Natural Resource Management: Definitions, Examples, History, Importance, Parts, Objectives, Management, and Approaches

Natural Resource Management Overview

Natural resource management, often known as stewardship, is the management of natural resources, such as land, water, soil, plants, and animals, with an emphasis on how management impacts both current and future generations' quality of life. The management of human and natural landscape interactions is a function of natural resource management. It combines the management of natural heritage, land use planning, water management, biodiversity protection, and the long-term viability of sectors including forestry, mining, agriculture, and tourism. Natural resource management and environmental management are comparable. The sociology of natural resources is closely connected to, but separate from, natural resource management in academic settings.

What are Natural Resources?

Natural resources are those that are derived from nature and used mostly unaltered. This covers the origins of highly valued traits, such as their use in commerce and industry, aesthetic worth, scientific curiosity, and cultural significance. On Earth, it consists of the sun, the atmosphere, the water, the land, all the minerals, all the plants, and all the animals. Natural resources are either preserved in nature reserves or are a part of humanity's natural legacy. 

Example of a Natural Resource

An example of this is the rainforest in Fatu-Hiva. Different categories can be used to categorize natural resources. Natural resources are substances that can be exploited and that can be discovered in the natural world. Natural resources make up all manufactured goods at their most basic level.

What is Natural Resource Management?

The plan of action for both renewable and non-renewable resources is referred to as "management of natural resources." Global warming, population growth, industrial expansion, and other associated factors all have an impact on natural resources, including land, soil, water, plants, and animals.

Examples of Natural Resource Management

Micro-watershed management, irrigation water management, soil and water conservation, community forestry, community-based coastal zone fisheries management, and biodiversity preservation are a few examples of these programs.

History of Natural Resource Management

The emphasis on sustainability can be linked to the campaign for resource conservation at the same time as early attempts to comprehend the biological makeup of North American rangelands in the late 19th century. This kind of analysis came into being in the 20th century when it became clear that preservationist conservation measures had failed to stop the depletion of natural resources. A more comprehensive strategy was adopted in recognition of the social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions of resource management that are linked. Fisheries management, wildlife management, rangeland management, which is frequently related to ecotourism, and forest management are the most active sectors of natural resource management in the United States. Catchment management and water-sharing initiatives like the Murray Darling Basin Plan are important in Australia.

Importance of Natural Resource Management

The following list of factors illustrates the significance of managing natural resources-

1. To keep the ecology in balance.
2. To stop the ecosystem from being further destroyed.
3. To prevent excessive use of natural resources.

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Parts of Natural Resource Management

The following studies are among the NRM components-

1. Energy Resources: Energy Demands, Renewable and non-renewable energy sources, and the Utilization of alternative energy sources.
2. Forest Resource: Overuse and Exploitation of Forest Resources, Mining, Dam Construction, and Their Impacts on Indigenous Populations and the Environment.
3. Food Resources: Food resources include information on global food issues, grazing, agricultural land use changes, the consequences of modern agriculture, and the usage of pesticides, fertilizers, waterlogging, and salt. 
4. Land Resources: Degradation of the land, landslides brought on by people, soil erosion, and desertification. 
5. Oil and coal are examples of fossil fuels that are non-renewable resources.
6. Water Resources: Use and Overuse of Surface and Groundwater, Floods, Droughts, Disputes over Access to Water, and the Advantages and Drawbacks of Dams Use and exploitation of mineral resources, mining's consequences on the environment, and applying minerals.  

Objectives of Natural Resource Management

The following are the goals of natural resources-

1. In order to preserve ecological variety.
2. To continue providing people with essential necessities.
3. To enhance all living things' quality of life.
4. To preserve natural equilibrium in order to promote sustainable growth.
5. To provide tools for future generations.

Ownership Regimes of Natural Resource Management

Natural resource management strategies may be classified based on the kind of stakeholder and their rights are as follows-

1. State-owned Property: The state is in charge of ownership and management of resource utilization. The resources may be used by individuals or organizations, but only with the state's consent. Examples from the US include national forests, national parks, and military reservations.
2. Private Property: Property held by a specific person or business is considered private property. The owner(s) are responsible for both the resources' benefits and obligations. The most typical example is private land.
3. Common Property: It is a group's personal property and is known as common property. The group may vary in size, composition, and internal organization; for example, native village neighbors' community woodlands are one type of common property.
4. Non-Property (open access): These properties are not clearly owned. It is equally open to use by any prospective user. The most overused places are those. The adage "Nobody's property is everybody's property" is often used. A lake fishery is one illustration.
5. Hybrid: Natural resource managers must take into account the effects of hybrid ownership regimes since many ownership regimes regulating natural resources will combine elements of many of the aforementioned regimes. Native vegetation management in NSW, Australia, a region where legislation acknowledges the public's interest in the preservation of native vegetation but where the majority of native vegetation is found on private land, is an illustration of such a hybrid.

Management of Resource

Problems with natural resource management are naturally complicated and divisive. They first concern biological cycles, hydrological cycles, climate,flora, fauna, and topography, among other things. These are all dynamic and connected. A modification in one of them might have long-lasting, far-reaching, and even irreversible effects. Second, managers must take into account a variety of stakeholders and their interests, policies, politics, geographical borders, and economic ramifications in addition to the complexity of natural systems. It is difficult to completely meet every requirement at once. Therefore, natural resource management is frequently a difficult issue due to its scientific complexity and varied interests. The different methods used to manage natural resources include-

1. Adaptive Management
2. Community-Based Natural Resource Management
3. Ecosystem management
4. Integrated natural resource management
5. Precautionary approach
6. Top-down (command and control)

Approaches to Natural Resources Management

The following are some of the several methods used for the sustainable management of natural resources- 

1. Adaptive Management Approach: Resource management is thought to follow a process of planning, executing, learning from past performance, and modifying as a result of what has been learned under the adaptive management method. The major elements of this project are data collecting, data assessment, risk management, and community involvement.
2. Community-based Natural Resource Management: Natural resource management that is "community-based" takes into account the interdependence of a community and its ecosystem. This strategy so reveals a community's involvement in decision-making as well as the preservation of its ecosystem.
3. Integrated Natural Resource Management: Systematic regulation of the use of natural resources is referred to as integrated natural resource management. This strategy includes a variety of socio-political, economic, and biophysical uses of natural resources in order to satisfy stakeholders' needs while putting an emphasis on environmental preservation. 

Points to Remember

1. Avoid carelessly disposing of items like plastics and glassware since they have a negative impact on both land and water. 
2. Ecological variety preservation is the goal of natural resource management.
3. Natural resources are few; there is a shortage of them, and they must therefore be controlled.
4. Natural resource management is the practice of developing the value of life by managing resources such as plants, animals, soil, and land. 
5. To continue offering individuals work advantages.
6. To provide tools for future generations.