3.1.1.
The importance of land as a natural resource
Land is a crucial (ultimate) natural resource that serves as the foundation of all human activity and
wealth. It is the physical commodity and abstract concept that rights to own or use it are as much a
part of the land as the object rooted in the soil. Land provides food, shelter, space to work, and
relaxation, and represents fundamental components of the ecosystem.
Land resources are useable materials found naturally in the environment and are classified into
different groups based on regeneration, origin, current use and future availability, distribution and
volume, and stage of development.
Renewable resources, such as plants and animals, are regenerative and replaceable after use, as long
as their environments are well-maintained. However, many renewable resources can be depleted
through excessive use. Sustainable use of these resources is essential for preserving land resources for
human benefit. Some renewable resources are inexhaustible, such as sunlight, oxygen in the
atmosphere, and wind.
Non-renewable resources, such as minerals and fossil fuels, exist in finite supply and do not replace
themselves after use. They diminish in size and quality with excessive use and cannot be replenished
soon once they get depleted. Recycling and reusing are recommended management options for non-
renewable resources, but resources like coal and petroleum cannot be recycled like metallic minerals.
Land as an environment refers to the ecological aspects of Earth, including soil quality and
biodiversity, and its functions within the ecosystem. It plays a vital role in the breeding and survival
of living organisms and serves as a sink for waste.
Land comprises both biophysical and socioeconomic resources, and can be defined differently by
different people. It encompasses all aspects of the Earth's surface, including plants, animals,
atmosphere gases, geology, soils, hydrology, and human activities.
3.1.2 The functions of land
Land as a useable material serves several purposes and tends to provide many functions, including:
Production function: serve as means of production,
Waste disposal function: serve as a sink of wastes,
Economic asset: can be converted into a capital resource,
Cultural asset: serve as host of traditional and religious sacred amenities.
3.1.3 Land management
Land management is the strategic use and protection of land resources to support growing
populations and maintain ecosystem services. It encompasses the protection of various
landscapes and resources, (mountains, hills, rivers, depressions, water, air, vegetation,
wildlife, etc.) to retain sustained public benefits and ecosystem services.
Land management should reflect sustainable resource use and development principles and
build upon national, regional, and local needs. The primary objective is to control land
degradation, balance resource exploitation, and regenerate resources.
Land management involves the protection of soil, water, natural vegetation, and air through
practices like farming, tree planting, controlled grazing, terracing, and check-damming. It
also involves the adoption of fuel-saving technologies and renewable power sources to reduce
environmental pollution. Land management should also consider cultural, economic, and
political settings, relying on indigenous culture and local knowledge, and educating the
immediate beneficiaries of the area.
Excessive human use of resources like soils, water, and forests, particularly as common-pool
wealth, places them under increased pressure due to misuse, mismanagement, and
degradation. Rapid population growth and increased rural-urban migration further exacerbate
these issues, highlighting the tragedy of the commons.
3.2.1 Soil resources
Soil erosion is causing a loss of 33% of the world's arable land and soils, causing the loss of
essential nutrients, reduction of biological components, removal of top soil, crusting,
compaction, pollution, and soil salinity. The main forms of soil degradation (depletion) are
o Physical (crusting, compaction, depth reduction),
o Chemical (salinization, alkalinisation, acidification), and
o Biological (loss of soil biota, decline of soil organic carbon).
Despite this, soil depletion reduces productive capacity, environmental quality, and
ecosystem functions. Solutions include proper utilization, erosion control structures, and the
addition of manure and natural fertilizers.
3.2.2. Water resources
Water is a vital life necessity for humans and animals, forming the basis of soil formation,
rock weathering, organic matter decomposition, and rainfall formation. Water (mainly
freshwater) forms the essential portion of the environment and serves as a habitat for diverse
life forms and contributes significantly to power production. However, the world's freshwater
resources are facing significant pressure in the 21st century, with excessive human pressure
causing water scarcity and pollution. Rivers and lakes are particularly threatened by domestic
and industrial waste, particularly in urban areas. Polluted water sources, such as plastic bags
and water hyacinth, contribute to the issue.
The rising population is causing water scarcity in arid and semiarid areas, including parts of
the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. This is a shortage that is expected to worsen in the middle
of this century, potentially leading to a worldwide water crisis. The world population is
expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, increasing the demand for water for agriculture and
industry. This could lead to natural disasters like flooding, droughts, and pollution of surface
and ground waters, reducing the quality of freshwater. Climate change could also disrupt the
hydrological cycle in delicate areas, causing conflicts between nations sharing river basins.
Water is essential for human health, livelihoods, socio-economic stability, political stability,
culture, and society. Sustainable use of water and land ecosystems is crucial due to global
hunger and increasing food demands.
Water is equally imperative at spatial, personal to global scales and from seconds to hundred-
year time scales and far beyond.
To address these challenges, measures such as
■ safe waste disposal systems,
■ laws restricting waste withdrawal to river and lake systems,
■ locating industries far from rivers and lakes,
■ seawater desalination,
■ recycling water with careful treatment
■ porous pavements
■ watershed management are necessary.
Forest resources
Forests, which make up a significant portion of the world's land area, have been essential for
human well-being and provide essential services like subsistence items, income, and
agricultural inputs. They also uptake and store carbon stocks and serve as habitats for
terrestrial species. However, deforestation, encroachment of farming, and mismanagement
have reduced their services. Over the past few decades, 13 million hectares of forested lands
have been converted into other land uses, leading to the loss of rainforest ecosystems.
The increasing demand for biofuels, mining, urbanization, climate change, and changes in
consumption patterns are also putting pressure on world forests. Remedial measures are
necessary to conserve these resources, including
■ afforestation and reforestation programs like the ‘Green Legacy’ practiced in Ethiopia
■ integrating forest management with Soil and Water Conservation programs,
■ exploring alternative energy sources,
■ adopting restrictive laws,
■ encouraging participatory forest management, and
■ creating education and awareness.
The degradation of land resources happens at a wider scale all over the world (e.g. see Figure
3.1); yet, its impacts are much worse in developing countries like those in Africa. The
devastating damages of resource degradation are more evident from loss of soil productivity,
water and air pollution, and contraction of vegetation cover over an area. It is commonly
connected with other environmental and socioeconomic hazards such as climate change and
widespread poverty.
The sources of land resource degradation can be categorized as underlying and proximate
causes. The underlying sources are major causes that promote proximate issues to happen.
The proximate causes are secondary issues that are initiated by the primary (underlying)
agents. Please refer to Table 3.1 for more understanding.
Consequences and controlling measures of resource degradation
Rapid population growth and technological advancements have led to global land-use
changes, resulting in decreased forest cover, increased cultivated lands, and soil erosion. This
has led to a decline in arable land and per capita farmland. Improving rural livelihoods
requires rational resource use and increased agricultural technology application.
The depletion and degradation of natural resources can be checked through land management
practices (e.g. see Figure 3.5). The practices include:
afforestation: planting of trees on barren lands that were not under forest cover before,
reforestation: replanting trees in deforested areas,
area closures: closing deforested areas from livestock contact to restore the previous
status,
terracing: constructing bench terraces on steep lands to reduce the force of running water
and to trap down moving soil,
a check dam is a small or temporary dam or structure constructed across a waterway to
control erosion by reducing water flow velocity. It is important to conserve gullied areas.
mulching refers to the covering of soil with plant residue to let the soil regain some
nutrients as the residue decays. It is important to reduce water loss from evaporation.
shelterbelts: is the planting of trees along a line to break the speed of the blowing wind
and reduce its erosivity,
diversion canals: to divert upcoming floods on farmlands, trenches: to trap down-moving
water and soil,
Drainage channels (ditches): to remove excess water from depressed areas,
Legume-rotation: to replenish soil fertility,
Addition of animal manure: to replace lost nutrients, Inter-cropping: to augment soil
fertility,
Proper irrigation: to minimize soil salinity,
Addition of chemical fertilizer: to replace lost nutrients, using green-manure: to uphold
soil fertility.
3.4.1 Distribution of transboundary watercourses
Transboundary watercourses, including rivers, lakes, inland waters, and aquifers, are shared
by two or more countries. There are over 263 transnational river and lake channels and
numerous trans-state aquifers worldwide, making up around 60% of the world's freshwater
flows and nearly half of the Earth's terrestrial surface.
These watercourses support about 40% of the global population and pass through 145
nations. Around 80% of the total area of 44 countries lies within international basins, with 30
countries falling within trans-state waters. Ground waters interlinked with 300 transboundary
aquifers also support nearly two million people worldwide.
3.4.2 Prospects and impacts of transboundary watercourses
Internationally shared watercourses connect diverse populations and support millions of
people worldwide. They provide ecosystem services like food, shelter, and pollution control.
These watercourses can contribute to socioeconomic development and poverty reduction.
However, despoiled, unmanaged freshwater courses can hinder sustainable development.
Inter-state collaborations are essential to address diverging interests. Despite potential for
cooperation, shared watercourses often cause conflict, as seen in Ethiopia and Egypt's dispute
over Nile waters.
3.4.3 Features of shared river basins
As was mentioned earlier, there are 263 watercourses (rivers, lakes, and aquifers) in the
world shared by two or more countries. As these watercourses are too many to address in this
Grade 11 Geography, 15 major river basins shared by different world countries are presented
as a sample in Table 3.2.
Dams and Economic projects over the Nile Basin:
■ Roseires: Sudan
■ Sennar: Second largest dam in the world (Egypt)
■ Aswan High Dam: Egypt
■ Owen Falls Dam: Uganda
■ Tekeze HEP project: Ethiopia
■ Tana Beles (Ethiopia)
■ Tis Abay (Ethiopia)
■ Fincha (Ethiopia)
■ Koga irrigation (Ethiopia)
■ GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam).
Trans-state watercourses provide both opportunities and threats to riparian countries.
Rivers and lakes often cross diverse governmental and jurisdictional boundaries, making
long-term management of shared resources challenging. To ensure effective water use and
management, a governing rule is needed to harmonize relations between riparian societies
and organizations. While some argue that shared watercourses could lead to conflict, rational
thinkers believe that inter-state formal cooperation benefits riparian states.
Research shows that many institutions and treaties focus on the rights, responsibilities, and
duties of countries sharing international watercourses, with 67% (176) of 263 shared basins
having bilateral conventions.
Most joint covenants from multilateral basins were also bilateral types (2:1). This indicates
that many of the agreements were intentionally excluding one or more riparian countries
within a given catchment. Examples of such institutions are provided in the coming
paragraphs.
The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was a multilateral pact established in 1992 to coordinate
resource management and socio-economic development in riparian states of the Nile River. It
was initiated by six Nile River riparian states, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, and
Burundi. The NBI aimed to promote sustainable socioeconomic development, equitable
utilization of basin resources, recognition of riparian states' rights, and an inclusive legal
framework for equitable and sustainable allocation of Nile waters and resources.
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) was created by Lesotho and the
RSA in 1986 to transfer water from the Orange River head-reaches to key industrial areas. A
Joint Permanent Technical Commission (JPTC) and two governmental bodies were created to
ensure project implementation. The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) was a bilateral River
basin organization (RBO) between Zambia and Zimbabwe over the use of the Zambezi River,
with objectives to operate and maintain the Kariba dam, investigate new projects, and collect
data.
The Kagera Basin Organization (KBO) was created in 1977 by Burundi, Rwanda, and
Tanzania, and later joined by Uganda in 1981. The treaty aimed to strengthen cooperation
among member countries through joint planning and development of sub-regional potentials
in various sectors.
The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) was created in 1995 to improve power supply in
the South African region, which has a large reserve of cheap hydroelectricity (HEP) in its
north region and low-cost coal deposits in the RSA. SARCCUS was established by South
African countries sharing transboundary rivers to coordinate water and soil conservation on
shared river basins.
The US-Canada International Joint Commission (IJC) is an international institution
working on water management in the Great Lakes Region of North America, established by
the Waters Treaty signed between the USA and Canada in 1909. The IJC has been successful
in resolving all transboundary issues related to the basin.
Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt are African countries with shared socioeconomic, cultural, and
natural resources. They have a long history of exchanging popes for Orthodox Churches,
share a long land border, and share the Nile water and its resources.
However, conflicts often arise due to the shared land and water resources, particularly the
utilization and development of the Nile. Ethiopia's per capita water use is 1,666 cubic meters
per person per year, while Sudan's is 1,981 cubic meters per person per annum. Egypt's water
use is lower (about 830 cubic meters per person per year) than the WHO's 1700 cubic meters.
Natural resources, such as water, air, land, forests, fish, wildlife, topsoil, and minerals, are
essential for human livelihoods and determine wealth and prestige. However, excessive
utilization can exhaust resources like diamonds, minerals, and natural oil, leading to asset
scarcity and triggering natural resource conflict among users.
Resource conflicts arise from disputes over accessing, controlling, and using natural
resources like forests, water, and land. They can escalate into violence and environmental
degradation if not addressed. Recognizing these conflicts is crucial for sustainable
management and equitable use, as they are inevitable features of all societies.
3.7.1 Sources and areas of resource conflict
At a wider scope, four kinds of resource conflicts occur as a general challenge to national
stability:
a. Secessionist conflicts in which resource-rich regions seek to split away
from the rest of a country;
b. Disputes over resources as part of new national laws and conventions (i.e.
in the context of a peace agreement or new constitution);
c. Grievances over standalone projects such as mines and hydroelectric
dams; and
d. Cumulative impacts of multiple small-scale clashes, typically over land,
livestock,
Natural resource conflicts are a global issue triggered by competing demands and weak
administration. These disputes often lead to violence and devastation, particularly in
countries with high corruption and ethnic and political divisions. 40-60% of civil wars in the
past six decades have been instigated by the control and use of natural resources.
Water and pasture shortages, as well as larger bodies of water, can also cause conflicts if not
handled wisely. Land ownership provides access to minerals, timber, animals, pasture, and
farm plots, but population growth and environmental degradation are increasing the scarcity
of lands for personal, industrial, or agricultural purposes. Land wars have occurred in
countries like Ecuador, Peru, China, East Timor, Kosovo, Rwanda, and Tajikistan.
Timber scarcity is another significant concern, with 46% of the 30% of world forest cover
destroyed. The increasing demand for timber also pushes to conflict, as seen in Burma,
Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Liberia.
Fuel scarcity is a major concern for developing and developed countries, as the world's
largest petroleum reserves in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Sudan face ardent conflicts
due to market value and demand.
Conflicts can arise when:
User groups are excluded from participating in natural resource management,
Natural resources are poorly managed and inequitably shared,
Contradictions arise between local and introduced management systems;
Confusions develop among users due to the absence of information about gov-
ernment policy and program objectives;
Contradictions or lack of clarity occur on laws and policies; Inequality in resource
distribution exists between users; and/or Poor policy and unsuccessful program
implementation prevail.