7.1 Natural resources — uses and managementIB Environmental Systems and Societies SL: Subtopic test

1. 1
   At Gazi Bay in Kenya, villagers manage an area of mangrove forest as a community project. They harvest fish and crabs from the forest, cut a limited number of trees for wood under agreed rules, and replant mangroves. They also sell carbon credits for the carbon stored by the growing forest, and use the income to pay for clean water and school equipment. The standing forest also protects the shore from storm waves.

   (a)

   How is the mangrove forest best described in terms of resource use?

   [1 mark]

   • ANatural capital
   • BNatural income
   • CA non-renewable resource
   • DAn artificial resource

   (b)

   Which is an example of natural income from the mangrove forest?

   [1 mark]

   • AThe mangrove trees standing in the forest
   • BThe annual harvest of fish and crabs
   • CThe total area of forest
   • DThe soil in which the trees grow

   (c)

   Explain why the community's use of the forest is sustainable if they use only the natural income.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 1: 4 marks

2. 2
   Sand and gravel are the most widely used solid natural resources after water, and are essential for making concrete, glass and for land reclamation. Tens of billions of tonnes are extracted every year, much of it dredged from rivers and beaches. Natural processes of rock weathering and river transport replace sand only over very long timescales. In the Mekong Delta, sand mining has been linked to river bank erosion and a fall in the amount of sediment reaching the delta.

   (a)

   Which statement defines a renewable resource?

   [1 mark]

   • AOne that can never be used up whatever the rate of extraction
   • BOne that is replaced only over geological timescales
   • COne that is replaced by natural processes at a rate comparable to the rate at which it is used
   • DOne that is manufactured by humans

   (b)

   Which is an example of a regulating ecosystem service?

   [1 mark]

   • AFish harvested from the river
   • BTourists boating on the river
   • CSand dredged for concrete
   • DFloodplain wetlands absorbing floodwater

   (c)

   Explain why sand can be regarded as a finite resource even though natural processes produce it.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 2: 4 marks

3. 3
   Country Z is an agricultural country whose population has grown rapidly. Its grain consumption was 40 million tonnes in 2010 and 48 million tonnes in 2020. Its domestic grain production was 36 million tonnes in 2010 and 30 million tonnes in 2020, after droughts and the loss of farmland to urban expansion. The shortfall is met by imports from a small number of exporting countries.

   (a)

   Calculate the change in Country Z's grain self-sufficiency (production as a percentage of consumption) between 2010 and 2020, in percentage points.

   [3 marks]

   (b)

   Discuss the factors affecting Country Z's resource security in grain and how it could improve it.

   [4 marks]

   Total for question 3: 7 marks

4. 4
   Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. It is home to the Waorani people and to groups living in voluntary isolation. Beneath part of the park lie oil reserves, and oil exports are a major source of income for Ecuador's government. In a referendum in August 2023 about 59% of voters chose to leave the oil in the ground in part of the park, and the state oil company was ordered to stop production there.

   (a)

   Using Yasuní as an example, explain how natural capital can have different values and why those values are dynamic.

   [6 marks]

   (b)

   Evaluate the decision to leave the Yasuní oil in the ground.

   [6 marks]

   Total for question 4: 12 marks

End of questions