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Odisha BSE HSC Env & Pop Ed study materials
Odisha BSE HSC Env & Pop Ed study resources

Odisha BSE HSC Env & Pop Ed: Natural Resources and Conservation

Odisha BSE HSC Env & Pop Ed · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Natural Resources and Conservation

This section covers Natural Resources and Conservation. The exam tests classification of resources, sustainable use, soil and water conservation, energy choices, and the waste hierarchy.

Core rules

  • Renewable resources such as solar energy, wind, water, forests and soil can regenerate, but they can still be depleted if use exceeds regeneration. Non-renewable resources such as coal, petroleum and minerals are finite.
  • Sustainable yield means harvesting no faster than the resource regenerates. Carrying capacity is the maximum demand an environment can support sustainably.
  • Soil conservation includes contour ploughing, terracing, strip cropping, shelter belts, adding organic matter and building check dams.
  • Water conservation includes watershed management, rainwater harvesting, recharge pits and drip irrigation. Reducing loss is often cheaper than creating new supply.
  • The waste hierarchy is reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and dispose. Reduction prevents waste; recycling only delays disposal.
  • Forests are best conserved through protection, native-species afforestation and community participation, not merely planting any fast-growing species.

Worked example

A roof measures 100 m2 and receives 50 mm of rain. Convert 50 mm to 0.05 m. Multiply by area: 100 × 0.05 = 5 m3. With a runoff coefficient of 0.8, harvested water = 5 × 0.8 = 4 m3, or 4,000 litres. If a family uses 200 litres per day, that is about 20 days of supply. The coefficient matters because some rain is lost to evaporation, first flush and leakage.

Traps

  • Do not equate renewable with inexhaustible.
  • Conservation is not the same as non-use; it means wise, sustainable use.
  • Recycling is lower in the hierarchy than reducing and reusing.
  • Do not confuse a check dam, which slows water and recharges groundwater, with a storage dam.

Odisha has large water, forest, iron ore, coal and bauxite resources. Hirakud dam regulates the Mahanadi, while mining areas need rehabilitation and laterite soils need organic matter and erosion control.