NATURAL RESOURCES

Nepal is beautiful mountainous country on the the lap of the hightest peak Mount Everest.The country is rich in natural resoures.The country looks as if it is lying with agriculture prosperty.The country is also known as a holy land of lumbini,birth place of lord Buddha and country of Mt.Everest.in Nepal there is many natural resources.The enchating rivers flows through the mountain range which have great potentity of hydro electricity.The lakes like Rara , Phewa etc which has fasanting to tourists.It is one of the wealth of Nepal. 

WATER RESOURCE OF NEPAL

This entry provides the long-term average water availability for a country in cubic kilometers of precipitation, recharged ground water, and surface inflows from surrounding countries. The values have been adjusted to account for overlap resulting from surface flow recharge of groundwater sources. Total renewable water resources provides the water total available to a country but does not include water resource totals that have been reserved for upstream or downstream countries through international agreements. Note that these values are averages and do not accurately reflect the total available in any given year. Annual available resources can vary greatly due to short-term and long-term climatic and weather variations.

WATER TAP OF NEPAL

NATURE

JUNGLE SAFARIS IN NEPAL

The Jungle safaris take place in the Terai, which is the part of the Gangetic Plains that connect south Nepal and north India for 500 kilometers. This stretch was called the "char koshe jhari" in Nepal, meaning the ‘eight-mile forest stretch' that was a formidable barrier until the 1950s. The southern plains of Nepal are covered with dense tropical jungle teeming with fascinating wildlife and exotic birds. The one-horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal tiger, crocodile and Himalayan black bear are the stars of the show among the hundreds of species of wild animals that make their home here. The kingdom also contains over 800 species of colorful birds, or about 10% of the world total. An excursion through this zoological garden by elephant, canoe, four-wheel drive vehicle is a jungle safari you’ll remember for a long time. You will be provided with information on request.

AN OUT STANDING BEAUTY OF NATURE

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is an area of countrysideconsidered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Natural England designates them on behalf of the United Kingdom government. The Countryside Council for Wales designates them on behalf of the Welsh Government. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency designates them on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive.

The chief purpose of the AONB designation is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the landscape, with two secondary aims: meeting the need for quiet enjoyment of the countryside and having regard for the interests of those who live and work there. To achieve these aims, AONBs rely on planning controls and practical countryside management.

As they have the same landscape quality, AONBs may be compared to the national parks of England and Wales. AONBs are created under the same legislation as the national parks, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Unlike AONBs, national parks have their own authorities, have special legal powers to prevent unsympathetic development, and are well known to many inhabitants of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are 35 AONBs in England, four in Wales, one (Wye Valley) that is in both England and Wales and nine in Northern Ireland. The first AONB was awarded in 1956 to the Gower Peninsula, south Wales. The most recently confirmed is the Tamar Valley AONB in 1994. The smallest AONB is the Isles of Scilly (1976), 16 km² (6.2 sq mi), and the largest AONB is the Cotswolds (1966), 2,038 km² (787 sq mi). The AONBs of England and Wales together cover around 18% of the countryside in the two countries.

EARTH'S NAAATURAL

"I get excited every time I see a street cleaner," says Hazel Prichard. It's what they collect in their sacks that gets her juices flowing, because the grime and litter they sweep up off the streets is laced with traces of platinum, one of the world's rarest and most expensive metals. The catalytic converters that keep exhaust pollutants from cars, trucks and buses down to an acceptable level all use platinum, and over the years it is slowly but steadily lost through these vehicles' exhaust pipes. Prichard, a geologist at the University of Cardiff in the UK, reckons that tonnes of the stuff is being sprayed out onto the world's streets and highways every year, and she is hunting for places where it is concentrated enough to be worth recovering. One of her prime targets is the waste containers in road-sweeping machines.

This could prove lucrative, but Prichard is motivated by something far more significant than the chance of a quick buck. Platinum is a vital component not only of catalytic converters but also of fuel cells - and supplies are running out. It has been estimated that if all the 500 million vehicles in use today were re-equipped with fuel cells, operating losses would mean that all the world's sources of platinum would be exhausted within 15 years. Unlike with oil or diamonds, there is no synthetic alternative: platinum is a chemical element, and once we have used it all there is no way on earth of getting any more. What price then pollution-free cities?

It's not just the world's platinum that is being used up at an alarming rate. The same goes for many other rare metals such as indium, which is being consumed in unprecedented quantities for making LCDs for flat-screen TVs, and the tantalum needed to make compact electronic devices like cellphones. How long will global reserves of uranium last in a new nuclear age? Even reserves of such commonplace elements as zinc, copper, nickel and the phosphorus used in fertiliser will run out in the not-too-distant future. So just what proportion of these materials have we used up so far, and how much is there left to go round?

Perhaps surprisingly, given how much we rely on these elements, we can't be sure. For a start, the annual global consumption of most precious metals is not known with any certainty. Estimating the extractable reserves of many metals is also difficult. For rare metals such as indium and gallium, these figures are kept a closely guarded secret by mining companies. Governments and academics are only just starting to realise that there could be a problem looming, so studies of the issue are few and far between.

Armin Reller, a materials chemist at the University of Augsburg in Germany, and his colleagues are among the few groups who have been investigating the problem. He estimates that we have, at best, 10 years before we run out of indium. Its impending scarcity could already be reflected in its price: in January 2003 the metal sold for around $60 per kilogram; by August 2006 the price had shot up to over $1000 per kilogram.

Uncertainties like this pose far-reaching questions. In particular, they call into doubt dreams that the planet might one day provide all its citizens with the sort of lifestyle now enjoyed in the west. A handful of geologists around the world have calculated the costs of new technologies in terms of the materials they use and the implications of their spreading to the developing world. All agree that the planet's booming population and rising standards of living are set to put unprecedented demands on the materials that only Earth itself can provide. Limitations on how much of these materials is available could even mean that some technologies are not worth pursuing long term.

Take the metal gallium, which along with indium is used to make indium gallium arsenide. This is the semiconducting material at the heart of a new generation of solar cells that promise to be up to twice as efficient as conventional designs. Reserves of both metals are disputed, but in a recent report René Kleijn, a chemist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, concludes that current reserves "would not allow a substantial contribution of these cells" to the future supply of solar electricity. He estimates gallium and indium will probably contribute to less than 1 per cent of all future solar cells - a limitation imposed purely by a lack of raw material.

To get a feel for the scale of the problem, we have turned to data from the US Geological Survey's annual reports and UN statistics on global population. This has allowed us to estimate the effect that increases in living standards will have on the time it will take for key minerals to run out (see Graphs). How many years, for instance, would these minerals last if every human on the planet were to consume them at just half the rate of an average US resident today?

The calculations are crude - they don't take into account any increase in demand due to new technologies, and also assume that current production equals consumption. Yet even based on these assumptions, they point to some alarming conclusions. Without more recycling, antimony, which is used to make flame retardant materials, will run out in 15 years, silver in 10 and indium in under five. In a more sophisticated analysis, Reller has included the effects of new technologies, and projects how many years we have left for some key metals. He estimates that zinc could be used up by 2037, both indium and hafnium - which is increasingly important in computer chips - could be gone by 2017, and terbium - used to make the green phosphors in fluorescent light bulbs - could run out before 2012. It all puts our present rate of consumption into frightening perspective (see Diagram).

Our hunger for metals and minerals may not grow indefinitely, however. When Tom Graedel and colleagues at Yale University looked at figures for the consumption of iron - one of our planet's most plentiful metals - they found that per capita consumption in the US levelled off around 1980. "This suggests there might be only so many iron bridges, buildings and cars a member of a technologically advanced society needs," Graedel says. He is now studying whether this plateau is a universal phenomenon, in which case it might be possible to predict the future iron requirements of developing nations. Whether consumption of other metals is also set to plateau seems more questionable. Demand for copper, the only other metal Graedel has studied, shows no sign of levelling off, and based on 2006 figures for per capita consumption he calculates that by 2100 global demand for copper will outstrip the amount extractable from the ground.

So what can be done? Reller is unequivocal: "We need to minimise waste, find substitutes where possible, and recycle the rest." Prichard, working with Lynne Macaskie at the University of Birmingham in the UK, has found that platinum makes up as much as 1.5 parts per million of roadside dust. They are now seeking out the largest of these urban platinum deposits, and Macaskie is developing a bacterial process that will efficiently extract the platinum from the dust.

BIOLOGY NATURAL

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and livingorganisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.^[1] Modern biology is a vast and eclectic field, composed of many branches and subdisciplines. However, despite the broad scope of biology, there are certain general and unifying concepts within it that govern all study and research, consolidating it into single, coherent fields. In general, biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the basic unit ofheredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the synthesis and creation of new species. It is also understood today that all organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment to maintain a stable and vital condition.

Subdisciplines of biology are defined by the scale at which organisms are studied, the kinds of organisms studied, and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life; molecular biology studies the complex interactions among biological molecules; botanystudies the biology of plants; cellular biology examines the basic building-block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of tissues, organs, and organ systems of an organism; evolutionary biology examines the processes that produced the diversity of life; and ecology examines how organisms interact in their enviroment.

ECONOMICS RESOURCES

In economics a resource is defined as a service or other asset used to produce goods and services that meet human needs and wants.^[3]Economics itself has been defined as the study of how society manages its scarce resources.^[4] Classical economics recognizes three categories of resources, also referred to as factors of production: land, labor, and capital.^[5] Land includes all natural resources and is viewed as both the site of production and the source of raw materials. Labor or human resourcesconsists of human effort provided in the creation of products, paid in wage. Capital consists of human-made goods or means of production (machinery, buildings, and other infrastructure) used in the production of other goods and services, paid in interest.

RESOURCES

A resource is a source or supply from which benefit is produced. Typically resources are materials, energy, services, staff, knowledge, or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit and in the process may be consumed or made unavailable. Benefits of resource utilization may include increased wealth, meeting needs or wants, proper functioning of a system, or enhanced well being. From a human perspective a natural resource is anything obtained from the environmentto satisfy human needs and wants.^[1] From a broader biological or ecological perspective a resource satisfies the needs of a living organism (see biological resource).^[2]

The concept of resources has been applied in diverse realms, including with respect to economics, biology and ecology,computer science, management, and human resources, and is linked to the concepts of competition, sustainability,conservation, and stewardship. In application within human society, commercial or non-commercial factors require resource allocation through resource management.

Resources have three main characteristics: utility, limited availability, and potential for depletion or consumption. Resources have been variously categorized as biotic versus abiotic, renewable versus non-renewable, and potential versus actual, along with more elaborate classification.

PROTECTION OF RESOURCES

In 1982 the UN developed the World Charter for Nature, which recognised the need to protect nature from further depletion due to human activity. It states that measures need to be taken at all societal levels, from international to individual, to protect nature. It outlines the need for sustainable use of natural resources and suggests that the protection of resources should be incorporated into national and international systems of law.^[16] To look at the importance of protecting natural resources further, the World Ethic of Sustainability, developed by the IUCN, WWF and the UNEP in 1990,^[17] set out eight values for sustainability, including the need to protect natural resources from depletion. Since the development of these documents, many measures have been taken to protect natural resources including establishment of the scientific field and practice of conservation biology and habitat conservation, respectively.

Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction.^[18][19] It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on science, economics and the practice of natural resource management.^{[20][21][22][23]} The term conservation biology was introduced as the title of a conference held at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California, in 1978, organized by biologists Bruce A. Wilcox and Michael E. Soulé.

NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Natural resource management is a discipline in the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants andanimals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations.

Management of natural resources involves identifying who has the right to use the resources and who does not for defining the boundaries of the resource.^[25] The resources are managed by the users according to the rules governing of when and how the resource is used depending on local condition.^[26]

A successful management of natural resources should^{[neutrality is disputed]} engage the community because of the nature of the shared resources the individuals who are affected by the rules can participate in setting or changing them.^[25] The users have the rights to devise their own management institutions and plans under the recognition by the government. The right to resources includes land, water, fisheries and pastoral rights.^[26] The users or parties accountable to the users have to actively monitor and ensure the utilisation of the resource compliance with the rules and to impose penalty on those peoples who violates the rules.^[25] These conflicts are resolved in a quick and low cost manner by the local institution according to the seriousness and context of the offence.^[26] The global science-based platform to discuss natural resources management is the World Resources Forum, based in Switzerland.

NATURAL

• Renewable resources can be replenished naturally. Some of these resources, like sunlight, air, wiare continuously available and their quantity is not noticeably affected by human consumption. Though many renewable resources do not have such a rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use. Resources from a human use perspective are classified as renewable only so long as the rate of replenishment/recovery exceeds that of the rate of consumption.
• Non-renewable resources – Non-renewable resources either form slowly or do not naturally form in the environment. Minerals are the most common resource included in this category. By the human perspective, resources are non-renewable when their rate of consumption exceeds the rate of replenishment/recovery; a good example of this are fossil fuels, which are in this category because their rate of formation is extremely slow (potentially millions of years), meaning they are considered non-renewable. Some resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most notable of these being radio-active elements such as uranium, which naturally decay into heavy metals. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them,^[1] but coal and petroleum cannot be recycled.

NATURAL RESOURCES TYPES

 Nepal covers a span of 147,181 sq. kilometers ranging from altitude of 70 meters to 8,848 meters. Mountains, mid hills, valleys and plains dominate the geography of landlocked Nepal that extends from the Himalayan range in the north to the Indo-Gangetic lowlands in south. Mt. Everest, the highest point of the Himalayas is in Nepal.

Physical features also include green paddy terraces, wind-swept deserts, dense forests and marshy grasslands. The country is well endowed with perennial rivers, lakes and glacial lakes that originate in the Himalayas. Twenty percent of the land in the country is used for agriculture, where 0.49 percent is used for permanent crops, mainly rice.

Climatic conditions of Nepal vary from one place to another in accordance with the geographical features. In the north summers are cool and winters severe, while in south summers are sub tropical and winters mild.

The variety in Nepal's topography provides home to wildlife like tigers, rhinos, monkeys, bears, yaks, leopards and different species of insects and birds. Nepal is a home to almost 10 percent of the world's bird species among which 500 species are found in the Kathmandu Valley.

The country has managed to preserve some endangered species of Asia in its extensive parks and protected natural habitats. The most abundant natural resource in Nepal is water. Other resources found here are quartz, timber, lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore and scenic beauty.

Nature resource - Nepal

• Nepal covers a span of 147,181 sq. kilometers ranging from altitude of 70 meters to 8,848 meters. Mountains, mid hills, valleys and plains dominate the geography of landlocked Nepal that extends from the Himalayan range in the north to the Indo-Gangetic lowlands in south. Mt. Everest, the highest point of the Himalayas is in Nepal. Physical features also include green paddy terraces, wind-swept deserts, dense forests and marshy grasslands. The country is well endowed with perennial rivers, lakes and glacial lakes that originate in the Himalayas. Twenty percent of the land in the country is used for agriculture, where 0.49 percent is used for permanent crops, mainly rice. Climatic conditions of Nepal vary from one place to another in accordance with the geographical features. In the north summers are cool and winters severe, while in south summers are sub tropical and winters mild. The variety in Nepal's topography provides home to wildlife like tigers, rhinos, monkeys, bears, yaks, leopards and different species of insects and birds. Nepal is a home to almost 10 percent of the world's bird species among which 500 species are found in the Kathmandu Valley. The country has managed to preserve some endangered species of Asia in its extensive parks and protected natural habitats. The most abundant natural resource in Nepal is water. Other resources found here are quartz, timber, lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore and scenic beauty. Trip Search:

NATURAL RESOURCES IN NEPAL: Forest, Water, Soil and Minerals

Nepal is a small country but it is rich in Natural Resources. These natural resources are the gifts of the nature. Some of the important natural resources of Nepal are: Forest, Water, Soil or Land.

FOREST

Forest is one of the important natural resources. Different types of forests are found in different regions of Nepal. It occupies about 37% of the total land of Nepal. Forest is the source of all wood-based industries. Industries like paper, furniture and timber are based on the forest. Forests are rich in herbs. The herbs have medicinal values. Many medicines are made from these herbs. Timber and herbs are valuable natural resources. The value of timber and herbs is very high in the world market.

There are many kinds of animals in the forests of Nepal. Forests provide food and shelter for these animals. Animals and birds add to the natural beauty of the country. People from many countries come to Nepal to see these beautiful birds and exotic wildlife. Many types of fruit and grasses grow in forests. People depend on them for their living and also to rear their livestock.

Forests support agriculture. It also causes rainfall. It keeps the soil tight. So, forests help control soil erosion, landslides and floods. Nepal government is trying to preserve forests. It has established many National Parks and Wildlife Reserves.

Green forest is the wealth of Nepal. Forest is the free gift of nature to human beings. Forest is a very important resource of Nepal. Forest provides wood, fuel, herbs etc. we get raw materials for fuel, raw materials for furniture, matches and paper. It influences climates, causes rain, stops flood, soil erosion and landslide. Forest is the habitat of wild animals. Tourists come to see wild animals and thus we can earn foreign currencies. Forest regulates the temperature of the surrounding areas. It is pleasant to live near forest. Villagers graze their cattle in the forests and they also get fodders for their cattle. We should preserve our forest and use it wisely.

WATER

Water is the most important natural resource of Nepal. Nepal is rich in water resource. Nature has been very kind to us by providing us with unlimited supply of water. Nepal is the second richest in the water resources in the world after Brazil.

Nepal is a landlocked country. So Nepal does not have access to the sea or oceans. But there are lots of rivers that flow from the Himalayas. When snow melts in the Himalayas, the glacier and rivers are formed. The rivers flow through the mountain regions to the Terai. The main rivers of Nepal are Mechi, Koshi, Narayani, Gandaki, Karnali and Mahakali. These rivers have several tributaries. In addition to these Kankai, Bagmati, Trishuli, Marshyangi, Seti, Rapti, Bheri and also important rivers of Nepal.

Lakes are also important sources of water. There are many lakes in Nepal. Rara lake is the largest. It is located in Mugu district. The second largest lake is the Phewa. It is in Pokhara, Kaski. Begnas and Rupa lakes are also in Pokhara. Lakes are usually large areas of water surrounded by land.

Phoksundo is the deepest lake of Nepal. It is located in Dolpa district. Tilicho is located at the highest altitude. It is in Manang district. Some famous lakes are Gosain Kunda (Rasuwa district) and Satyawati (Palpa district). Rivers and lakes together with other streams, ponds and underground water form water resources. These are important sources for the development of Nepal.

Water is used for many purposes. It is used for drinking and washing. It is used for irrigation. Irrigation is the lifeline for agriculture. Hydro-electricity is produced from fast flowing rivers. Many hydro-power stations have been built in Nepal to tap rivers for generating electricity.

The major hydro-electricity projects are:

1. Kaligandaki: 144MW
2. Marsyangdi: 75MW
3. Kulekhani I: 60MW
4. Bhote Koshi: 36MW
5. Khimti: 60MW
6. Kulekhani: 32MW

LAND/SOIL

Land is the other natural resource of Nepal. In Nepal most people depend on land. They do farming and earn their living from land. Land includes soil and minerals. The cultivable land in Nepal is about 17%. About 38% of the land is rocky and covered with snow.

Soil is an important factor for agriculture. It is not possible for people and animals to live on earth without soil. The land in Terai is very fertile. It is good for agriculture. So, the productivity of Terai is very high. The terai region is the storehouse of food grains. It is called the green belt of Nepal. There are many hills and mountains in Nepal. The surface is rugged and sloppy in the hills. When rainfall is heavy the top soil of the hills is washed away. Then it causes landslides. So, the trees should be planted and conserved to protect soil in the hills. Plants are the only means to hold the soil tightly and to stop erosion.

A variety of soils are available in Nepal. Nepal is an agricultural country. There is a great importance of soil here. Alluvial soil is found in abundance, which is very good for growing paddy, wheat, jute, oilseed, tobacco and sugarcane. Sandy and stony soil is found in inner Terai and Chure range. Soil is good for growing groundnut, coconut, palm, oilseeds, maize, potatoes, etc. Reddish grey soil is found in the hills of Mahabharat. This type of soil is good for potato, fruits, soyabean, tea and maize. Lacutrine soil is found in the valley. Its colour is black. It is good for the growth of green vegetables and food crops. In the Himalayan region the soil is not suitable for food and cash crops. The soil has less fertility so only buckwheat, barley, maize and potato can be grown.

MINERALS

Minerals like slate, stone, rock, coal, iron, copper, limestone, magnesite, mica and natural gas are natural resources. The marbles are made of rocks. Limestones are used in cement industries. Hetauda and Udaypur cement factories are the examples of such industries.

Nepal is quite rich in mineral resources. Mineral deposits such as gold, mica, limestone, iron ore, copper are found in different parts of Nepal. Because of financial constraint and lack of technical and skilled manpower, progress in the field of mining is negligible. If we utilize the mineral resources of Nepal properly, we can earn foreign currencies and people will get job opportunities also. The areas where minerals are found are as follows:

1. Copper: Buddha Khola (Bandipur), Gyari (Gorkha), Arghauli (Chisapani), Taplejung, Ilam, Baitadi, etc.
2. Iron: Ramechhap, Labdhi Khola, Pyuthan, Bhainse, Kulekhani, Bhutkhola, Phulchoki, Ghatkhola, etc.
3. Mica: Bhojpur, Chainpur, Lamjung, Dhankuta, Nuwakot, Sindhuligadhi, etc.
4. Limestone: Chovar (Kathmandu), Baise (Makawanpur), Udayapur.