have already been surveyed, their quantity and quality has also been determined and are currently being used. . Most of the water, fossil fuel, minerals, plants and animals that we use for our need today, are actual resources. The development of actual resources is dependent on technology.