Resource Planning and Conservation

Resource Planning for a Sustainable Future: Resources are vital for human survival as well as for maintaining the quality of life.  An equitable distribution of resources has become essential for a sustained quality of life and global peace. If the present trend of resource depletion by a few individuals and countries continues, the future of our planet is in danger. 

Resource Planning for a Sustainable World – Indiscriminate use has led to the following major problems:

• Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of few individuals.
• Accumulation of resources in few hands, which, in turn, divided the society into two segments i.e. haves and have nots or rich and poor.
• Indiscriminate exploitation of resources has led to global ecological crises such as, global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental pollution and land degradation.

Therefore, resource planning is essential for the sustainable existence of all forms of life. Sustainable existence is a component of sustainable development.

Smart Resource Planning  for a Better Tomorrow: Balancing Resources for Sustainable Living

• Resource planning is essential for the sustainable existence of all forms of life. 
• Sustainable existence is a component of sustainable development. 
• Planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources. 
• It has importance in a country like India, which has enormous diversity in the availability of resources. 
• There are regions which are rich in certain types of resources but are deficient in some other resources. 
• There are some regions which can be considered self sufficient in terms of the availability of resources and there are some regions which have acute shortage of some vital resources. 
• Example: Arunachal Pradesh has an abundance of water resources but lacks infrastructural development. 
  • The state of Rajasthan is very well endowed with solar and wind energy but lacks in water resources. 
  • The cold desert of Ladakh is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. It has a very rich cultural heritage but it is deficient in water, infrastructure and some vital minerals. 

This calls for balanced resource planning at the national, state, regional and local levels.

Resource Planning in India: Managing Resources for a Better Future

• Components of Comprehensive Resource Planning: Resource planning is a complex process which involves: 
  • Identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country which involves surveying, mapping and qualitative and quantitative estimation and measurement of the resources. 
  • Evolving a planning structure endowed with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set up for implementing resource development plans. 
  • Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans.
• Pursuit of Resource Planning in India: India has made concerted efforts for achieving the goals of resource planning right from the First Five Year Plan launched after Independence.
• The Interplay of Resources, Technology, and Institutions: The history of colonization reveals that rich resources in colonies were the main attractions for the foreign invaders. 
  • It was primarily the higher level of technological development of the colonizing countries that helped them to exploit resources of other regions and establish their supremacy over the colonies. 
  • Therefore, resources can contribute to development only when they are accompanied by appropriate technological development and institutional changes. 
• Contextualizing Development in India: India has experienced all this in different phases of colonization. 
  • Therefore, in India, development, in general, and resource development in particular involve the availability of resources as well as the technology, quality of human resources and the historical experiences of the people.

Resource Planning for Conservation and Sustainable Development: Embracing Responsible Practices and Thoughtful Stewardship

• Resource Planning & Conservation for Sustainable Development: Resources are vital for any developmental activity. 
  • Using resources carefully and giving them time to get renewed is called resource conservation. 
  • Irrational consumption and overutilization of resources may lead to socio-economic and environmental problems. It can become very scarce and the non-renewable ones. 
• Legacy of Thoughtful Stewardship and Resource Planning: To overcome these problems, resource conservation at various levels is important. This had been the main concern of the leaders and thinkers in the past. 
  • Gandhiji was very concerned about resource conservation and said: “There is enough for everybody’s need and not for anybody’s greed.” 
• Resource Planning for Embracing Sustainability: The alternative energy sources like solar power, wind, wave, geothermal energy are inexhaustible resources. These should be developed to replace the exhaustible resources. 
• Responsible Practices: In case of metallic minerals, use of scrap metals will enable recycling of metals. 
  • Use of substitutes for scarce metals may also reduce their consumption. 
  • Export of strategic and scarce minerals must be reduced, so that the existing reserve may be used for a longer period.

Conclusion

• The planet earth contains the extent and variety of forest and wildlife resources. These diverse flora and fauna are so well integrated in our daily life that we take these for granted, emphasizing the need for resource planning.
• Today there are many more people in the world than there were two centuries back. To feed the growing numbers, large areas of forests have been cleared to grow crops. 
• There is an urgent need to conserve this valuable resource. Conservation of plants and animals is an ethical duty of every citizen. There is a balance in the environment if the relative number of species is not disturbed. 
• The clear lesson from the dynamics of both environmental destruction and reconstruction is that local communities everywhere have to be involved in some kind of natural resource management  and resource planning. 
• Accept only those economic or developmental activities that are people centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding. Otherwise, what exists today will not continue to be so, or the future is going to be different in some respects. 
• The societies will witness demographic transition, geographical shift of population, technological advancement, degradation of environment and water scarcity. Thus , resource planning is our duty to maintain and preserve the life support system that nature provides.

Also Read: Views on Resource Management: Ownership, Land Use, and Development Status