Source: NASA

Concepts of

Environmental and Natural Resources

Management Block VI, Unit 11 A &B

Definition

The biophysical environment is

the biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organisms, or population,

and includes particularly the factors that have an influence in their

survival, development and evolution.

The scope of the biophysical environment is all that contained in

the biosphere, which is that part of the Earth in which all life occurs.

A biophysical environment is the complex of biotic, climatic, and

edaphic factors that act upon an organism and determine its form

and survival, and morphs itself in the process.

The biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to

global in extent. They can also be subdivided according to their

attributes like marine environment, the atmospheric

environment and the terrestrial environment.

Life/environment interaction

Life has to be adapted to its environment conditions.

Temperature, light, humidity, soil nutrients, etc, all this has an influence in the species that can inhabit a particular environment.

But life is not passive, and its activity modifies in various forms the environment conditions.

Some long term modifications along the history of our planet have been dramatic, like the incorporation of oxygen to the atmosphere.

The process consisted in the break down of carbon dioxide by anaerobic microorganisms that used the carbon in their metabolism, and released the oxygen to the atmosphere, and thanks to this, plant and animal life, that need oxygen, could emerge (Great oxygenation event).

Other interactions are more immediate and simple, like the effect that forest trees have in the smoothing of the temperature cycle, compared to non protected neighboring areas.

Pressures on Natural resources

16 % of the World‘s population.

18 % of World‘s livestock population.

2.5 % of World‘s geographical area.

1.8 % of World‘s forests area.

Per capita forest 0.08 ha as against world average of 0.8 ha

40% Below Poverty Line

State Profile Second largest State – 3 lakh Sq KM Approx.

70 Million People, Decadal Growth rate 21%

Largest Tribal Population in the country

45% people below poverty line (Planning Com)

72% people in Primary Sector

31% Forest Land, 27% Forest Cover (Country‘s 12% FSI)

11% Waste Land (NRSA Atlas)

11 Agro Climatic zones - Unique in their characteristics

49% Area under Cultivation

35% area under irrigation ( Agri . Stats )

Skewed land holding pattern (MPHDR)

1/3rd Blocks classified as GW Over-exploited (CGWB)

Frequent droughts conditions

40.6 Million livestock population

Thousands of villages beyond the reach of electricity

Vast traditional indigenous knowledge

Issues Climate change — Global warming • Global dimming • Fossil fuels • Sea level rise • Greenhouse

gas • Ocean acidification • Environmental impact of the coal industry • Urban Heat Islands

Conservation — Species extinction • Pollinator decline • Invasive Species • Poaching • Endangered species

Energy — Energy conservation • Renewable energy • Efficient energy use • Renewable energy commercialization • Environmental impact of the coal industry

Environmental degradation — Eutrophication • Habitat destruction • Invasive species

Environmental health — Air quality • Asthma • Environmental impact of the coal industry • Electromagnetic fields • Electromagnetic radiation and health • Indoor air quality • Lead poisoning • Sick Building Syndrome

Genetic engineering — Genetic pollution • Genetically modified food controversies

Intensive farming — Overgrazing • Irrigation • Monoculture • Environmental effects of meat production • Slash and burn • Pesticide drift • Plasticulture

Land degradation — Land pollution • Desertification

Soil — Soil conservation • Soil erosion • Soil contamination • Soil salination

Land use — Urban sprawl • Habitat fragmentation • Habitat destruction

Nuclear issues — Nuclear fallout • Nuclear meltdown • Nuclear power • Nuclear weapons • Nuclear and radiation accidents • Nuclear safety • High-level radioactive waste management.

Overpopulation — Burial •Water crisis • Overpopulation in companion animals • Tragedy of the commons • Gender Imbalance in Developing Countries

Ozone depletion — CFC • Biological effects of UV exposure

Pollution — Environmental impact of the coal industry • Nonpoint source pollution • Point

source pollution • Light pollution • Noise pollution •Visual pollution

Water pollution — Environmental impact of the coal industry • Acid

rain • Eutrophication • Marine pollution • Ocean dumping • Oil spills •Thermal

pollution • Urban runoff •Water crisis •Marine debris • Microplastics • Ocean

acidification • Ship pollution •Wastewater • Fish kill • Algal bloom • Mercury in fishAir

pollution — Environmental impact of the coal industry • Smog •Tropospheric ozone • Indoor

air quality •Volatile organic compound • Particulate matter Reservoirs — Environmental

impacts of reservoirs

Resource depletion — Exploitation of natural resources • Over drafting

Consumerism — Consumer capitalism • Planned obsolescence • Over-consumption

Fishing — Blast fishing • Bottom trawling • Cyanide fishing • Ghost nets • Illegal, unreported

and unregulated fishing • Overfishing • Shark finning •Whaling Logging — Clear

cutting • Deforestation • Illegal logging Mining — Acid mine drainage • Hydraulic

fracturing • Mountaintop removal mining • Slurry impoundments

Toxins — Chlorofluorocarbons • DDT • Endocrine disruptors • Dioxin •Toxic heavy

metals • Environmental impact of the coal industry • Herbicides • Pesticides •Toxic

waste • PCB •Bioaccumulation • Biomagnification

Waste — Electronic waste • Litter •Waste disposal incidents • Marine debris • Medical

waste • Landfill • Leachate • Environmental impact of the coal industry • Incineration • Great

Pacific Garbage Patch • Exporting of Hazardous Waste

Issues

Definition of ERM

Environmental resource management is ―a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities‖

It is not, as the phrase suggests, the management of the environment as such, but rather the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment.

Environmental resources management aims to ensure that ecosystem services are protected and maintained for equitable use by future human generations, and also, maintain ecosystem integrity as an end in itself by taking into consideration ethical, economic, and scientific (ecological) variables.

Environmental resource management tries to identify the factors that have a stake in the conflicts that may rise between meeting the needs and protecting the resources.

Scope and Perspective Environmental resource management involves the management of

all components of the biophysical environment, both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) .

This is due to the interconnected and network of relationships amongst all living species and their habitats. The environment also involves the relationships of the human environment, such as the social, cultural and economic environment with the biophysical environment.

The essential aspects of environmental resource management are ethical, economical, social and technological which provide for formulation of principles and help in making decisions.

The scientific and technical nature makes environmental resource management profession to operate in a humanistic and rational mode in the world

Scope and Perspective

Scale

Geographical

International , National, Regional, Local

Topical

Ozone, Climate Change, Global warming, Biodiversity

Complex and Simple both

Multidisciplinary

Bio-Science, Physical Humanities, Engineering, Arts and Culture,

Interdisciplinary

It is a science of association and not isolation

Aspects

Ethical

ERM strategies are intrinsically driven by conceptions of human-nature relationships.

Ethical aspects involve the cultural and social issues relating to the environment, and dealing with changes to it. ―All human activities take place in the context of certain types of relationships between society and the bio-physical world (the rest of nature)‖, and so, there is a great significance in understanding the ethical values of different groups around the world.

Two schools of thought exist in environmental ethics:Anthropocentrism and Ecocentrism

Each influencing a broad spectrum of environmental resource management styles along a continuum.

These styles perceive ―different evidence, imperatives, and problems, and prescribe different solutions, strategies, technologies, roles for economic sectors, culture, governments, and ethics, etc‖.

Ethical Aspects of ERM

Anthropocentrism- Anthropocentrism, ―an inclination to evaluate reality exclusively in terms of human

values‖, is an ethic reflected in the major interpretations of Western religions and the dominant economic paradigms of the industrialised world.

Anthropocentrism supports an understanding of nature as existing solely for the benefit of man and as a commodity to be used for the good of humanity and improved human quality of life.

Anthropocentric ERM is not the conservation of the environment solely for the environment's sake, but rather the conservation of the environment, and ecosystem structure, for human sake.

Ecocentrism – Ecocentrists believe in the intrinsic value of nature while maintaining an understanding that

―human beings must use and even exploit nature to survive and live‖.

It is this fine ethical line that ecocentrists navigate between ―fair use and downright abuse‖.

At an extreme end of the ethical scale, ecocentrism includes philosophies such as ecofeminism and deep ecology which evolved as a reaction to the dominant anthropocentric paradigms.

―In its current form, it is an attempt to synthesize many old and some new philosophical attitudes about the relationship between nature and human activity, with particular emphasis on ethical, social, and spiritual aspects that have been downplayed in the dominant economic worldview‖.

Economic Aspects of ERM The economy functions within, and is dependent upon goods and services provided by natural ecosystems.

The role of the environment is recognized in both classical economics and neoclassical economics theories,

yet the environment held a spot on the back-burner of economic policies from 1950 – 1980 due to emphasis

from policy makers on economic growth.

With the prevalence of environmental problems, many economists embraced the notion that ―if

environmental sustainability must coexist for economic sustainability, then the overall system must be one

which permits the identification of an equilibrium between the environment and the economy‖.

As such, economic policy makers began to incorporate the functions of the natural environment – or natural

capital - particularly as a sink for wastes and for the provision of raw materials and amenities.

Debate continues among economists as to how to account for natural capital, specifically whether resources

can be replaced through the use of knowledge and technology, or whether the economy is a closed system

that cannot be replenished and is finite.

Economic models influence ERM in that management policies reflect beliefs about natural capital scarcity –

if natural capital is believed to be infinite and easily substituted, environmental management would be

irrelevant to the economy.

For example, economic paradigms based on neoclassical models of closed economic systems are primarily

concerned with resource scarcity, and thus prescribe legalizing the environment as an economic externality

for an environmental resource management strategy.

This approach has often been termed ‗Command-and-control‘

Ecological Aspects of ERM

A common scientific concept and impetus behind environmental resource management is carrying capacity. Simply put, carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of organisms a particular resource can sustain.

The concept of carrying capacity, whilst understood by many cultures over history, has its roots in Malthusian theory.

However, "it is argued that Western scientific knowledge ... is often insufficient to deal with the full complexity of the interplay of variables in environmental resource management.

These concerns have been recently addressed by a shift in environmental resource management approaches to incorporate different knowledge systems including traditional knowledge, reflected in approaches such as adaptive co-management community-based natural resource management [and transitions management. among others.

Themes

Technological- GIS, W2E, Sp Up-graddation

Scientific- Analytical methods, EIA Methodology

Social- Life Style Change, Values

Ecomomic- Barriere/ Incentives

Legal – Act, Rules and Policies

Policy – Strategies, Action Plans ( Envt, BD, CC)

Education- Formal and informal

Awareness- IEC, Media

Concept of Sustainable Development

Prior to the second half of the twentieth century, the idea of development as we know it today barely existed

Economic growth became the original development model, asking for structural adjustment in developing countries

But such policies failed to provide basic needs to all and created many problems in themselves

This led to the notion of SD

Development that meets the demand of

present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their needs.

WCED

“We have not inherited this earth from out

forefathers; we have borrowed it from out

children”

Lester Brown

The old frame of reference

"Beyond Limits" and "Limits to Growth"

In early 70s conservation of natural resource was the

over riding concern before all the policy makers, which

lead to the philosophy of sustainable development

Every body pursued the agenda of conservation

The new frame of reference

Deterioration not Depletion of renewable resource such

as water soil and forests, biodiversity, impairing on

environments ability to sink the pollution load naturally is

the key concern.

Judicious and sustainable use of natural resource

management which can help in poverty eradication and

create livelihood opportunities.

Sustainable development

Was the central term of the WCED (1987) report Our

common future

Sustainable development came to be formulated as a different

kind of growth, one that is not harmful to the environment

and brings wealth to people all over the world

In this meaning sustainable development is about

conservation rather than preservation

Mega-processes

Population and Economic

Growth Environmental Stress

Inequity and Polarization Technological Change

Immediate and Ultimate factors

Ultimate Factors

Knowledge and

UnderstandingPower

StructureCultureValues and Needs

Proximate Factors

Population Economy Technology Governance

2

1 Population

Scientific and

Technological Revolution

3 Drivers

1

3 The way Climate is Changing

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Bill

ion

s

160,000

B.C.

100,000

B.C.

10,000

B.C.

7,000

B.C.

6,000

B.C.

5,000

B.C.

4,000

B.C.

3,000

B.C.

2,000

B.C.

1,000

B.C.

1

A.D.

1,000

A.D.

2,000

A.D.

World Population

8

9

Population Growth Throughout History

7

2,150

A.D.

2006 – 6.5 Billion

1945 – 2.3 Billion

2050 – 9.1 Billion

250 Million1492 – 500 Million1776 – 1 Billion

First Modern Humans(Adam and Eve)

Source: United Nations

%

2%

4%

6%

8%

1975 2000 2025

Developing Nations

Developed Nations

Popu

lati

on (

Bil

lion

s)

Global Population

Source: United Nations Population Division, 2000

26

Population of MP

M.P. accounts for 5.8% of the total population of India (out of 70 million, 73% is rural)

37% of the rural population living BPL

Scheduled Tribes (20%) and Scheduled Castes (15.5%)

Growth rate - 44% in urban population

Majority of population is dependent on natural resources for subsistence

2

1

2

33

The Population Explosion

The Scientific and

Technological Revolution

The Climate is Changing

3 Factors

2

1

33

The Population Explosion

The Scientific and

Technological Revolution

The way earths Climate is changing

3 Factors

Climate change

Global temperature is

rising

Rainfall events are getting

more intense

Seasonality is changing

Extreme events will be more frequent and

intense-eg heat waves,

droughts

Impact of climate change

on the monsoon-will total annual rainfall increase

or decrease?

The pace and rate of future

changes

Effects elsewhere in South Asia, India and on

MP

Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Livelihoods

Known Uncertain

Cause of Climate Change

Green House Gases Causes Global warming (Green House

Effect)

Global Warming Causes Climate Change

CO2 adds up to the Greenhouse Effect.

Earth receives most of its energy from the sun.

CO2 absorbs radiation and radiates it back to the earth. This causes the temperature of the earth‘s atmosphere to rise and melt the glaciers.

Industries play a major role in adding CO2 to the air.

32

Projected Climate Change over India Increase in rainfall by 15-40% by the end of the 21st century with high

regional variability

Increase in annual mean temperature by 3°C to 5°C by the end of 21st century under SRES A2 scenario. The warming is projected to be more pronounced over northern India.

Changes in frequency and/or magnitude of extreme temperature and precipitation events.

These changes would result in adverse impacts on agriculture, water resources, health, forests, vulnerability to extreme events, and coastal areas.

2

1 The Population Explosion

The Scientific and

Technological Revolution

3 Factors

3 The way Climate is changing

34

Urban Environmental Problems

Rapid urbanization - 31.19% decadal growth rate against

only 22.02% in rural population

Problems of slums, creaking infrastructure, waste disposal,

air pollution in fast-growing urban areas

Government of India‘s efforts to address issues through

JNNURM in urban areas

Capacity Development before taking up schemes – need for

central assistance to states

35

Rural Environmental Problems

Major Problems: Water bodies – degradation of rivers, lakes, tanks

Land degradation – pesticides, chemical fertilizers

Groundwater depletion and contamination

Need for stringent national laws/regulations

Tackling through schemes and programmes – provision of funds by central government and synergies in central govt. development schemes. e.g. traditional system of desilting of water bodies for nutrient enrichment of crop land

may be revived as part of rural development projects

Catchment area treatment works

Environmental issues not effectively factored in planning

Little awareness and involvement of panchayats

36

Conservation of Rivers and Wetlands

Ten major rivers originating from the State, provide one of the best watersheds of the country

Rivers of state flow outward; state does not receive river water from other states

Industrial, Agricultural Inputs, Sewage Pollution problems in river basins –

Wetlands have traditionally been the life line of agrarian societies (an estimate that 38% wetlands lost since 1991)

Our unique wetlands facing tremendous ecological stress, mainly because they are visualized only as a source of water, ignoring their vitality as a holistic biotic system

Required – a centrally-funded comprehensive programme for wetland conservation, more funds and stringent regulations