Introduction to Natural Resources

1
Introduction to Natural Resources
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What are natural resources?

• Examples?

3
Definition

• What should be included?

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Definitions

• Materials that occur in nature and are essential
  or useful to humans, such as water, air, land,
  forests, fish and wildlife, topsoil, and minerals
  (UNESCO).
• Nutrients and minerals in the soil and deeper
  layers of the earths crust water wild and
  domesticated plants and animals air and other
  resources produced by the earths natural
  processes Tyler Miller, 1998

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Definitions (2)

• Something found in nature that is useful to
  people (National Park Service, USA).
• Natural resources are commodities that are
  considered valuable in their relatively
  unmodified (natural) form (Wikipedia).

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Types of natural resources

• Renewable/non-renewable
• Living / non-living

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What is management?
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Examples of NR management?
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Examples of NR management

• Fishery
• Agriculture
• Forerstry
• Recreation
• Species/ecosystem conservation

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Use vs. management

• Harvesting trees vs. managing the forest for
  timber production
• Harvesting fish vs. fish ponds