UNIT – II

1. UNIT – II NATURAL RESOURCES

2. Our Role as Engineers…

3. Contents Introduction Renewable and Non-renewable resources Natural Resources and associated problems

4. Natural Resourcesare naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively natural form Examples: Air Water Land Food etc Forest for timber, Paper and wood products Coal for energy Ores for Minerals & Natural gas Based on the availability, natural resources are divided into (a) Inexhaustible Resources Present in unlimited quantities on earth Eg: Solar energy (b) Exhaustible Resources Present in limited quantities. It is again divided into Renewable and Non Renewable Resources Introduction

5. Natural Resources • Renewable Resources • Resources have the ability to reappear or replenish themselves by recycling, reproduction or replacement • Examples: • Oxygen in air is replenished through photosynthesis • Fresh water is replenished through water cycle • Biological products include wild life and natural vegetation of all kinds which are replenished through natural cycles of growth and reproduction Non-Renewable Resources A non-renewable resource exists in a fixed amount that cannot be re-made, re-grown or regenerated as fast as it is consumed and used up Some non-renewable resources can be renewable but take an extremely long time to renew. Example: Fossil fuels take millions of years to form Human society uses a huge range of non-renewable resources for producing tools, as well as toys Examples: Gold, iron, copper, diamonds, and uranium, coal, fossil fuel, oil etc

6. FOREST RESOURCES Definition Uses and Over exploitation Deforestation Case Studies Timber extraction Mining, dams and other effects on forest and tribal people NATURAL RESOURCES AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS

7. Definition L. Foris : ‘outside’ Forest is a biotic community It is natural and self sustaining Community Forest is an important renewable resource which includes predominantly trees, shrubs or any other woody vegetation usually with a closed canopy The forest is a complex ecosystem consisting mainly of trees that buffer the earth and support a myriad of life forms. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), forests constitute about 4 billion hectares (3952 million hectares or about 40 million km²) or 30% of total land area on the earth More than half of the world's forest area is found in the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, USA and China, combined India has a forest cover of about 63 million hectares which is nearly 20% of the geographic area with a per capita forest area of 0.08 hectares

8. Forests offer a myriad of products that useful in many ways Moreover, they play a crucial role in regulating the climate change Some of the beneficial uses of forests are: (a) Timber Wood plays a major part in many activities of modern economy than any other commodity Many industries use wood or wood products somewhere in its manufacturing and marketing processes The total annual wood consumption is more than 3.7 billion metric tons which is more than steel and plastic consumption combined Beneficial uses of Forests

9. (b) Fuel wood More than half of the people in the world depend on fire-wood or charcoal as their principal source of heating and cooking fuel It is an alternative energy source in some countries Fuel products include split and dried logs, charcoal and compressed wood pellets (c) Fodder Fodder from the forest forms an important source for cattle and other grazing animals There are many varieties of grasses, trees, and shrubs that are nutritious for the livestock (d) Fencing Fences created with trees like bamboos and shrubs are preferred in developing countries as they are cheap to maintain and yet give protection   

10. (e) Medicinal plants Forests provide ideal habitat for many medicinal plants that have biological activity to treat some of the dreaded diseases like cancer, HIV/Aids etc Hold a lot of promise in the field of medicine (f) Prevention of floods Floods can be prevented by developing/sustaining a good forest cover since it acts as a physical barrier and regulates the water flow The extensive root system of forests keeps the soils of river banks intact and maintains stability of hill slopes Moreover, the organic debris on a forest’s floor (litter) absorbs huge amounts of rainwater preventing the loss of soil by erosion Forests also moderate the floods in the plains and siltation of reservoirs In addition, forests also prevent droughts besides providing habitat for wild life

11. (g) Climate change Forests contribute to the chemical cycles that sustain life and regulate weather and climate For example, forests as green-lungs convert CO2 into oxygen in the process of making their food through photosynthesis This leads to carbon sequestration that reduces the global warming Adequate rainfall helps in increasing the rate of groundwater recharge Social benefits They provide employment, habitat to the tribals and raw materials for a number of industries in addition to many major and minor forest products Forests provide raw materials for basket-making, toy-making, paper production, leaf-plates, bamboo, drugs, spices, fruits, fodder, grasses, chemicals, honey, way, resins, rubber, gums, medicinal herbs, vegetables etc

12. Over exploitation • Many forest lands are used for mining, agriculture, grazing, and recreation and for development of dams • Our forests contribute substantially to the national economy • The international timber trade alone is worth over US $ 40 billion per year • Excessive use of fuel wood and charcoal, expansion of urban, agricultural and industrial areas and overgrazing have together led to over-exploitation of our forests leading to their rapid degradation

13. Deforestation Food and Agriculture Organization of UN defines tropical deforestation as “ change of forest with depletion of tree crown cover more than 90%” • Since the beginning of civilization, people have been clearing land for agriculture to meet the food needs of the ever-growing population • Over the years, forests have been cleared for agriculture, industry, housing, and other development activities like the construction of roads, railways, and hydroelectric plants • Forest clearing can change the rainfall pattern of a region. Drought kills more vegetation, forest fires become more numerous and extensive Forests are also being converted to permanent settlements. Apart from deforestation, forests are degraded by removal of fuel wood • As long as the population is low, the forest could meet the demand and yet remain healthy. But the ever increasing population can severely deplete the valuable forest resources within a short time

14. It is proceeding at about 17 million hectares each year (an area larger than England) • Between 1980 and 1990 annual deforestation rates were • 1.2% in Asia and the Pacific • 0.8% in Latin America • 0.7% in Africa • Forest area is stable in Europe and North America

15. 10 countries with largest forest net loss, 2000-2012

16. Causes of Deforestation • Growing Needs: To meet the demands of rapidly growing population, agricultural lands and settlements are created permanently by clearing forests. • In India, we have this practice in North-East and to some extent in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and M.P which contribute to nearly half of the forest clearing annually. • Fuel requirements: Increasing demands for fuel wood by the growing population in India alone has shooted up to 300-500 million tons in 2001 as compared to just 65 million tons during independence, thereby increasing the pressure on forests.

17. Raw materials for industrial use: Wood for making boxes, furniture, railway-sleepers, plywood, match-boxes, pulp for paper industry etc. have exerted tremendous pressure on forests. Plywood is in great demand for packing tea for Tea industry of Assam while fir tree wood is exploited greatly for packing apples in J&K. • Development projects: Massive destruction of forests occur for various development projects like hydroelectric projects, big dams, road construction, mining etc. • Overgrazing: Overgrazing by the cattle leads to further degradation of these lands.

18. Effects of Deforestation • Soil erosion: In the absence of forests/trees, especially on slopes, the soil gets washed away with rain water. • Loss of fertile land:Less rainfall results into the loss of fertile land owing to less natural vegetation growth. • Expansions of deserts:Denuded land mass gradually gets converted into sand deserts due to the action of strong winds laden by fragmented rock dust. This effect is more pronounced in rain scarced areas. • Migration of local and tribal population from deserts to other fertile land in search of food, leaving behind vast tracks of sands only. • Decrease in rainfall:Forests bring rains due to high rate of transpiration and precipitation. In the absence of forests, rainfall declines considerably.

19. Effect on climate: The climate of a region is mainly controlled by the rainfall, snowfall, etc. Deforestation causes decrease in rainfall, which in turn increases the climatic temperature. • Lowering of water table: Decrease in rainfall results into a lowered water table due to lack of recharging of underground reservoirs. • Economic losses: Deforestation will cause loss of industrial timber and non-timber products and loss of long-term productivity on the site.

20. Loss of biodiversity: Loss of flora and fauna leads to disturbances in ecological balance worldwide. • Certain species of flora and fauna are getting extinct. • Loss of medicinal plants: There are many species of plants which have medicinal and other advantages, like Neem (Indian Margosa) which has been used in India for centuries as insecticide, fungicide, in medicine and in biofertilizers. • Environmental changes: The air we breathe, is purified by forests. So, deforestation will lead to increase in carbondioxide and other air pollutants concentration. This will lead to global warming, which is a serious effect as well as threat.

22. The first Chipko action took place in April 1973 in Alakananda valley Spread to many districts of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh It was sparked off by the government's decision to allot a plot of forest area in the Alakananda valley to a sports goods company This angered the villagers because their similar demand to use wood for making agricultural tools had been earlier denied With encouragement from a local NGO , DGSS (Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh), the women of the area, under the leadership of an activist, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, went into the forest and formed a circle around the trees preventing the men from cutting them down As a result a 15-year ban on green felling in the Himalayan forests of that state was ordered by India's then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi CASE STUDIES: CHIPKO MOVEMENT

23. Since then the movement has spread to Himachal Pradesh in the North, Karnataka in the South, Rajasthan in the West, Bihar in the East and to the Vindhyas in Central India Ghanasyam Raturi, the Chipko poet, wrote a poem describing the method of embracing the trees to save them from felling: “Embrace the trees and Save them from being felled; The property of our hills, Save them from being looted” Sundarlal Bahuguna coined the Chipko slogan: ‘Ecology is permanent economy'. Chipko Movement

25. There has been unlimited exploitation of timber for commercial/industrial use Timber is important for many civilizations for making furniture Minimal extraction can be negligible but intense harvest can lead to severe degradation The unscientific clearing of forest for timber may cause destruction of habitat and loss of biodiversity The main effects of timber extraction are: Loss of Biodiversity Loss of carbon storage capacity Soil erosion Landslides (Hilly areas) Timber Extraction

26. Mining and its associated activities require removal of vegetation along with underlying soil mantle and overlying rock masses This results in defacing the topography destruction of the landscape More than 80,000 ha of land of the country is presently under the stress of mining activities Mining

27. Degradation of lands Loss of top soil due to deforestation Pollution of surface and ground water resources due to the discharge of highly mineralized mine waters Lowering of ground water table Air pollution due to release of greenhouse gases and other toxic gases during mining E.g. release of CH4 during coal mining. Deforestation including loss of flora and fauna Effects of Mining

28. India has more than 1550 large dams Maharashtra more than 600 Gujarat more than 250 Madhya Pradesh 130 The highest one is Tehri dam, on river Bhagirathi in Uttaranchal and the largest in terms of capacity is Bhakra dam on river Satluj in H.P. Big dams cause deforestation pose socio-economic problems to tribal or native people associated with them DAMS

29. The crusade against the ecological damage and deforestation caused due to Tehri dam was led by Shri Sunder lal Bahuguna, the leader of Chipko movement The cause of Sardar Sarovar Dam related issues has been taken up by the environmental activists Medha Patkar, joined by Arundhati Roy and Baba Amte. Environmental Activists

30. Forests Construction of large dams adversely affects forests As all the forests belong to the state government, no compensation needs to be paid to any individual Moreover, the forest loss is grossly under valued in cost estimates Little attention is paid to the crucial factor when a site is selected for a dam History shows that in the case of dams in Himalayan valleys, the contractors not only cleared the forest that will be submerged but also the useful trees even in unaffected areas In the case of Tehri Dam, valuable forest cover in the neighborhood of Rishikesh and Haridwar had been cleared to relocate the people from the old Tehri Effects of Dams on Forests

31. Effects of Dams on Forests • Vast stretches of' forests in Himalayas, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats have been lost due to irrigation projects • Some of the reservoirs at Panshet, Kabini, Kali and Bhavani Sagar degraded the biological diversity in different forest ecological systems • The construction of major dams like Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam on the river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh has converted many forest lands to barren areas • Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu and Tunga Bhadra and Machkund in Andhra Pradesh have drastically reduced the forest cover and consequently altered the nature of some of the unique ecological systems in the Eastern Ghats

32. Construction of large scale dams results in reservoirs which submerge many villages and forest lands in the catchments For example, the Srisailam Dam on river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh is reported to have submerged overone lakh acres of land including forest Displaced more than one lakh population with 80% of them belonging to scheduled tribes and backward castes Effects of Dams on Tribals

33. The community life of the displaced tribals is greatly disturbed when authorities fail to protect their rights due to administrative and political reasons Such displaced people are unfortunately treated as a collection of unrelated individuals Tribes lose their traditional livelihood and the little cash given to them as compensation is usually spent to meet family expenses and liquor Sudden change in their life style creates social, cultural and economic problems in tradition-bound tribal families Tribal culture and traditional arts will be endangered if tribal rights in land and forests are not preserved A detailed and well-planned Environmental Impact Assessment has to to preserve and protect the sustenance of forests and tribals if any development projects like dams are to be planned This ensures that there will be no clash between the environmental quality and development

34. Sundarlal bahuguna

36. Medha Patekar

37. Tropical dry deciduous forest (38.7%)

38. Tropical moist deciduous forest (30.9%)

39. Tropical thorn forest (6.9%)

40. Uses of Forest • Home to unique plants and animals • Climate Regulation: helps in balancing Co2 _and O2 • Tend to increase local precipitation and water holding capacity of soil. • About 50-80 %of the moisture in the air above tropical forests comes from their transpiration which helps in bringing rains. • Protective Function: against soil erosion, droughts, Floods, and intense radiation. • Productive Function: Timber,paper ,fruits , nuts, medicines, flowers , pasture for livestock of economic value. • Accessory Function: Recreation and Aesthetics

41. Uses of Forest: Economically Ecologically Reducing global warming Soil Conservation Pollution moderators

42. Over exploitation • Many forest lands are used for mining, agriculture, grazing, and recreation and for development of dams. • Our forests contribute substantially to the national economy. • The international timber trade alone is worth over US $ 40 billion per. year. • Excessive use of fuel wood and charcoal, expansion of urban, agricultural and industrial areas and overgrazing have together lead to over-exploitation of our forests leading to their rapid degradation

43. Deforestation • Food and Agriculture Organization of UN defines tropical deforestation as “ change of forest with depletion of tree crown cover more than 90%” • 1989 Forest : 6,40,134 km2 (Loss of 14.39% during 40 yrs ) • 1999 Forest cover: 6,37,293 which is 19.39% of the total geographical area of the country. • The total forest area of the world in 1900 was estimated to be 7,000 million hectares which was reduced to 2890 million ha in 1975 . • As per our National Forest Policy, as we are still having only 19.27 % of our land area (63.38m ha) covered by forests based on satellite data (1998)

44. CASE STUDIES : CHIPKO MOVEMENT • Many communities in India have helped save nature. • One such is the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan. Bishnoi community in Rajasthan during 1730. • A large group of them from 84 villages led by a lady called Amrita Devi laid down their lives in an effort to protect the trees from being felled on the orders of the Maharaja (King) of Jodhpur. • A total 363 people, lost their lives trying to protect Khejri trees from being felled by the soldiers of the Maharaja of Jodhpur at a village called Khejarli. • After this incident, the maharaja gave a strong royal decree preventing the cutting of trees in all Bishnoi villages.

45. Tree hugging by bishnoi community

46. The first Chipko action took place in April 1973 in Alakananda valley and over the next five years spread to many districts of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh. • It was sparked off by the government's decision to allot a plot of forest area in the Alaknanda valley to a sports goods company. • This angered the villagers because their similar demand to use wood for making agricultural tools had been earlier denied. • With encouragement from a local NGO , DGSS (Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh), the women of the area, under the leadership of an activist, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, went into the forest and formed a circle around the trees preventing the men from cutting them down.

47. The Chipko protests in Uttar Pradesh achieved a major victory in 1980 with a 15-year ban on green felling in the Himalayan forests of that state by order of India's then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. • Since then the movement has spread to Himachal Pradesh in the North, Karnataka in the South, Rajasthan in the West, Bihar in the East and to the Vindhyas in Central India.

48. Bahuguna coined the Chipko slogan: • 'ecology is permanent economy'. • Ghanasyam Raturi, the Chipko poet, whose songs echo throughout the Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh, wrote a poem describing the method of embracing the trees to save them from felling: • Embrace the trees and • Save them from being felled; • The property of our hills, • Save them from being looted.

49. MINERAL RESOURCES

50. MINERAL RESOURCES • Mineral :Any naturally occurring chemical element or compound, that have been formed through inorganic processes. • Minerals are exhaustible, non-renewable resources found in the earth's crust. • More than 3,000 mineral species are known, most of which are characterized by definite chemical composition, crystalline structure, and physical properties. • They are classified primarily by chemical composition, crystal class, hardness, and appearance (color, luster, and opacity). • Only 200 minerals of them are put to economic use.