Exploitation of natural resources: definition, types and examples

Natural resources are goods and services that are extracted directly from nature. These are essential for the development of the human being and many other living beings, since they provide food and help in obtaining energy.

Natural resources can be classified into 3 categories, determined by its permutation capacity in the middle:

Inexagable natural resources

These are those natural resources that, however, will never end. That is, we can use them continuously without being exhausted. Examples: sunlight, air, tidal movement or geothermia.

Here we explain more about examples of inexhaustible natural resources.

Renewable natural resources

They are the natural resources that can be regenerating whenever their extraction is carried out sustainably. That is, these are goods and services that have some regeneration capacity and that if used according to this, its use can be extended for a long time. But if, they are extracted in large quantities, without even valuing their ability to regenerate, they will be exhausted indefinitely. Examples: water, plants and trees (wood, agricultural products, …), biofuels, etc.

Non -renewable natural resources

These are those resources that have limited use, that is, that once they are used, they no longer exist. That is mainly due to the fact that either they do not have the ability to regenerate, or this is extremely slow. Examples: aquifers, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal), nuclear energy, etc.

In this other ecology article, you can find more information about natural resources: definition and types.

The concept of exploitation of natural resourcesis known as the use that we make of the goods and services provided by nature. These are activities that are carried out daily for the livelihood and improvement of our society.

The current population of our planet is facing every day more Ecological imbalance Of great magnitude, since the activities we carry out to obtain according to what natural resources, cause a great impact on the planet’s biodiversity. The big problem lies not in obtaining these products, but in the quantity and frequency in which they are extracted. This term is commonly called Overexploitation of resourcesand it is a poor management that affects the environment that surrounds us, and consequently also to the fauna and flora that inhabits it.

That is, instead of making a sustainable exploitation of the goods and services provided by our natural environment, we are dedicated to extract them excessively and irresponsible.

Therefore, we can say that the human being has a gift to take advantage of a large number of materials and means beneficial for its development and survival. Even so, and despite all social, technological and even cultural advances, we continue without finding a way not damaging the environment offered by all these resources.

The exploitation of natural resources is present in most activities that are carried out daily for the livelihood and improvement of our society. Even so, most of the practices that are currently carried out are not at all sustainable with the environment or their capacity for regeneration, since Natural resources are overexploited.

Humans are dedicating ourselves to obtaining these resources in large unnecessary and poorly regulated quantities, overvaluing the regeneration capacity of the environment and increased their rhythm of degradation (which is already very accelerated due to other polluting practices that are also carried out by human beings).

The problem is that the vast majority of the population is unaware of the current situation of many of our resources, a fact that favors those who exploit them continuously because they have no impediment to continue doing it. These are some types and examples of exploitation of natural resources:

Deforestation

A very good example of exploitation of natural resources, and in fact of overexploitation of these, is that of the Forest tree and forest masseswhich in principle was a practice in which certain previously selected trees were extracted based on their future use, for example for wood extraction to perform furniture or doors. But it turns out that there is a great problem extended throughout the planet with this type of exploitation, since we have reached a point where we prioritize absurd needs before the survival of the fauna and flora of certain areas of a great environmental interest.

A case that perfectly illustrates the aforementioned, is that of the deforestation of the Amazon, which has been reduced to more than half in these last twenty years for our interest in its exotic woods (mahogany, quebracho, cuangare, sajo, etc.). This is because, even though there is a tree extraction quota a year, most do not respect and cut it more than the account, selling the remaining wood in a black market. But the overexploitation of forests is not only carried out due to their interest in wood, but there are cases in which a large amount of forest mass of great ecological interest is talked, to plant crops with a great economic incentive. A good example is that of the subtropical jungles of the South East Asia, in which the forests are supplanted by palm plantations, from which its oil is subsequently extracted, used in a large number of daily products. Mostly these forests house a lot of animals, insects, plants and many other endemic living beings in that area, but the human being is destroying it more every day by pure greed.

Fishing

Other Example of the exploitation of natural resources It is fishing. It is an activity that dates back to the oldest times, just like hunting. But from a couple or three of decades, the fish populations of our seas and oceans are decreasing to really worrying amounts, and is mainly due to the excess fishing we are doing. Thus, this resource supply has become what we normally call overweight. Some of the most affected fish are rap, tuna, anchovies, sardines, cod and hake, among many others. The majority of species that are in decline are of direct consumption, but many of them are also threatened due to the production of feed or as fresh food for other fish in fish farms. The fact that marine populations are declining in a chopped is a very worrying fact, for which we should react and start regulating more strictly fishing quotas, since those currently not fulfilled rigorously. If we continue at this rate, it is very likely that in less than 20 years many of the species mentioned above have been extinguished, and with a 50 -year forecast, the rest.

Other types of natural resources exploitation

There are many more natural resources that the human being exploits, such as mining farms (for example, diamond mine in Mir, Russia), oil farms (for example, those of Saudi Arabia), Aquifer farmsand even Agricultural farmsbut most of them, due to the population increase and the irresponsibility of humans, are overexploited and extracted in a way that will exhaust them in a short time.

The fact of managing the resources provided by nature, seriously damages our planet, causing the loss of many living beings. If we continue at this rhythm, many of these resources will end in a few years and many of the habits we currently have.

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