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Natural resource

Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified form. A commodity is generally considered a natural resource when the primary activities associated with it are extraction and purification, as opposed to creation. Thus, mining Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable [i] mineral [i]s or other geological [i] materials f ... 

, petroleum Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a black, dark brown or greenish liquid [i] found in porous rock formati ... 

 extraction, fishing Fishing

Fishing is the activity of hunting [i] for fish [i]. ... 

, and forestry Forestry

Forestry is the art, science, and practice of studying and managing forest [i]s and plantation [i]s, and ... 

 are generally considered natural-resource industries, while agriculture Agriculture

Farming redirects here. For Farming in computer games, see Farmer [i]. ... 

 is not. The term was introduced to a broad audience by E.F. Schumacher in his 1970s book Small Is Beautiful. Natural resources are often classified into renewable and non-renewable resources Non-renewable resources

A non-renewable resource is a natural resource [i] that cannot be re-made or re-grown. ... 

.

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Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified form. A commodity is generally considered a natural resource when the primary activities associated with it are extraction and purification, as opposed to creation. Thus, mining Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable [i] mineral [i]s or other geological [i] materials f ... 

, petroleum Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a black, dark brown or greenish liquid [i] found in porous rock formati ... 

 extraction, fishing Fishing

Fishing is the activity of hunting [i] for fish [i]. ... 

, and forestry Forestry

Forestry is the art, science, and practice of studying and managing forest [i]s and plantation [i]s, and ... 

 are generally considered natural-resource industries, while agriculture Agriculture

Farming redirects here. For Farming in computer games, see Farmer [i].
... 

 is not. The term was introduced to a broad audience by E.F. Schumacher in his 1970s book Small Is Beautiful.

Natural resources are often classified into renewable and non-renewable resources Non-renewable resources

A non-renewable resource is a natural resource [i] that cannot be re-made or re-grown.... 

. Renewable resources are generally living resources , which can restock themselves if they are not overharvested. Renewable resources can restock themselves and be used indefinitely if they are used sustainably. Once renewable resources are consumed at a rate that exceeds their natural rate of replacement, the standing stock will diminish and eventually run out. The rate of sustainable use of a renewable resource is determined by the replacement rate and amount of standing stock of that particular resource. Non-living renewable natural resources include soil Soil

Soil is the collection of natural bodies that form in earthy material on the land surface.... 

, as well as water Water

Water is a taste [i]less, odor [i]less substance that is essential to all known forms of life [i] and i ... 

, wind Wind

Wind is the roughly horizontal movement of air [i] caused by uneven heating of the Earth's surface. ... 

, tide Tide

The tide is the cyclic rising and falling of Earth's ocean [i] surface caused by the tidal force [i]s of ... 

s and solar radiation Solar radiation

Solar radiation is radiant energy [i] emitted by the sun [i], particularly electromagnetic energy.... 

 — compare with renewable energy Renewable energy

Renewable energy sources, or RES, capture their energy from existing flows of energy, from on-go... 

.

Resources can also be classified on the basis of their origin as biotic and abiotic. Biotic resources are derived from animals and plants . Abiotic resouces are derived from the non-living world e.g. land, water, and air. Mineral and power resources are also abiotic resources some are derived from nature.

Both extraction of the basic resource and refining it into a purer, directly usable form, are generally considered natural-resource activities, even though the latter may not necessarily occur near the former.

Natural resources are natural capital converted to commodity inputs to infrastructural capital processes. They include soil, timber, oil, minerals, and other goods taken more or less as they are from the Earth.

A nation's natural resources often determine its wealth and status in the world economic system, by determining its political influence. Developed nations Developed country

A developed country is one that has a high income per capita.... 

 are those which are less dependent on natural resources for wealth, due to their greater reliance on infrastructural capital for production. However, some see a resource curse whereby easily obtainable natural resources could actually hurt the prospects of a national economy by fostering political corruption.

In recent years, the depletion of natural capital and attempts to move to sustainable development have been a major focus of development agencies. This is of particular concern in rainforest Rainforest

A rainforest, or a wet forest, is a forest [i]ed biome [i] with high annual rain [i]fall. ... 

 regions, which hold most of the Earth's natural biodiversity Biodiversity

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of life [i].... 

 - irreplaceable genetic natural capital. Conservation of natural resources is the major focus of Natural Capitalism, environmentalism, the ecology movement Ecology movement

The global ecology movement is one of several new social movement [i]s that emerged at the end of the sixties [i]... 

, and Green Parties. Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations Developing country

A developing country is a country [i] with a relatively low standard of living [i], undeveloped industrial base [i] ... 

.

See also

  • ecoregion
  • geostrategy Geostrategy

    In geopolitics [i], geostrategy refers to foreign policy [i] motivated by a desire for the control of foreign [i] ... 

  • sustainable forestry Sustainable forestry

    Sustainable forestry was a forest management concept that followed Sustained Yield Forestry [i] ... 

  • fish Fish

    A fish is a water [i]-dwelling vertebrate [i] with gills [i], that remains so throughout its life.... 

  • wood Wood

    Wood is derived from woody plant [i]s, notably tree [i]s but also shrub [i]s. ... 

  • metal Metal

    In chemistry, a metal is an element [i] that readily forms positive ion [i]s and has ... 

  • minerals Mineral

    Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological [i] processes. ... 

  • list of natural gas fields List of natural gas fields

    This list of natural gas field [i]s includes major fields of the past and present.

... 


  • List of minerals List of minerals

    This is a List of mineral [i]s for which there are Wikipedia articles. ... 

  • petroleum politics
  • mining Mining

    Mining is the extraction of valuable [i] mineral [i]s or other geological [i] materials f ... 

  • refining
  • prospecting
  • soft energy path
  • environment Natural environment

    The natural environment comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally [i] on Earth [i] ... 

  • landscape Landscape

    A landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including physical elements such as landform [i] ... 

  • land
  • soil Soil

    Soil is the collection of natural bodies that form in earthy material on the land surface.... 

  • causes of war War

    War is a conflict involving the organized use of weapon [i]s and physical force by state [i]s or other l ... 

  • pure water

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