conservation of resources
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Related to Conservation of resources: Conservation of natural resourcesConservation of resourcesManagement of the human use of natural resources to provide the maximum benefit to current generations while maintainingcapacity to meet the needs of future generations. Conservation includes both the protection and rational use of naturalresources.Earth's natural resources are either nonrenewable, such as minerals, oil, gas, and coal, or renewable, such as water, timber,fisheries, and agricultural crops. The combination of growing populations and increasing levels of resource consumption isdegrading and depleting the natural resource base. The world's population stood at 850 million at the onset of the industrialage. The global population has grown to nearly seven times as large (6 billion), and the level of consumption of resources isfar greater. This human pressure now exceeds the carrying capacity of many natural resources.Nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels, are replaced over geologic time scales of tens of millions of years. Human societies will eventually use up all of the economically available stock of many nonrenewable resources, such as oil.Conservation entails actions to use these resources most efficiently and thereby extend their life as long as possible. By recycling aluminum, for example, the same piece of material is reused in a series of products, reducing the amount of aluminum ore that must be mined. Similarly, energy-efficient products help to conserve fossil fuels since the same energy services, such as lighting or transportation, can be attained with smaller amounts of fuel.
Management of the human use of natural resources to provide the maximum benefit to currentgenerations while maintaining capacity to meet the needs of future generations. Conservationincludes both the protection and rational use of natural resources.
Earth's natural resources are either nonrenewable, such as minerals, oil, gas, and coal, orrenewable, such as water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops. The combination of growingpopulations and increasing levels of resource consumption is degrading and depleting the naturalresource base. The world's population stood at 850 million at the onset of the industrial age. Theglobal population has grown to nearly seven times as large (6 billion), and the level of consumptionof resources is far greater. This human pressure now exceeds the carrying capacity of manynatural resources.
Nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels, are replaced over geologic time scales of tens ofmillions of years. Human societies will eventually use up all of the economically available stock ofmany nonrenewable resources, such as oil. Conservation entails actions to use these resourcesmost efficiently and thereby extend their life as long as possible. By recycling aluminum, forexample, the same piece of material is reused in a series of products, reducing the amount ofaluminum ore that must be mined. Similarly, energy-efficient products help to conserve fossil fuelssince the same energy services, such as lighting or transportation, can be attained with smalleramounts of fuel. See Human ecology
It may be expected that the biggest challenge of resource conservation would involve nonrenewableresources, since renewable resources can replenish themselves after harvesting. In fact, theopposite is the case. Historically, when nonrenewable resources have been depleted, newtechnologies have been developed that effectively substitute for the depleted resources. Indeed,new technologies have often reduced pressure on these resources even before they are fullydepleted. Fiber optics, for example, has substituted for copper in many electrical applications, andit is anticipated that renewable sources of energy, such as photovoltaic cells, wind power, andhydropower, will ultimately take the place of fossil fuels when stocks are depleted. Renewableresources, in contrast, can be seriously depleted if they are subjected to excessive harvest orotherwise degraded, and no substitutes are available for, say, clean water or food products such asfish or agricultural crops. Moreover, when the misuse of biological resources causes the completeextinction of a species or the loss of a particular habitat, there can be no substitute for thatdiversity of life.
“Conservation” is sometimes used synonymously with “protection.” More appropriately, however, itrefers to the protection and sustainable use of resources. Critical elements of the effectiveconservation of natural resources include sustainable resource management, establishment ofprotected areas, and ex situ (off-site) conservation.