Expand: date=May 2009

Natural resources (economically referred to as land or raw materials) are naturally forming substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. A natural resource's value rests in the amount and extractability of the material available, associated with it are extraction and purification, as opposed to creation. Thus, mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, hunting, and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries, while agriculture is not. The term was introduced to a broad audience by E. F. Schumacher in his 1973 book Small is Beautiful. The term is defined by the United States Geological Survey as "The Nation's natural resources include its minerals, energy, land, water, and biota."

Examples

Some examples of natural resources include:

• Agronomy United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved May 2009.
• Wind
• Air and atmosphere
• Forestry & Agroforestry
• Plants
• Range and Pasture
• Soils
• Water and Oceans
• Wildlife

Depletion

In recent years, the depletion of natural resources and attempts to move to sustainable development have been a major focus of development agencies. This is of particular concern in rainforest regions, which hold most of the Earth's natural biodiversity - irreplaceable genetic natural capital. Conservation of natural resources is the major focus of natural capitalism, environmentalism, the ecology movement, and green politics. Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations.

See also

• Conservation biology
• Conservation reliant species
• Ecology
• Ecology movement
• Environmental protection
• Habitat conservation
• Natural environment
• Natural capital
• Renewable resource
• Sustainability
• Sustainable agriculture