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• Forest Resources: A forest is a natural, self-sustaining community characterised by vertical structure created by
presence of trees. Wood is used for making furniture, tool-handles, railway sleepers, matches, ploughs, bridges,
boats, etc. and as a source of energy for cooking purpose and for keeping warm. Tannins, gums, drugs, spices,
insecticides, waxes, honey, horns, musk, ivory, hides, etc. are all provided by the flora and fauna of forests.
• Water Resources: Water covers about three quarters of Earth's surface and is a necessary element for life. Water
resources include rivers, lakes, oceans, and underground aquifers, etc. Water is a vital resource in agriculture,
industrial, household and recreational and environmental activities.
• Mineral Resources: A mineral deposit is a concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous material,
in or on the Earth's crust in such form and amount that its extraction and its conversion into useful materials or
items are profitable now or may be so in the future. Mineral resources are non-renewable and include metals
(e.g., iron, copper, and aluminium), and non-metals (e.g., salt, gypsum, clay, sand, phosphates). Some minerals
consist of a single element, such as gold, silver, diamond (carbon), and sulphur.
• Food Resources: Resources that are used as food, or provide food for organisms are called food resources.
Plants serve as food resources for herbivores and omnivores. Animals and birds are the source of food for many
organisms who are carnivores and omnivores. Agriculture is the main source of plant food resource for human
beings.
• Energy Resources: An energy resource is something that can produce heat, power life, move objects, or produce
electricity. There are 5 fundamental sources of energy:
Nuclear fusion in the Sun (solar energy)
Gravity generated by the Earth and Moon
Nuclear fission reactions
Energy in the interior of the Earth
Energy stored in chemical bonds
Non-renewable Resources Renewable Resources
Most of the energy we use today come from fossil fuels. But fossils fuels have a disadvantage in that they are
non-renewable on a human time scale, and causes other potentially harmful effects on the environment.
Brainy Fact
28 July every year is celebrated as World Nature Conservation Day that focuses on conserving and
protecting our natural resources.
Green Skills-I 141

