Chapter Management of natural resources

Class X: Biology

Chapter Notes

Key learnings:

1)    The natural resources like water, soil, forests, wild-life, coal, petroleum etc. should be utilized in a sustainable manner in order to conserve our environment.

2)    Over-exploitation of natural resources causes several environmental problems.

3)    There are a number of laws at national and international level to safeguard our environment.

4)    Ganga Action Plan was introduced in 1985 to improve the poor water quality of Ganga River.

5)    The quality of water has to be assessed scientifically before utilizing it for various purposes.

6)    We can adopt the 3 R’s – Reduce, Recycle and Reuse, to conserve our environment.

7)    Using our resources judiciously will prevent wastage and conserve our resources.

8)    Recycling materials of paper, plastic, glass etc prevents their fresh extraction thereby reducing the pressure on environment.

9)    Reusing items over and over again is another environment friendly method.

10) Sustainable development is the need of the hour to preserve our environment. Here present human needs are met by keeping in mind the future generation needs.

11) The participation of every individual is essential to bring about sustainable development.

12) Solar energy is converted into usable form by autotrophs and several processes on Earth.

13) Our natural resources should be available equally to everyone and should be used without damaging the environment.

14) We should try to preserve the number and range of biodiversity present in a region.

15) The stakeholders of forests are the local and tribal people of the area, the Forest Department of the Government, the industrialists and the wild life and nature enthusiasts.

16) The local and tribal people depend on the forest products for fulfilling all their needs of shelter, food, transport, fuel, medicines and cattle grazing.

17) The Forest Department of India destroyed the huge biodiversity of forests by converting them into monocultures of commercially important plants. Such forests are useful for industrial purposes and not for local needs.

18) Industrialists are not dependent on the forests of a particular area and hence do not ensure sustainability of forests.

19) The nature and wild life conservationists play an active role in conserving the forest biodiversity.

20) The local people should be actively involved in forest management since they ensure its sustainability.

21) ‘Amrita Devi Bishnoi National Award for Wildlife Conservation’ is awarded by Government of India in the memory of late Amrita Devi Bishnoi, who laid down her life for protection of trees.

22) Deforestation is mainly caused by industrialism, tourism and development projects.

23) Economic and social development should be achieved with due consideration for ecological conservation.

24) There are many instances of strong protests by the local people against misuse and over-exploitation of forest resources.

25) In Chipko Andolan(which originated in the Reni village of Garhwal), the villagers used to hug the forest trees and prevent their mass felling by the contactors.

26)                 The local people use the forest resources without destroying the trees.

27) Destruction of forests affects the soil quality and water sources, in addition to reduced availability of forest resources.

28) Combined working of the Forest Department with the local people can ensure the protection and sustainability of forests.

29) By actively involving the villagers in the management of the Arabari forest range, the West Bengal Forest Department was able to revive the degraded Sal forests of the region.

30) Water is an important resource as we need water for fulfilling all our needs.

31) Failure to maintain the ground water level in spite of the plentiful monsoon rains is largely due to human activities like agriculture, pollution and deforestation.

32) In pre-British India, water management was carried out locally and optimally, according to the agricultural and daily needs of the local people.

33) Mega-projects like large dams and canals were initiated by the British and led to the neglect of the local water sources and irrigation methods.

34) Dual purpose of irrigation and electricity generation is achieved by large dams.

35) Mismanagement of large dams and canal systems leads to unequal distribution of water and benefits.

36) Building large dams brings about social, economic and environmental problems.

37) The construction of several dams like Tehri dam and Tawa Dam displaced several poor tribals and peasants without satisfactory rehabilitation or compensation.

38) In watershed management, land and water resources are developed scientifically to increase the biomass production with an aim to conserve the ecosystem.

39) Updating the ancient water harvesting systems has recharged ground water levels and is a viable option to the large scale water storage projects.

40)            Water harvesting techniques reduces mismanagement of water

resources and ensures benefits for the local people.

State	Water harvesting
	structures
Rajasthan	Khadins, tanks, nadis
Maharashtra	Bandharas, tals
Uttar Pradesh	Bundhis
Madhya Pradesh	Bundhis
Bihar	Ahars, pynes
Himachal Pradesh	Kulhs
Jammu	Ponds
Tamil Nadu	Eris
Kerals	Surangams
Karnataka	Kattas

41)                 Water harvesting structures replenishes the ground water levels.

42) Ground water is polluted from pollution, breeding of mosquitoes and evaporation and constitutes an important source of water.

43) Fossil fuels like coal and petroleum have to be used very carefully due to the following reasons:

i)             They are present in extremely limited quantity.

ii)            Their combustion produces harmful gases such as oxides of nitrogen and sulphur and a green house gas i.e. carbon dioxide.

iii)           The huge reservoirs of carbon present in fossil fuels will be converted into carbon dioxide leading to increased global warming.

44) Each person can help in conservation of natural resources by making environment-friendly choices in life as much as possible.

45) Sustainable management of natural resources is the only option available to conserve our natural resources and ensure its equitable distribution to everyone.

Top definitions

1)    Coliform – A group of bacteria found in human intestines, whose presence in water indicates contamination by disease-causing microorganisms.

2)    Recycling - The act of processing used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products.

3)    Reuse – The act of using an item more than once.

4)    Sustainable development – A pattern of resource use for obtaining economic and social growth of the present generation while preserving the resources for the needs of future generations.

5)    Chipko Andolan – A grassroot level movement in which the villagers used to hug the forest trees and prevent their mass felling by the contractors.

6)    Fossil fuels – Fuels such as coal and petroleum formed from the decomposition of ancient animal and plant remains millions of years ago and which provide energy by combustion.

7)    Water shed management – A scientific method of developing land and water resources to increase the biomass production without causing ecological imbalance.

8)    Water harvesting – It refers to all the different techniques used to collect and store both runoff and rainwater so that it can be used for various purposes like irrigation, human consumption etc.