By Bisola Adeyemo
As the population of the world is increasing at an alarming rate, the consumption of natural resources is also increasing. Hence, these resources should be conserved to maintain ecological balance and save them for future generations.
Natural resources are materials from the Earth that are used to support life and meet people’s needs.
Natural resources are substances or materials from nature that humans use to sustain life. These resources are naturally available on Earth without any human action. Natural resources have economic, ecological, scientific, aesthetic, and cultural values in human life.
A resource is any natural or artificial substance or energy that can be used for the benefits of mankind. Natural resources are those which exist in the environment naturally, that is, they are not created by humans. They are soil, water, sunlight, the wind, plants, coal, and all.
The classification of natural resources is; exhaustible and inexhaustible resources. Exhaustible resources are those which are limited and will be exhausted with continuous usage, for example, coal, natural gas, etc. whereas inexhaustible resources are those which cannot be depleted by human consumption, for example, wind power and water power, etc, play a vital role in the economic development of the country by enriching agriculture, trade, imports, and exports.
Importance of natural resources:
1. Natural Capital.
According to the World Forum on Natural Capital, natural capital is the world’s stock of natural resources. They are assets such as soils, waters, air, and all living organisms.
They are assets that provide free materials and essential services. The provision of natural capital is one of the important natural resources.
2. Source of Energy
Source of energy is one of the most popular importance of natural resources; natural resources such as solar radiation, wind, geothermal heat, water, tides, fossil fuels, petroleum, natural, and many more are used in generating energy.
Being a source of energy is one of the biggest importance of natural resources to the world. nearly a hundred percent of the energy used by man is from natural resources and by-products from them.
3. Source of Food
Humans, animals, and plants depend solely on natural resources for food. These food sources are plants, aquatic organisms, and other animals. All classes of food nutrients needed by man are provided by nature.
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The provision of food is the most valuable importance of natural resources, because no man, animal, or plant can survive without food.
4. Source of Raw Materials for Industries.
Every industry in the world depends on natural resources for the acquisition of raw materials; a popular example is the petroleum industry which derives its raw material (crude oil) from reservoirs of long deposited fossils, another example is the textile industry, construction industry, power sector, and food industries utilize natural resources such as hide and skin; natural fibers; minerals; solar radiation; plants, and animals for production.
5. Medicinal Value
Herbs are used in their raw or modified forms in the medical field to cure ailments and diseases, over 80 percent of the world’s population depends on plants for medicine.
Products extracted from fungi, bacteria, plants, and viruses are used as vaccines against certain diseases. Titanium, an element found in ores in the earth’s crust is used in prosthetics.
6. Serves as a Basis for Further Scientific Studies.
The existence of natural resources in the environment has inspired and still inspires so many enthusiastic scientists to go into further study and make products that have benefited the whole of mankind and sometimes the world at large.
This includes petroleum which turned into a popular source of energy through scientific research, and cotton; which now serves as the most popular raw material for cloth production, with all these values; the importance of natural resources can’t be over-emphasized.
7. Shelter
Provision of shelter is one of the most popular importance of natural resources, nearly standing structures today couldn’t have been built without natural resources, while there are also many structures built completely out of natural resources.
Timber from trees, cement from limestone, sand, and gravel, mud bamboo sticks, and metals from ores are all materials that are for the construction of shelter, which is all derived from the earth’s stock of resources.
8. Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are benefits derived from nature and the environment and contribute much to the importance of natural resources in the environment.
9. Employment Opportunities
Stages involved in the development of natural resources from raw form to finished products account for well over 80 percent of the total workforce in the world.
