Natural Resources- Forest and

Water Wealth

Group 4th- 1605251016-1605251021, 1705251906

Subject- Environment and Ecology (RAS-402)
Branch- Chemical Engineering
College- IET Lucknow
Submitted To- Mr. Sanjay Singh
CONTENTS

 Natural resources- definition, classification

 Water resources
 Forest resources
 Management and conservation of natural resources
 Conclusion
NATURAL RESOURCES

 DEFINITION
Natural resources (economically referred to
as land or raw materials) occur naturally
within environments that exist relatively
undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form.
CLASSIFICATION
 On the basis of origin:
 Biotic

 Abiotic

 On the basis of renewability:

 Renewable resources

 Non-renewable resources
TYPES OF NATURAL
RESOURCES
 Forest Resources
 Water Resources
 Mineral Resources
 Food Resources
 Energy Resources
 Land Resources
WATER RESOURCES
What are water resources?
 Water resources are sources of water that
are useful or potentially useful.
 Uses of water include agricultural, industrial,
household, recreational and environmental
activities.
 The majority of human uses require fresh
water.
 Resources Overview
 General Stats
1. Surface water

a) Rivers

b) Lakes and ponds

2. Ground water

3. Rainfall

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 Surface Water
 Surface water is available on the surface of
the earth in the form of rivers, lakes, ponds,
canals, etc. However, rivers comprise the
most important source of surface water.
India is blessed with a large number of
major, medium and small size rivers.

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 Rivers
 As many as 13 of them are classified as
major rivers whose total catchment area is
252.8 million hectares (m. ha).
 This is about 83 per cent of the total area of
all drainage basins.

10
 Major rivers

1. Ganga
2. Indus
3. Brahmaputra
4. Narmada
5. Tapi
6. Godavari
7. Krishna
8. Mahanadi
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 Lakes
 Lakes of India are not only significant
geographically but also are major tourist
attractions.
 As far as the lakes of India are concerned
there are both natural and man made
lakes to be found across the subcontinent.
 The location of the various lakes in India is
an added attraction for the travellers.

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 Ground Water
• The water that lies beneath the ground
surface, filling the pore space between grains
in bodies of sediment and classic sedimentary
rock, and filling cracks and crevices in all
types of rock
• Source of ground water is rain that falls to
the ground a portion of which percolates
down into the ground to become ground
water.
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 Rainfall
Average Annual Rainfall - 1170 mm

Maximum Average Annual Rainfall - 11000 mm

(Cherrapunji)

Minimum Average Annual Rainfall - 100 mm

(Western Rajasthan)
Spatial Variation of Rainfall
 Rainfall in mm

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000

Winter
Monsoon
(Jan-Feb)

Pre
Monsoon
(Mar-May

Monsoon
Temporal Variation

(Jun-Sep)

Post
Monsoon
All India

(Oct-Dec)
Water Availability
(In Billion cubic meter)

Total Precipitation : 4000

Total Water Availability : 1869
Total Utilizable Water : 1122
 Surface Water - 690
 Ground Water - 432
FOREST RESOURCES
IN INDIA
What are forest resources?
 Resources associated with wildlife, woods,
flora and fauna and which is used by humans
to fulfill their needs is known as forest
resources.
 Example:- food, medicines, woods, etc.
Functions of Forests
 The functions of forest may broadly classified into following
categories
 Protective Function
 Productive Function
 Regulative Function
 Accessory Function
Protective Functions
 Forest Provide protection against Soil erosion, Droughts, floods,
noise, radiations

Soil erosion Soil erosion Floods Droughts

Productive Functions
 Forest Provide various products like, gum resins, medicines,
Katha, honey, pulp, bamboo, timber, and fruits
Regulative Functions
 The Forest regulates the level of Oxygen and carbon dioxide in
atmosphere. The forests also help in regulating temperature
conditions
Accessory Function
 Forest provides aesthetics, habitat to various flora and fauna
besides that it also has an recreational value.
Ecological Importance or Uses
of Forests
 Regulation of global climate and temperature
 Forest play a crucial role in regulation of global climate and
temperature as forest cover absorb the solar radiations that
would otherwise be reflected back into the atmosphere by bare
surface of the earth.
 Transpiration of plants increases the atmosphere humidity
which affects the rainfall, cools the atmosphere and thus
regulate the hydrological cycle
 Reduction of Global Warming
 The main green house gas co2 is used by forests for
photosynthesis process the forest act as a sink for co2 there by
reducing the green house effect due to co2
Production of Oxygen
 During Photosynthesis process forest releases oxygen a very
important gas for human survival thereby are called as lungs of
earth.
Conservation of Soil
 They prevent soil erosion by binding the soil particles tightly in
their roots. They also reduce the velocity of wind and rain which
are chief agents causing erosion
Improvement in fertility of Soil
 The fertility of soil increases due to humans formed by the decay
of forest litter
Control of water flow

 The forest act as a giant sponge they slow down runoff,

absorbing and holding water that recharges springs, streams,
and ground water.
Habitat to wild life
 They provide the habitat for high wild life species
Absorption of air pollutants

 Forest absorbs many toxic gasses and air pollutants and can
help in keeping air pure.
Economical Importance of Forest
 Timber: Wood used for commercial purposes like
for making furniture and other items like boats,
bridges and other day to day uses.

 Fuel Wood: The wood is used as fuel for cooking

and other purposes by poor people.

 Raw material for wood based industries: forest

provide raw material for various wood based
industries like paper and pulp, sports goods,
furniture, match boxes etc.
 Food: Fruits, roots, leaves of plants and trees along with the
meat of forest animals provide the food to the tribal people.
 Miscellaneous Products: Miscellaneous products like, resin,
gums, oils, medicines, Katha, honey are provided by forests
Indian Scenario
 In India forest cover Overall, 21.02% of the country's
geographical area is now under green cover
(as per 2009* data) The total forest cover in India is 6,90,899
km2

 Forest cover in India is defined as all lands, more than one

hectare in area with a tree canopy density of more than 10%.
Types of Forests in India

Moist Tropical Forest

a) Tropical wet evergreen: Western a
Ghats (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala)
b) Tropical semi evergreen: Lower hills
of western Ghats.
c) Tropical moist deciduous: Dehradun, b
mahableshwar
d) Damp Forests: Sunder bans, Bengal
delta, and Andaman.

c
d
 a
• Dry Tropical forests:
a) Tropical dry deciduous: Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh
b) Tropical thorn forest: Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat
c) Tropical dry evergreen: Eastern Ghat b
( Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu)

c
MANAGEMENT AND
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL
RESOURCES
NATURAL RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

 Natural resource management refers to the

management of natural resources such as land,
water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular
focus on how management affects the quality of
life for both present and future generations.
 Natural resource management specifically
focuses on a scientific and technical
understanding of resources and ecology and the
life-supporting capacity of those resources.
NEED FOR MANAGING THE
NATURAL RESOURCES
 Everything that we use or consume are obtained
from resources on this earth.
 If one depletes them too fast, without the
possibility of their regeneration, one will be
creating untold misery for oneself and for the
future generations.
 Major rivers like the Ganga and Yamuna, the
life line for the northern Gangetic plain food belt
have become gravely polluted.
 To reduce the “ GREEN HOUSE EFFECT ”
which is the major cause of global warming.
Forests :-
a) Importance of forests :-
i) Forests help to preserve biodiversity.
ii) Forests are natural habitats of plants and animals.
iii) Forests provide timber, wood, fuel, medicines, fodder, etc.
iv) Forests help to maintain ecological balance.
v) Forests help to control climate and rainfall.
vi) Forests help to prevent soil erosion and controls floods.
vii) Forests help to maintain the oxygen–carbon dioxide balance in
nature.
b) Stake holders of forests :-
People who are associated with forests directly or indirectly are :-
i) People living in and around forests depend on forests for their
livelihood.
ii) Industrialists who use the raw materials from forests for
manufacturing
paper, medicines, furniture etc.
iii) Forest Department of the Government who owns the forests and
controls the
resources from the forests.
iv) Nature and wild life organizations who want to conserve and preserve
forests.
Threats to forest resources:-
 Deforestation is the major threat to the forest
resources.
 Desertification is also one threat which leads
decrease in rainfall and increase in
temperature which cause loss of bio diversity.
 Because of these threats Natural disaster is
can occur like:- forest fires, land slides, etc.
Conservation of forests :-
Forests can be conserved by :-
i) Afforestation – planting of more trees.
ii) Preventing or reducing deforestation.
iii) Preventing over grazing by cattle.
iv) By setting up wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, biosphere reserves
etc.
v) Undertaking social forestry programs like Van Mahotsav, Chipko
movement for planting and protecting trees on a large scale.
LEGISLATION FOR CONSERVATION
Various acts and laws have been passed in
Indian constitution for conservation of
natural resources. Some of them are:
 Environment Protection Act, 1986
 Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
 National Forest Policy, 1988
 Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and
amended in 1991
 Conservation of Water
Conservation and management of water are essential for the
survival of mankind, plants and animals. This can be achieved
adopting the following methods:
1. Growing vegetation in the catchment areas, which will
hold water in the soil and allow it to percolate into deeper
layers and contribute to formation of ground water.
2. Constructing dams and reservoirs to regulate supply of
water to the fields, as well as to enable generating
hydroelectricity.
3. Sewage should be treated and only the clear water
should be released into the rivers.
4. Industrial wastes (effluents) should be treated to
prevent chemical and thermal pollution of fresh water.
5. Judicious use of water in our day-to-day life.
6. Rainwater harvesting should be done by storing
rainwater and recharging groundwater.
Rain Water Harvesting
Water harvesting is collecting and storing rain water
for future use.
The common methods of water harvesting are :-
(i) Digging pits, ponds, lakes etc.
(ii) Building small earthen dams or concrete check
dams.
(iii) Construction of dykes.
(iv) Construction of reservoirs.
(v) Construction of rooftop collecting units in
houses.
Dams
Dams :-
Advantages of dams :-
i) Irrigation of crops.
ii) Producing electricity.
iii) Supplying water to towns and cities.
iv) To control floods.
Disadvantages of dams :-
i) Social problems :- It displaces a large number of people who
have
to be rehabilitated.
ii) Economic problems :- It is expensive and uses a huge amount
of public money.
iii) Environmental problems :- It causes deforestation and loss of
biodiversity.
Wildlife
a) Importance of wildlife :-
i) Wildlife helps to preserve biodiversity.
ii) Wildlife helps to maintain food chains and food web.
iii) We get useful products from wildlife like food, medicines,
leather,
bones, honey, lac etc.
b) Conservation of wildlife :-
i) Preserving the natural habitats of animals.
ii) Banning poaching of animals.
iii) Protecting endangered species of animals.
iv) Setting up of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, biosphere
reserves etc.
REMEMBER

To ensure sustainable use of resources in our

environment utilize the principle of 'The Four
R's.' –
 REDUCE
 REUSE
 RECYCLE
 REFOREST
CONCLUSION

We conclude that the natural resource are

scarce and its management is very essential.
Govt. on the other hand should implement
such policies which impose responsibilities
on the corporates and the citizens to mange
and conserve the natural resources so that
our economy become more competitive in the
world economy and future generations can
also avail benefits from these resources.
THANK YOU