Chief Natural Resources

Forests Resources

Water Resources

Land Resources

Mineral Resources

Energy Resources

Food Resources

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Forest Resources

A forest , a biotic community with

predominance of trees is an important
Renewable natural resource.

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 Benefits of Forests
• Forest Provide protection against Soil erosion, Droughts, flash floods,
Noise, radiations
• Forest Provide various products like, gum resins,
medicines, Katha, honey, pulp, bamboo, timber, and fruits
• The Forest regulates the level of Oxygen and
carbon dioxide in atmosphere.
•The forests also help in regulating temperature conditions by
protection from solar heat
• Seeds for vegetation.
•It provide direct and indirect employment.

Clean water, conversion co2 into wood (stored carbon),

Reduce wind and noise, improve air quality, transform
degraded areas, shelter, watershed management
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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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Deforestation Causes

Deforestation is removal or reduction in forest cover.

•Encroachment of forest land for agricultural purposes
•Expansion of cities.
•Construction of dams, canals and highways
•Establishment of industrial areas
•Demand for firewood
•Mining
•Shifting Cultivation
•Forest Fires
•Manly cause
•Timber extraction, Building Dams,
•Construction waterways
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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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Effects of Deforestation
•Loss of natural habitat of wild animals and plants
•Increased intensity and frequency of natural disasters
•Land Degradation
•Change in climatic conditions
•Siltation of rivers and canals
•Loss of revenue
•Change in water cycle and reduced rainfall

•Controlling Deforestation
•United nation and world bank. (33% vegetation, monetary benefits)
•Reforestation is also being encouraged.
•Special legislation to protect forest land.
•Environment clearance is mandatory for big industry
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 Water
Resources
Hydrosphere

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Source of water
• Surface water: ocean, seas, ponds, river

• Underground water: streams, well, borewell

• Use and Over Exploitation of Surface

and Ground water

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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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 Using dams to supply more
water:
• To capture an store water from rain
and melting snow
• To produce hydroelectric power
• To provide water for irrigation
• To improve flood control system
• To provide recreational activities

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 Disadvantages of dams:
• Loss of water through evaporation
• Ecological biodiversity loss
• Disruption of fish migration
• Reduction of nutrient-rich silt to river mouth
• Increase in water borne and soil borne diseases
• Increased water logging due to siltation
• Accumulation of toxic materials from upstream
• Increase flash floods and affect entire ecosystem,

Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.

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Mineral Resources

Minerals are naturally occurring chemical compounds, which are

formed through inorganic processes under the crust of the earth.

Minerals are non-renewable resources

India produces as many as 87 minerals,
which includes 4 fuel, 10 metallic, 47
nonmetallic, 3 atomic and 23 minor minerals

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Types of Minerals

Metallic Minerals: copper, aluminum, iron etc.

Industrial Materials: lime, potash, salt

Construction Materials: sand, stone, gravels

Energy Minerals: coal, oil, natural gas, heavy radioactive metals

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Environmental Effect of Extraction or Mining
It support 7-9% on GDP

Mining Activity:
1. Geophysical survey 2. mapping 3. Sampling 4. Drilling
5. Modelling 6. Feasibility

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 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF USING
MINERAL RESOURCES
• Minerals are removed through a variety of
methods that vary widely in their costs, safety
factors, and levels of environmental harm.
• A variety of methods are used based on mineral
depth.
– Surface mining: shallow deposits are removed.
– Subsurface mining: deep deposits are removed.

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Open pit mining Quarrying

Dredging Mountain top removal

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Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.
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 Now what do we do with it?
• Once the ore is mined and hauled to the
surface, it must be processed
– Tailings are what is left behind once the valuable
portion of the ore is removed.
– Gangue is the the commercially valueless material
in which valuable ore is found

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 Environmental Impacts of Mining

• Metal ores are smelted or treated with

(potentially toxic) chemicals to convert ore to
the purest form and extract the desired
metal.
• Gold is treated with a Cyanide compound
which produces a Gold-Cyanide complex
which is soluble
– Problem: Hydrogen Cyanide gas is toxic
• Other Toxic Releases, radioactive elements
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• Dust Emissions
• Habitat Modification
• Surface and Groundwater Contamination
• Strip mining causes severe soil erosion and chemical runoff
• Acid drainage = sulfide minerals on exposed
rock surfaces react with oxygen and rainwater
to produce sulfuric acid

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 mining harms
• Mountaintop removal causes enormous damage
• Subsidence is a phenomenon where the surface collapses directly
above a subsurface mine. (timber support collapses)
• Subsurface mining is harmful to human health
– Mine shaft collapses
– Inhalation of coal dust can lead to fatal black lung disease
• Spoils are the unwanted rock and other waste left over after mining
either on the surface or subsurface
• Mining companies must restore landscapes, but the impacts are still
severe

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Mine effect on environment:
•Mining lowers water table

•Onshore mining badly effect marine life

•Soil erosion

•Pollution of air, water and land.

•Deforestation and loss of biodiversity are major effects of mining.(It destroys

forest and wetlands. It may mean that you have to cut down lots of trees just
to get to the spot that has all the gold or iron ore).

•Many mine require tailings dams to prevent waste being washed into the
rivers. Unethical miners can dispense with the dams, to save costs, resulting
in massive pollution downstream. In other cases, the tailings dam can
overflow, and even breach, during periods of heavy rain.

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•Some mining involves the inadvertent dispersal of heavy metals, such as lead, into the
atmosphere. This can have serious health effects, including mental retardation in
children.

•Asbestos mining causes the dispersal of asbestos into the environment. This will cause
deaths among local residents and workers, often several decades later. Fortunately, the
mining and use of asbestos are banned in most parts of the world.

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 What to do with the waste
• Incorporate the mine waste into
– Concrete for buildings
– Backfill for roads
– Extraction of other minerals

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 Solutions Scientists and engineers are
Sustainable Use of Nonrenewable Minerals developing new types of materials as
substitutes for many metals.
• Do not waste mineral resources. Recycling valuable and scarce metals
saves money and has a lower
• Recycle and reuse 60–80% of mineral resources.
environmental impact then mining
• Include the harmful environmental costs of mining and extracting them from their ores.
and processing minerals in the prices of items (full-
cost pricing).

• Reduce subsidies for mining mineral resources.

• Increase subsidies for recycling, reuse, and finding less

environmentally harmful substitutes.

• Redesign manufacturing processes to use less mineral

resources and to produce less pollution and waste.

• Have the mineral-based wastes of one manufacturing

process become the raw materials for other processes.

• Sell services instead of things.

• Slow population growth. Environment and Disaster Management: Dr.

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