Scope and importance of natural resource management

Huijuan Sun^*
*Correspondence: Huijuan Sun, Department of Environment, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, Email:

Received: 06-Feb-2022, Manuscript No. AJEEM-22-59151; Editor assigned: 08-Feb-2022, Pre QC No. AJEEM-22-59151(PQ); Reviewed: 22-Feb-2022, QC No. QCNoAJEEM-22-59151; Revised: 26-Feb-2022, Manuscript No. AJEEM-22-59151 (R);; Published: 05-Mar-2022

Introduction

Natural Resource Management (NRM) is the administration of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants, and animals, with a focus on how management affects current and future generations’ quality of life (stewardship). Natural resources are substances or properties of the environment that exist naturally (physical or biological). Natural resources, such as timber, water, fertile land, animals, and minerals, can be utilised and hence represent actual or potential sources of income that occur in their natural state. A natural resource is considered renewable if it is renewed by natural processes at a pace comparable to the rate at which humans or other users consume it. When a natural resource exists in a finite quantity or cannot be replenished on a scale comparable to its consumption, it is deemed non-renewable.

Natural resource management is concerned with the interaction of people and natural landscapes. Natural heritage management, land use planning, water management, biodiversity conservation, and the long-term viability of sectors such as agriculture, mining, tourism, fishing, and forestry are all part of it. It acknowledges that people and their livelihoods are dependent on the health and productivity of our landscapes, and that their actions as land stewards are crucial in maintaining that health and production.

Natural resource management focuses on a scientific and technological understanding of resources and ecology, as well as the resources’ ability to support life. Natural resource management is analogous to environmental management. Natural resource sociology is closely connected to, but distinct from, natural resource management in academic contexts. Natural resource management is inherently complicated and divisive. To begin with, they are concerned with biological cycles, hydrological cycles, climate, animals, plants, and topography, among other things. All of these things are dynamic and intertwined. A shift in one of these could have far-reaching and/or long-term consequences, some of which may be irreversible. Second, managers must consider many stakeholders and their interests, policies, politics, geographical borders, and economic ramifications in addition to the complexity of natural systems. It’s impossible to meet all of your needs at the same time.

Natural resource management is generally contentious due to the scientific complexity and the different interests. Deforestation, degradation, land deterioration, water-related concerns, land-use changes, problems with protected areas and biodiversity losses, and conflicts over natural resources are all examples of natural resource issues. It is possible to overcome these difficulties with an effective NRM policy in place. The protection and management of renewable natural resources entails striking a balance between exploitation demands and regenerating capacities. Cutting down trees and replanting them, decreasing pollution and the release of toxins into water, and correct land use are only a few examples. Human, social, economic, and environmental advantages are all part of the four pillars of sustainability.

Environmental sustainability aims to increase human welfare by safeguarding natural capital in all of these areas. Natural capital refers to air, land, water, minerals, forests, and other natural resources. Catastrophe impacts, environmental degradation, and insufficient management and use of natural resources all contribute to the perpetuation or even exacerbation of disaster risk, threatening the resilience of populations who rely on natural resources given by local ecosystems. Because natural resources are particularly vital to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable groups, deteriorating environmental conditions and factors limiting natural resource access have the greatest impact on them. Ecosystems’ potential to supply critical services to communities, such as food, firewood, medicines, and protection from natural risks, is harmed by environmental deterioration and devastation. It also has a significant impact on a landscape’s ability to trap carbon, which is critical for climate change mitigation. Tensions can arise when natural resources are inadequately managed, shared inequitably, or operations are carried out without due regard for the environmental setting and communities. These tensions can escalate into violent conflict or feed into and intensify pre-existing conflict dynamics. Many impoverished countries are particularly vulnerable to water insecurity, with a high risk of waterborne infections and limited means to invest in alternative technological solutions. A substantial danger of abrupt and permanent regional-scale change in the composition, structure, and function of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, including wetlands, is also posed by climate change. As a result, it is critical to make intelligent use of natural resources such as wetlands, watersheds, and river basins for their regulating functions.