The nature of the relationship between nature and man has changed over the course of history. For the first time, people began to seriously think about rational nature management somewhere in the middle of the 20th century. It was at this time that anthropogenic pressure on the environment became maximum. What is rational environmental management and what are its principles - this will be discussed in this article.

The essence of the concept of "nature management"

This term has two interpretations. According to the first, nature management is understood as a set of measures for the use of natural resources in order to meet economic, industrial, health-improving or other human needs.

The second interpretation provides for the definition of the concept of "nature management" as a scientific discipline. That is, it is, in fact, a theoretical science that studies and evaluates the process of human use of natural resources, as well as developing ways to optimize it.

Today it is customary to single out rational and irrational nature management. We will talk about them further, focusing on the first type. To fully understand what environmental management is, one should also understand what types of natural resources are.

Classification of natural resources

Natural resources are understood as those objects (or phenomena) not created by man, which are used by him to satisfy a number of his needs. These include minerals, soils, flora and fauna, surface waters, etc.

All natural resources according to the nature of their use by man can be divided into the following classes:

• industrial;
• agricultural;
• scientific;
• recreational;
• medicinal, etc.

They are also divided into two large groups:

• inexhaustible (for example, solar energy, water);
• exhaustible (oil, natural gas, etc.).

The latter, in turn, are divided into renewable and non-renewable natural resources.

It should be noted that it is possible to attribute a particular resource to a certain group only conditionally. After all, even our Sun is not eternal and can "extinguish" at any time.

Rational nature management provides for the protection and competent use of all types of natural resources and components.

History of nature management

Relationships in the "man - nature" system were not always the same and changed over time. There are five periods (or milestones) during which the most important changes in this system of relations took place:

1. 30,000 years ago. At this time, a person completely adapted to the reality around him, being engaged in hunting, fishing and gathering.
2. About 7000 years ago - the stage of the agricultural revolution. It was at this time that the transition of a person from gathering and hunting to cultivating the land and cattle breeding begins. This period is characterized by the first attempts to transform landscapes.
3. The era of the Middle Ages (VIII-XVII centuries). During this period, the burden on the environment increases markedly, crafts are born.
4. About 300 years ago - the stage of the industrial revolution that began in Britain. The scale of human influence on nature is increasing many times, he is trying to fully adapt it to his needs.
5. The middle of the twentieth century is the stage of the scientific and technological revolution. At this time, relations in the "man - nature" system are qualitatively and strongly changing, and all environmental problems are becoming more acute.

Nature management rational and irrational

What does each of these concepts mean and what are their fundamental differences? It should be noted that rational and irrational nature management are two antipodes, terms. They completely contradict each other.

Rational nature management implies such a way of using the natural environment, in which the interaction in the "man - nature" system remains maximally harmonized. The main features of this type of relationship are:

• intensive management;
• application of the latest scientific achievements and developments;
• automation of all production processes;
• introduction of waste-free production technologies.

Rational nature management, examples of which we will give below, is more typical for economically developed countries of the world.

In turn, irrational nature management is understood as unreasonable, unsystematic and predatory use of that part of the natural resource potential, which is the most accessible. This behavior leads to the rapid depletion of natural resources.

The main features of this type of nature management are:

• lack of systematic and comprehensive development of a specific resource;
• a large amount of waste during production;
• extensive management;
• great harm to the environment.

Irrational nature management is most typical for the countries of Asia, Latin America and for some states of Eastern Europe.

A few examples

First, let's look at a few measures that can describe the rational use of natural resources. Examples of such activities include the following:

• recycling of waste, creation and improvement of non-waste technologies;
• the creation of natural reserves, national parks and nature reserves, in which the protection of the flora and fauna of the region is carried out at full speed (not in words, but in deeds);
• reclamation of territories that have suffered from the industrial development of subsoil, the creation of cultural landscapes.

In turn, we can give some of the most striking examples of the irrational attitude of man to nature. For example:

• mindless deforestation;
• poaching, that is, the extermination of certain (rare) species of animals and plants;
• release of untreated sewage, deliberate pollution of water and soil by industrial or domestic waste;
• predatory and aggressive development of available subsoil, etc.

Principles of rational nature management

For many decades, scientists and ecologists have been developing those principles and conditions that could help optimize the relationship between man and nature. The foundations of rational nature management lie, first of all, in efficient management, which does not provoke deep and serious changes in the environment. At the same time, natural resources are used as fully and systematically as possible.

It is possible to single out the main principles of rational nature management:

1. Minimum (so-called "zero level") human consumption of natural resources.
2. Correspondence of the volume of natural resource potential and anthropogenic load on the environment for a particular region.
3. Preservation of the integrity and normal functioning of ecosystems in the process of their production use.
4. The priority of the environmental factor over economic benefits in the long term (the principle of sustainable development of the region).
5. Coordination of economic cycles with natural ones.

Ways to implement these principles

Are there ways to implement these principles? Is it possible to solve all the problems of rational nature management in practice?

Ways and means of implementing the principles of nature management actually exist. They can be summarized in the following theses:

• deep and comprehensive study of the features and all the nuances of the development of natural resources;
• rational placement on the territory of industrial enterprises and complexes;
• development and implementation of effective regional management systems;
• determination of a set of environmental measures for each region;
• monitoring, as well as forecasting the consequences of a particular type of human economic activity.

Economics and ecology: correlation of concepts

These two concepts are closely related to each other. It is not for nothing that they have one root - "oikos", which means "house, dwelling" in translation. However, many still cannot realize that nature is our common and the only one house.

The concepts of "ecology" and "rational nature management" are almost identical. The so-called paradigms of ecological nature management can reveal them most intelligibly. There are three in total:

1. Minimization of human impact on nature in the process of using natural resources.
2. Optimal (full) use of a particular resource.
3. Making the most of a particular natural resource to improve the well-being of society.

Finally

Rational use of natural resources and nature protection are concepts that have become extremely important on the threshold of the new millennium. For the first time, mankind seriously thought about the consequences of its activities and about the future of our planet. And it is very important that theoretical principles and declarations do not diverge from real deeds. For this, it is necessary that every inhabitant of the Earth is aware of the importance of correct and rational environmental behavior.

The depletion of renewable resources is associated with the deforestation of the planet and the impoverishment of fish stocks. In Russia, this is facilitated by flourishing poaching.

The main resource problem of the 21st century associated with non-renewable resources is the depletion of oil and natural gas reserves.

The ecological classification of natural resources divides them into practically inexhaustible and exhaustible. There are few inexhaustible resources on the planet, and humanity is still using them extremely poorly.

2. Exhaustible resources are divided into non-renewable and renewable. With regard to non-renewable resources, there is a strict rule: the more they are mined, the less is left for the next generations.

Questions for self-examination

1. What are resources?

2. What groups are the resources of the Earth divided into?

3. What resources are inexhaustible?

4. What are non-renewable resources?

5. What kind of resources are oil and natural gas?

6. What is the main resource problem of the 21st century?

7. What types of resources are renewable?

8. What is waste?

9. What are the main problems associated with the exploitation of renewable resources?

10. What is nature management?

11. Who are nature users?

12. What is the meaning of greening the economy?

13. How is wind energy currently being used?

14. Why is it inappropriate to use solar panels in Russia?

15. Which region is the largest oil producer in the world?

16. Where are the largest deposits of oil and natural gas located in Russia?

17. What is the main problem with multiple tillage?

18. According to the ecological classification, what resources are water and air?

19. Why was sturgeon fishing recently banned in the Caspian Sea?

20. What is the main problem in the use of forests?

21. Why did the shortage of fresh water begin to be felt on Earth at the end of the 20th century?

Literature on the topic

1. Akimova T.A., Khaskin V.V. Fundamentals of eco-development. M., 1999.

2. Bobylev S.N., Khodzhaev A.Sh. Environmental economics. M., 1997.

3. Razumova E.R. Ecology. M.: MIEMP, 2006.

4. Reimers N.F. Protection of nature and the human environment. Dictionary reference. M., 2001.

5. Shilov I. A. Ecology. M., 2001.

6.1.Basic environmental principles of rational nature management All of the above leads to an unambiguous conclusion: both non-renewable and renewable resources of the planet are not infinite, and the more intensively they are used, the less of these resources remain for the next generations. Therefore, decisive measures are required everywhere for the rational use of natural resources. The era of reckless exploitation of nature by man is over, the biosphere is in dire need of protection, and natural resources should be protected and used sparingly.

The basic principles of such an attitude to natural resources are set out in the international document "The concept of sustainable economic development", adopted at the second UN World Conference on Environmental Protection in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (see also topic 7).

With regard to inexhaustible resources, the "Concept of sustainable economic development" of development urgently requires a return to their widespread use and, where possible, the replacement of non-renewable resources with inexhaustible ones. First of all, this concerns the energy industry.

We've talked about solar panels before. So far, their efficiency is not very high, but this is a purely technical problem, and in the future it will undoubtedly be successfully solved.

A promising source of energy, as already mentioned, is the wind, and in the flat open coastal areas, the use of modern "windmills" is very appropriate.

With the help of hot natural springs, you can not only treat many diseases, but also heat your home. As a rule, all the difficulties in the use of inexhaustible resources lie not in the fundamental possibilities of their use, but in the technological problems that have to be solved.

With regard to non-renewable resources, the "Concept of Sustainable Economic Development" states that their extraction should be made normative, i.e. reduce the rate of extraction of minerals from the bowels. The world community will have to abandon the race for leadership in the extraction of this or that natural resource, the main thing is not the volume of the extracted resource, but the efficiency of its use. This means a completely new approach to the problem of mining: it is necessary to extract not as much as each country can, but as much as is necessary for the sustainable development of the world economy. Of course, the world community will not come to such an approach immediately; it will take decades to implement it.

For modern Russia, mineral resources form the basis of its economy. Of course, first of all, it is oil and natural gas. Russia produces more than 17% of world oil, up to 25% of natural gas, 15% of coal. The main problem in their production is incomplete extraction from the subsoil: oil is pumped out of the well by 70% at best, coal - by no more than 80%. These are production losses, followed by equally large losses during processing.

It is necessary to create and introduce new technologies to increase the share of extracted oil, coal, and metal ores. Naturally, this requires a lot of money. In our country, the number of “unpromising” flooded mines is multiplying, which, with skillful operation, could well still produce products of oil wells and drilling rigs abandoned in the tundra (it’s cheaper to drill new ones in order to quickly recoup the costs and pump, pump, so that subsoil more than 30% of fossils).

The task of a more complete extraction from the bowels is adjacent to another one - the integrated use of mineral raw materials. Generally, no metal occurs alone in nature. Analysis of some ores of the Urals showed that in addition to the main metal mined (for example, copper), they contain a large number of rare and trace elements, and their cost often exceeds the cost of the main material. However, this valuable raw material very often remains in dumps due to the lack of technology for its extraction.

The next environmental problem of the mining complex is that it has become one of the largest sources of pollution and environmental damage. In places where minerals are mined, as a rule, forests, grass cover, and soil suffer. If mining is carried out in the tundra (and most of our underground wealth is in high-latitude regions), then nature is forced to heal the wounds received from people for decades. So, environmental protection principles require from the user of natural resources when carrying out mining operations:

1. the most complete extraction of minerals from the bowels and their rational use;

2. complex extraction of not one, but all components contained in the ores;

3. ensuring the preservation of the natural environment in the areas of mining operations;

4. safe work for people;

5. prevention of subsoil pollution during underground storage of oil, gas and other materials.

With regard to renewable resources, the "Concept of sustainable economic development" requires that they be exploited at least within the framework of simple reproduction, and their total amount does not decrease over time. In the language of ecologists, this means: how much you have taken from nature of a renewable resource (for example, forests), return so much (in the form of forest plantations). In Russia, over the past 15 years, felling volumes have increased many times over (timber is one of the revenue items of the budget), and afforestation during this period was not carried out at all. At the same time, for the restoration of forests after felling, two or three forest plantations in terms of area are required: forests grow slowly, for the full reproduction of overmature, i.e. forest suitable for industrial use takes 35-40 years.

Land resources also require careful treatment and protection. More than half of Russia's land fund is located in the permafrost zone; agricultural land in the Russian Federation occupies only about 13% of the area, and annually these areas are reduced as a result of erosion (destruction of the fertile layer), misuse (for example, for the construction of cottages), swamping, mining (industrial deserts appear on the site of agricultural land ). To protect against erosion, use:

1. windbreaks;

2. plowing without turning over the layer;

3. in hilly areas - plowing across the slopes and tinning the land;

4. regulation of livestock grazing.

Disturbed, polluted lands can be restored, this process is called reclamation. Such restored lands can be used in four directions: for agricultural use, for forest plantations, for artificial reservoirs and for housing or capital construction. Reclamation consists of two stages: mining (preparation of territories) and biological (planting trees and low-demanding crops, such as perennial grasses, industrial legumes).

One of the most important environmental problems of our time is the protection of water resources. It has already been said earlier that in terms of volume, freshwater sources (including glaciers) make up only 3% of the hydrosphere, and 97% are in the World Ocean. It is difficult to overestimate the role of the ocean in the life of the biosphere, which carries out the process of self-purification of water in nature with the help of the plankton living in it; stabilizing the planet's climate, being in constant dynamic equilibrium with the atmosphere; producing huge biomass. But for life and economic activity, a person needs fresh water. The rapid growth of the world's population and the rapid development of the world economy have led to a shortage of fresh water not only in traditionally dry countries, but also in those that were recently considered quite water-rich. Almost all sectors of the economy, except for maritime transport and fishing, require fresh water. Why is she missing? During the creation of reservoirs, the flow of rivers was greatly reduced and evaporation and depletion of water bodies increased. Agriculture requires large volumes of water for irrigation, while evaporation also increases; huge quantities are spent in industry; The six billionth humankind also uses fresh water for life support. Finally, one of the most important problems of our time is pollution - both of the World Ocean and freshwater sources. Currently, wastewater pollutes more than a third of the world's river flow. There is only one conclusion from all that has been said: strict economy of fresh water and prevention of its pollution are necessary.

Saving fresh water should be carried out in everyday life: in many countries, residential buildings are equipped with water meters, this is a very disciplined population. Pollution of water bodies is detrimental not only for humanity in need of drinking water. It contributes to a catastrophic reduction in fish stocks both at the global and Russian levels. It has already been said before how fish suffer from hydraulic structures (dams) and from poaching. In polluted waters, the amount of dissolved oxygen decreases and fish die. It is obvious that tough environmental measures are needed to prevent pollution of water bodies and to combat poaching.

The depletion of natural resources is one of the main problems causing the global environmental crisis.

Resources - bodies and forces of nature necessary for man for life and economic activity.

Natural resource potential of the country- the combined ability of all natural resources of the country to ensure their own and healthy reproduction and living conditions for the population. Russia's natural resource potential is enormous. In principle, Russia is a completely self-sufficient country and does not experience any dependence on other states in terms of natural resources.

There are various types of classification of natural resources. Ecological the classification is based on the signs of exhaustibility and renewability of their reserves. According to these features, resources can be divided into practically inexhaustible and exhaustible.

Inexhaustible resources- solar energy, thermal (underground) heat, tides, ebbs, wind energy, precipitation.

Depending on the geographical location, different regions of the globe are gifted in different ways. solar energy. In low-latitude countries, with sufficient irrigation, two or more crops are harvested per year. Nowadays, solar panels are used in these regions, which make a significant contribution to energy supply. Russia is a northern country, a significant part of its territory is located in middle and high latitudes, so the accumulated solar energy is practically not used.

thermal heat- where it is, it is successfully used not only for medicinal purposes (hot springs), but also for heating homes. In Russia, the largest thermal springs are located in Kamchatka (Valley of Geysers), but they are not seriously used yet, as they are quite far from large settlements.

The energy of the ocean tides also has not yet found widespread use due to technological difficulties, but it is known, for example, that two power plants operate on the shore of the English Channel on a tidal wave: one in France, the other in Great Britain.

Wind energy - new, well-forgotten old. Even in past eras, man learned to use wind energy - windmills. At the end of the twentieth century. in northern Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium), quite a lot of modern “windmills” appeared - giant units, similar to fans, raised to a height of 20–30 m. Economists in these countries calculated that such a windmill pays off in two years, and then starts generating net income. True, another environmental problem arose during operation: such "windmills" are very noisy.

All other resources on the planet are exhaustible which, in turn, are subdivided into non-renewable and renewable.

Non-renewable resources– combustible minerals (oil, natural gas, coal, peat), metal ores, precious metals and building materials (clays, sandstones, limestones).

The more humanity extracts and uses them, the less remains for the next generations.

The world's largest oil-producing region is the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Jordan, Kuwait). Russia also has significant reserves oil and natural gas located mainly in Western Siberia. A kind of "oil center" is the Tyumen region. The largest reserves of natural gas are Urengoy, Yamburg (the largest in the world). The export of oil and gas today makes a significant contribution to the Russian budget.

The depletion of oil and gas reserves is the biggest resource problem of the 21st century. Therefore, modern scientific and technical thought in this century should be directed to the development of alternative energy sources, to how humanity can learn to live without gas and oil.

world coal reserves, according to geologists, will be enough for 2-3 centuries (if the rate of its production does not increase many times due to the depletion of oil and gas flows).

Reserves of metal ores in the bowels are also not unlimited, although the situation with them is not as tense as with fossil fuels. However, both in the present and in subsequent centuries, the rate of extraction of iron and non-ferrous metals will steadily increase, which, of course, should be taken into account when assessing their reserves and the time of their use. All this applies to noble metals.

It may seem that stocks of building materials(clays, sandstones, limestones) on Earth are endless. However, despite the fact that, compared with other non-renewable resources, the stocks of building materials do not yet portend a crisis, it should be remembered that the rule “the more we extract, the less remains” applies to them.

Renewable resources - soils, flora and fauna, water and air (the latter are partially renewable).

Soils- a thin (no more than 10 m deep) surface fertile layer of the lithosphere, which feeds the entire flora and fauna, including humans and livestock. Soils perform a number of ecological functions, but fertility is an integrating one. The soil is quite an inert body compared to water and air, so its ability to self-purify is limited. And anthropogenic pollution that got into it, as a rule, accumulates, which leads to a decrease and even loss of fertility. In addition to pollution, a significant factor in the loss of fertility is erosion (wind, water) as a result of illiterate plowing, deforestation, technogenesis, etc.

green plants- form the basis of the biomass of the earth, these are producers that provide nutrition and oxygen to all other living organisms on the planet. Among natural plant communities, forests (40% of the total land area) are of the greatest importance as the national wealth of any people and the lungs of the entire planet. With the beginning of agriculture, the process of deforestation of the planet began. Now there are essentially three largest forests left on earth - the Amazon jungle, the Siberian taiga and the forests of Canada. Only Canada treats its forests competently and economically. Brazil barbarously cuts down forests - its national wealth.

In Russia, the situation is also deplorable. Predatory and illiterate forests are cut down in the European part (Karelia, Arkhangelsk region) and in Siberia. Export of wood is one of the revenue items of the country's budget. New forests grow at the felling site in at least 40 years, and the rate of destruction is much higher than the rate of natural regeneration (restoration), therefore, new forest plantations are needed to prevent forest extinction, which have not been carried out recently. Meanwhile, in addition to economic benefits (wood), forests have a colossal recreational value, which can sometimes exceed the value of the products received from them. However, another problem arises here: growing cities are exerting an increasing anthropogenic load on the surrounding forests, the townspeople litter and trample them. The occurrence of fires due to human fault is also one of the factors of forest loss.

Russian forests are of not only national but also planetary significance, supplying oxygen to Europe and exerting a global influence on general climate change. Scientists believe that the preservation of the colossal forests of Siberia will help stop the process of global warming of the Earth's climate.

Animal world- refers only to wild animals that are in a state of natural nature. Animals experience enormous anthropogenic pressure associated with the global environmental crisis (loss of biodiversity, etc.). Under these conditions, a number of European countries have introduced a ban on hunting on their territory. Russia so far only regulates it, but these restrictions are not being implemented, poaching, especially fish poaching, is flourishing.

For example, sea fish goes to spawn in fresh water, it rises up large and small rivers. Here it falls into the alignments of dams and the network of poachers. As a result, the number of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea (now there is a complete ban on catching sturgeon) and salmon in the Far East has decreased tenfold.

Partially renewable resources - air, water.

Water - On a global scale, the planet's water resources are inexhaustible, but they are distributed very unevenly and in some places turn out to be severely scarce. In nature, the water cycle is constantly going on, accompanied by its self-purification. The ability to self-purify is an amazing and unique property of nature, which allows it to withstand anthropogenic impacts. Fresh water reserves on the planet are less than 2%, clean even less. This is a serious environmental problem, especially for countries located in arid zones.

Atmospheric air - like water, it is a unique and necessary natural resource for all living beings, capable of self-purification. The World Ocean plays a huge role in this process, as well as in the water cycle. But the assimilation potential of nature is not infinite. Fresh water used for drinking, atmospheric air necessary for breathing, now need additional purification, since the biosphere can no longer cope with the colossal anthropogenic load.

Decisive measures are required everywhere for the rational use of natural resources. The biosphere needs to be protected, and natural resources need to be saved.

The basic principles of such an attitude to natural resources are set out in the international document "The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Concept"), adopted at the Second World Conference on the Environment of the United Nations in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

About inexhaustible resources The “concept” urgently calls for a return to their widespread use, and where possible, replace non-renewable resources with inexhaustible ones. For example, coal can be replaced by solar or wind energy.

In a relationship non-renewable resources in the "Concept" it is noted that their production should be made normative, i.e. reduce the rate of extraction of minerals from the bowels. The world community will have to abandon the race for leadership in the extraction of a particular natural resource, the main thing is not the volume of the extracted resource, but the efficiency of its use. This means a completely new approach to the problem of mining: it is necessary to extract not as much as each country can, but as much as is necessary for the sustainable development of the world economy. Of course, the world community will not come to such an approach immediately; it will take decades to implement it.

For modern Russia, mineral resources form the basis of the economy. Russia produces more than 17% of world oil, up to 25% of gas, 15% of coal. The main problem in their production is incomplete extraction from the subsoil: oil is pumped out of the well by 70% at best, coal is mined by no more than 80%, no less large losses during processing.

The creation and implementation of new technologies will increase the share of extracted oil, coal, and metal ores. This requires a lot of money. In Russia, the number of "unpromising" flooded mines and abandoned oil wells is increasing.

The task of a more complete extraction of minerals from the bowels is adjacent to another one - complex use of mineral raw materials. Analysis of some ores of the Urals showed that in addition to the main metal mined (for example, copper), they contain a large number of rare and trace elements, the cost of which often exceeds the cost of the main material. However, this valuable raw material remains in the dumps due to the lack of technology for its extraction.

In addition, the mining complex has become one of the largest sources of pollution and environmental disturbance. In mining areas, as a rule, forests, grass cover, soil suffer; in the tundra, for example, nature has to recover and cleanse itself for decades.

The principles of environmental protection require the user of natural resources to:

The most complete extraction of minerals from the bowels and their rational use;

Complex extraction of not one, but all components contained in the ores;

Ensuring the preservation of the natural environment in the areas of mining operations;

Safety for people during mining;

Prevention of subsoil pollution during underground storage of oil, gas and other combustible materials.

Renewable resources- The "concept" requires that their exploitation be carried out at least within the framework of simple reproduction and their total number does not decrease over time. From the point of view of environmentalists, this means: how much they took from nature (for example, forests), and return so much (forest plantations).

Forest – according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the total annual losses in the world for the first 5 years of the XXI century. amounted to 7.3 million hectares. Partially, the loss of forests in some countries is offset by an increase in their area in others. Every year, the area of ​​the Earth's forests is reduced by 6,120 million hectares (0.18%). This is somewhat less than between 1990 and 2000, when the average annual loss of the Earth's forest area was 8.9 million hectares. The maximum rate of forest area reduction is typical for South America (4.3 million hectares per year) and Africa (4.0 million hectares per year). In Oceania, the annual loss of forest area is 356 thousand hectares, and in North and Central America - 333 thousand hectares. The situation in Asia has changed significantly (excluding the Asian part of Russia). In the 1990s, the loss of forest area in Asia was about 800 thousand hectares per year, and now it has changed to an annual increase of about a million hectares. This is due to large-scale afforestation in China. In Europe (including Russia as a whole), the total forest area both increased in the 1990s and continues to increase at present, albeit at a slower rate. The average annual increase in forest area in Europe (including Russia as a whole) is for the period from 2000 to 2005. about 660 thousand hectares, and the increase in the accumulated wood reserves in these forests is about 340 million m 3 per year. It is estimated that reforestation efforts over the next half century will result in a 10% increase in forest area. However, reducing the rate of deforestation does not solve the problems already created by this process.

The rate of deforestation varies greatly by region. Currently, the rate of deforestation is highest (and increasing) in developing countries located in the tropics. In the 1980s, tropical forests lost 9.2 million hectares, and in the last decade of the 20th century. – 8.6 million hectares.

Humanity has been deforesting for a long time, using wood for construction and fuel, or reclaiming land from the forest for agriculture. Later, a person had a need to create infrastructure (cities, roads) and mining, which spurred the process of deforestation of territories. However, the main reason for deforestation is an increase in the need for land for grazing and planting crops.

Forestry is not able to produce as much food as a land cleared of trees. Tropical and taiga forests are practically unable to maintain an adequate standard of living for the population, since edible resources are too scattered. Slash-and-burn farming is used by 200 million indigenous peoples around the world to exploit the ash-rich forest soil for short periods of time.

In Russia, over the past 15 years, felling volumes have increased many times over (wood is one of the revenue sources of the budget), and forest plantations were not carried out during this period at all. At the same time, for the restoration of forests after felling, 2–3 times the area of ​​forest plantations is required, for the reproduction of a full-fledged forest, 35–40, 50 years are required.

The lack of necessary measures leads to the fact that about 1 million hectares of forests per year are currently dying due to fires, pests and diseases. Forest resources are affected by natural and anthropogenic factors. Thus, clear cuts from 1987 to 1993 were carried out on an area of ​​about 1 million hectares per year. The impact of fires is extremely noticeable: from 1984 to 1992 on 1.6 million hectares. The total damage, according to estimates for 1996, amounted to 26.5 million hectares of forests, with 99% of them in Siberia and the Far East. In Central Siberia (the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory), where a significant part of the boreal forests (21.5% of the forest area of ​​Russia) is concentrated, the main exogenous factors causing the loss of the forest fund are fires, felling, outbreaks of silkworm mass reproduction. Periodically, damage caused by fires, pests, diseases, and industrial pollution in the forest-steppe and southern taiga forests of the region affects 62–85% of their area; as a result, only 5–10% of virgin communities of mature and overmature plantations have been preserved. In recent years, negative processes in the conservation, use and reproduction of forest resources have increased. There is a decrease in the volume of timber harvesting, and at the same time, the area of ​​forests destroyed by fires is growing. So, from 1990 to 1996, forest areas were cut down on an area of ​​430 thousand hectares (21%), destroyed by fires - 840 thousand hectares (42%), silkworm - on 740 thousand hectares (37%). Gas and dust emissions from the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine killed or severely degraded about 500,000 hectares. Forest areas affected by these emissions are located up to 200 km away, and at a distance of 80–100 km, survival is almost zero. At the same time, the forest services of the Krasnoyarsk Territory are carrying out certain work on reforestation - as of January 1, 1998, the area of ​​​​reforestation lands of the forest fund amounted to 1,795.4 thousand hectares, of which 989.1 thousand hectares were restored naturally, 402 thousand hectares thanks to the promotion of natural regeneration and 4,04.9 thousand hectares - through the creation of forest plantations.

Land resources- the basis for obtaining crops, the main wealth on which our existence depends.

Essentially, soil is a “non-renewable” natural resource. To restore 1 cm 2 of soil, depending on natural and climatic conditions, from several years to several thousand years is required. However, with proper use, soil, unlike other natural resources, can not only not age, wear out, but even improve, increase, and increase its fertility.

The areas of fertile soils are catastrophically reduced all over the world: they are polluted, destroyed by air and water erosion, waterlogged, saline, desertified, withdrawn from agricultural use due to alienation (allocation for construction and other purposes inconsistent with their (soils) main purpose). Irreversible losses of arable land only due to soil degradation reached 1.5 million hectares per year. The monetary value of these losses is at least $2 billion.

Occupying the vast territory of Eastern Europe and all of Northern Asia, Russia has a huge land fund of 1,709.8 million hectares. Its soil cover is represented by many different types of soils - from arctic deserts and tundras, taiga podzols and swamps to forest-steppe and steppe chernozems, chestnut, brown and saline soils of semi-deserts, subtropical brown soils and red-colored terra rossa. More than half of the area of ​​Russia is occupied by various northern soils and about a third - by the soils of mountain landscapes, mostly also cold ones. Half of Russia's area is covered with permafrost. Only a quarter of the country's land fund is favorable for agriculture to varying degrees, since the northern and middle forest zones lack solar heat. The annual sum of average daily temperatures above 10 o C in these places does not exceed 1,400 degree days. In the southern continental regions, there is a lack of atmospheric moisture (less than 400 mm per year). Only 13% of the territory of Russia is occupied by agricultural land, and arable land is even less - only 7%, moreover, more than half of the arable land is concentrated on black soil. Annually, these areas are reduced as a result of erosion, misuse (construction, landfills), waterlogging, mining (open-pit coal mining).

To protect against erosion, use:

windbreaks;

plowing (without turning over the layer);

plowing across slopes and grassing (in hilly areas);

regulation of livestock grazing.

Disturbed polluted lands are restored by agricultural and forest reclamation. Land reclamation can be carried out through the creation of reservoirs, housing construction. Lands can be left for self-overgrowing.

Water resources- in terms of volume, freshwater sources (including glaciers) make up about 3% of the hydrosphere, the rest is the World Ocean. Russia has significant reserves of water resources. The territory is washed by the waters of twelve seas belonging to three oceans, as well as the inland Caspian Sea. On the territory of Russia there are over 2.5 million large and small rivers, more than 2 million lakes, hundreds of thousands of swamps and other objects of the water fund.

Self-purification of water occurs due to the plankton living in the water. The World Ocean stabilizes the planet's climate, is in constant dynamic equilibrium with the atmosphere, and produces a huge biomass.

But for life and economic activity, a person needs fresh water. The rapid growth of the world's population and the rapid development of the world economy have led to a shortage of fresh water not only in traditionally arid countries, but also in those that were recently considered to be fully supplied with water. Almost all sectors of the economy, except for maritime transport and fishing, require fresh water. Each inhabitant of the Russian Federation annually accounts for 30 thousand m 3 of total river flow, 530 m 3 of total water intake and 90–95 m 3 of domestic water supply (i.e., 250 liters per day). In large cities, specific water consumption is 320 l / day, in Moscow - 400 l / day. The average water supply of our population is one of the highest in the world. For comparison: USA - 320, Great Britain - 170, Japan - 125, India - 65, Iraq - 16 liters per day. However, compared with many other countries, fresh water is spent extremely uneconomically in our country. At the same time, in a number of regions in the south of Russia, in the Volga region and the Trans-Urals, there are difficulties in providing the population with high-quality drinking water.

During the creation of reservoirs, the flow of rivers was greatly reduced and evaporation and depletion of water bodies increased. Agriculture requires large volumes of water for irrigation, while evaporation also increases; huge quantities are spent in industry; Domestic needs also require fresh water.

Pollution of the World Ocean and fresh sources is also one of the environmental problems. Currently, wastewater pollutes more than a third of the world's river flow, so strict savings on fresh water and prevention of its pollution are necessary.

Previous

Every year, about one hundred billion tons of resources, including fuel, are extracted from the bowels of the Earth, ninety billion of which are subsequently turned into waste. Therefore, the issue of resource conservation in our days has become very relevant. If at the beginning of the last century only twenty chemical elements of the periodic table were used, then in our time - more than ninety. Over the past four decades, the consumption of resources has increased twenty-five times, and the amount of production waste - a hundred times.

The rational use of natural resources is the most important problem of modern society. The development of progress in science and technology is accompanied by a negative impact on nature. Natural conditions are something that a person cannot influence, climate can be cited as an example. Natural resources are natural phenomena or objects used to meet the material needs of society or for production, contributing to the creation and maintenance of the conditions necessary for the existence of mankind, as well as to improve the standard of living.

The rational use of natural resources is the result of their reasonable study, which prevents the possibility of harmful consequences of the activity of the person himself, increases and maintains the productivity and objects of nature. Natural resources can be divided into several main types: practically inexhaustible (atmospheric air, solar energy, internal heat, and so on), renewable (plant, soil), non-renewable (habitat space, river energy, and so on).

A rational renewable type should be based on balanced spending, as well as renewal, providing for their reproduction. Their reserves are usually restored faster than they are used. The rational use of natural types should be based on their economical and integrated extraction and use, as well as on the disposal of all kinds of waste. Natural resources can also be divided into potential and real. Potential resources are involved in economic turnover, while real ones are actively used. Unfortunately, today there is a problem of depletion of natural resources. Their level decreases already to such an extent when it becomes insufficient for a person. Due to the depletion of natural resources, their further development becomes more economical and environmentally inappropriate. With uncontrolled use, some may disappear, and the process of their self-renewal will stop. The recovery period of some of them is several hundred or even thousands of years.

Any human interference entails the destruction of the unity between nature itself and man. The continued existence of life on Earth will directly depend on the growth of production, which in turn depends on the depletion of natural resources. Therefore, natural resources and their rational use should be under the strict control of all mankind as a whole. It is necessary to rationally use natural resources, prevent possible harmful consequences of human activity, maintain and increase the productivity of both individual objects of nature and natural complexes as a whole.

The correct use of natural resources is the choice of a more suitable option to achieve an economic, social, environmental effect in the use of natural resources. Of particular relevance is their integrated use, which involves the use of low-waste and reuse of secondary resources. At the same time, raw materials are saved and pollution of the environment by products of production is prevented.