7.1 Natural resources — uses and managementIB Environmental Systems and Societies SL: Revision notes

Natural resources are the raw materials and sources of energy used and consumed by society.

Natural capital is the stock of natural resources available on Earth. It provides natural income, the flow of goods and services (such as timber, fish or clean water) that can be harvested each year.

Living off natural income without reducing the stock is sustainable. Using up natural capital faster than it is replaced is not.

The terms natural capital and natural income imply a particular perspective on nature: that it is an economic asset valued for its use to people.

Ecosystems provide life-supporting ecosystem services, for example:

• Provisioning: food, water, timber, fibre.
• Regulating: flood control, climate regulation, water purification, pollination.
• Cultural: recreation, spiritual value, inspiration.
• Supporting: nutrient cycling and soil formation.

Example: mangroves provide fish and wood, protect coasts from storms and store carbon.

All resources are finite. They are classified as:

• Renewable: replaced by natural processes at a rate comparable to use (e.g. timber, fish, solar energy). Renewable resources can still be depleted if over-used.
• Non-renewable: replaced only over geological timescales, so effectively not replaced (e.g. fossil fuels, minerals). Sand and gravel are extracted much faster than they form, so are used as non-renewable resources.

Natural capital has many types of value: aesthetic, cultural, economic, environmental, health, intrinsic, social, spiritual and technological. The value placed on it depends on these factors and on who is valuing it.

The value is dynamic and changes over time: new knowledge (e.g. of climate change), new technology (renewables reduce the value of oil) and changing cultural attitudes all change how natural capital is valued.

Example: Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. The oil has economic value; the forest has environmental, cultural and intrinsic value. In 2023 about 59% of voters chose to leave the oil in the ground in part of the park.

Use of natural capital must be managed to ensure sustainability, for example by limiting harvest to natural income, quotas, protection, recycling and reducing demand.

Resource security depends on the ability of societies to ensure the long-term availability of sufficient natural resources to meet demand. It is affected by supply, population and demand growth, dependence on imports and political events.

Choices a society makes about using a given resource are affected by many factors (economics, technology, politics, culture, environmental concern) and reflect diverse perspectives: ecocentric, anthropocentric and technocentric.