Natural Resources & Wildlife resources

Resources:- All the materials present in our environment which are used by living beings. These are very useful raw materials found in the environment. 

Natural Resources:- Humans require many useful things available in nature to live on this planet. These are referred to as natural resources.

Types of Natural Resources:- The most general category is the amount of resources available for human consumption. They are two types:

1. Renewable resources

2. Non-renewable resources

1. Renewable resources:- Those resources that cannot be depleted. They are always available and thus could be reused. They can be replenished or renewed naturally over time.

i. Solar energy:- Sun is a big source of energy. The energy that we get from the Sun is called solar energy. All the natural phenomenon like the flowing of wind, water cycle, photosynthesis etc are possible only due to solar energy. Now a day, solar energy is being used to cook food with the help of solar cookers, heat water, light streets, pump water for irrigating fields etc.

ii. Hydro-Energy:- Water is important natural resources. All living organisms need water to live. Humans need water for many purposes such as drinking, cleaning, cooking and for growing crops. Water flowing into the river or water stored in a dam is sources of hydro energy. The Simple method to use hydro energy is to convert it into electrical energy.

iii. Wind energy:- Winds are constantly being created in nature. The windmill is a source of electrical energy. These windmills are generally established only at places where most of the days in a year experience strong winds. The energy from this wind is used for grinding grain, pumping water and to produce electricity. In India, many windmills have been set up in different places such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala, West Bengal and Gujarat.

iv. Biogas:- Biogas is a type of fuel which is a mixture of gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen etc which is obtained by decomposition of animal and plant wastes like animal dung, with the help of micro-organisms in the presence of water. It is used as fuel in gas stove especially in rural areas.

v. Wood:- Wood is an ancient and traditional source of energy. It is mainly a mixture of many carbohydrate compounds. Wood is used to cook food. It leads to deforestation and pollutes air also. In India, still in many villages, they use wood chullas to cook food every day. While having ill effects on the environment, it is also harmful to human health.

vi. Hydrogen:- It is a good source of energy because it does not create pollution and produce maximum energy on burning. Hydrogen has the potential to be the answer to all our energy and fuel troubles. Technology is currently being developed to fully utilize hydrogen efficiency.

vii. Alcohol:- Alcohol has many commercial and medical purposes. It can use for producing energy. It can be obtained while making sugar from sugarcane. Thus it is a very cheap source of energy. A mixture of petrol and alcohol is being used as a fuel in automobiles. This mixture is called ‘Gasohol’.

viii. Air:- All living things need air to breathe. Therefore, air is an important natural resource.

ix. Water:- All living things water in order to survive. And the water cycle means we will essentially never run out of the water. But we must be careful not to pollute water and make it unusable. Drinking and clean water are already scarce in the world.

x. Soil:- It is an important resource as this is the layer where plants grow. We all need food in order to survive. We get most of our food from crops grown in the soil.

2. Non-renewable resources:- Those natural resources that are available in limited quantity. These resources cannot be renewed or replenished in short duration. Therefore they are also known as exhaustible resources.

a. Fossil fuel:- Fossil fuels like coal and petroleum are non-renewable resources. They are found deep inside the earth and are made by natural processes over many centuries. Their quantity is limited and they take thousands of years to get renewed. Example of fossil fuels is coal, petroleum, natural gas etc.

i. Coal:- It is also known as black diamond. Coal is used as a fuel, to generate electricity, and in factories and steam engines.

ii. Natural gas:- Natural gas is used as a fuel called Compressed Natural Gas or CNG. Some wells dug into the earth produce only natural gas. Natural gases are a good alternative to petrol and diesel and it is used as Compressed Natural Gas. It burns easily and produces a lot of heat. It is a good source of hydrogen.

iii. Petroleum:- Petroleum is also known as mineral oil or crude oil. This liquid mineral is refined to make fuels such as petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene. Plastic, cosmetics, and lubricants are also products of petroleum. It is found deep inside the Earth or under the sea floor. It is taken out by drilling wells deep into the Earth or under the seabed.

b. Nuclear energy:- In the classification of resources, nuclear energy is classified as non-renewable. The fuel used for nuclear energy is generally uranium, which is in a limited supply. So we classify it as non-renewable. Production of electricity from nuclear energy does not release carbon dioxide. Thus, use of nuclear energy is safe for the environment.

Wildlife resources:- Wildlife comprises animals, birds, and insects living in forests. With large regional variations in physiographic, climate, and edaphic types, Indian forests offer a wide range of habitat types that are responsible for a large variety of wildlife in India. India boasts of more than 80,000 species of animals which is about 6.5% of the world’s total species. Indian fauna includes about 6,500 invertebrates, 5,000 molluscs, 2,546 species of fishes, 2,000 species of birds, and 458 species of reptiles, 4 species of panthers, and over 60,000 species of insects.

> The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has classified plants and animals in order of existence:-

i. Normal Species:- This includes species whose population levels are considered to be normal for their survival, such as cattle, sal, pine, rodents, etc. They are thus, called the normal species.

ii. Endangered Species:- This includes species which are in danger of extinction, hence called the endangered species. For example, black buck, crocodile, Indian wild ass etc.

iii. Vulnerable Species:- This includes species whose population has declined to levels from where it is likely to move into the endangered category in the near future. For examples, blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin, etc.

iv. Rare Species:- This includes species with a small population. They might move into the endangered or vulnerable category if right measures aren’t taken. For example, Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox, and hornbill, etc.

v. Endemic Species:- This includes species which are only found in some particular areas that are usually isolated by natural or geographical barriers. For example, Andaman Teal, Nicobar pigeon, Andaman wild pig, Mithun in Arunachal Pradesh.

vi. Extinct Species:- Furthermore, there are some extinct species. This includes species which are not found after searches of known or likely areas where they may occur. For example, the Asiatic cheetah, pink head duck etc.

> The elephant is the largest Indian mammal which only a few centuries ago, was found in large numbers in vast forest tracts of India. There are about 6,000 elephants in the forests of Assam and West Bengal, about 2,000 in Central India, and nearly 6,000 in three southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

> The one-horned rhinoceros, India’s second-largest mammal was once found throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain as far west as Rajasthan, The number of this mammal has drastically deceased and now there are less than 1,500 rhinoceroses in India, confined to the restricted locations in Assam, West Bengal and UP. They survive under strict protection in the Kaziranga and Manas sanctuaries of Assam and the Jaldapara sanctuary of West Bengal.

> The Arna or wild buffalo is found in Assam and in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.

> The gaur or the Indian bison is one of the largest existing bovine and is found in the forests of Central India.

> The fourth cycle of the Tiger Census 2018 counted 2976 tigers which is 75% of the global tiger population. Tigers in India mainly found in the forests of eastern Himalayan foothills and in parts of peninsular India. The number of Cheetahs had fallen to less than one hundred until a successful breeding program in the Gir sanctuary in Gujarat resulted in some recovery. The arboreal clouded leopard is found in northern Assam while the Black Panther is a widely distributed predator.

> Asiatic lions living in Gujarat’s Gir forests, with their population going up from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.

> Brown, Black, and Sloth Bear are found at high altitudes in the north-western and central Himalayas.

> Yak, the ox of snow, is largely found in Ladakh and is tamed to be used as a draught animal.

> Stag or Barasingha is found in Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.

> Besides these, several species of monkeys and langur are found in almost all the forest areas of India.

> The Chinkara or the Indian gazelle, the blackbuck or the Indian antelope, the nilgai or the blue bull, the mouse deer or the Indian chevrotain, the chawstaga or the four-horned antelope, wild dog, the fox, the jackal, and the hyena, are the other mammals found in the Indian forests.

> India also abounds in the number of reptiles, although many of them are now endangered species. There are more than 200 species or subspecies of snakes, the best known being the Cobra, Krait, and Russel’s Viper. These are poisonous snakes while Dhaman is a non-poisonous large snake.

> The Blunt Nosed or Marsh Crocodile (the Magar or Mugger) and the long-nosed Gharial are important large-sized reptiles, although their number has drastically reduced. The Big Estuarine Crocodile is still found from the Ganga to the Mahanadi.

> India is extremely rich in birdlife. There are about 2,000 species of birds in India which is about three times the number of species found in Europe.

> Some birds such as ducks, cranes, swallows, and flycatchers migrate from central Asia to the wetlands of Bharatpur(Keoladeo National Park) every winter. Recently, some migratory birds have been seen near Mathura.

> Indian bird-life has all the varieties of birds which includes:

i. Aquatic birds:- They include a large variety of storks, herons, ducks, flamingoes, egrets, and cormorants.

ii. Ground birds (Gallinaceous birds):- The Great Indian Bustard, peafowl, jungle fowl, quail, and partridge are the main ground birds.

iii. Arboreal birds (tree-dwelling):- mynas, pigeons, parakeets, doves, cuckoos, rollers, beaters, etc. are other important birds.