DEFINITION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by
mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts ofbiodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems.
Natural resources are derived
from the environment. Some of them are essential
for our survival while most are used for satisfying our wants. Natural
resources may be further classified in different ways.
Natural resources are
materials and components (something that can be used) that can be found within
the environment. Every man-made product is composed of natural resources (at
its fundamental level). A natural resource may exist as a separate entity such
as fresh water, and air, as well as a living organism such as a fish, or it may
exist in an alternate form which must be processed to obtain the resource such
as metal ores, oil, and most forms of energy.
There is much debate
worldwide over natural resource allocations, this is partly due to increasing
scarcity (depletion of resources) but also because the exportation of natural
resources is the basis for many economies (particularly for developed nations
such as Australia).