Nowadays, the consumer attitude towards nature, the consumption of its resources without taking measures to restore them, are becoming a thing of the past. The problem of rational use of natural resources and the protection of nature from the destructive consequences of human economic activity have acquired enormous national importance. Society, in the interests of present and future generations, takes the necessary measures to protect and scientifically based, rational use of the earth and its subsoil, water resources, flora and fauna, to maintain clean air and water, ensure the reproduction of natural resources and improve the human environment. Nature conservation and rational environmental management is a complex problem, and its solution depends both on the consistent implementation of government measures and on the expansion of scientific knowledge.
For harmful substances in the atmosphere, maximum permissible concentrations are legally established that do not cause noticeable consequences for humans. In order to prevent air pollution, measures have been developed to ensure proper combustion of fuel, the transition to gasified central heating, and the installation of treatment facilities at industrial enterprises. In aluminum smelters, installing filters on pipes prevents the release of fluoride into the atmosphere.
In addition to the construction of treatment facilities, a search is underway for a technology in which waste generation would be minimized. The same goal is served by improving the design of cars and switching to other types of fuel, the combustion of which produces fewer harmful substances. Cars with an electric motor are being developed for transportation within the city. Proper urban planning and green enjoyment are of great importance. For example, sulfur dioxide is well absorbed by poplar, linden, maple, and horse chestnut.
Domestic and industrial wastewater is subjected to mechanical, physico-chemical and biological treatment. Biological treatment involves the destruction of dissolved organic substances by microorganisms.
Wastewater treatment does not solve all problems. Therefore, more and more enterprises are switching to a new technology - a closed cycle, in which purified water is re-entered into production. New technological processes make it possible to reduce water consumption tenfold.
To increase agricultural productivity, correct agricultural technology and the implementation of special soil protection measures are of great importance. For example, the fight against ravines is successfully carried out by planting plants - trees, shrubs, grasses. Plants protect soils from being washed away and reduce the speed of water flow. The diversity of plantings and crops along the ravine contributes to the formation of persistent biocenoses. Birds settle in the thickets, which is of no small importance for pest control. Protective forest plantations in the steppes prevent water and wind erosion of fields.
The development of biological methods of pest control makes it possible to sharply reduce the use of pesticides in agriculture.
Currently, 2,000 plant species, 236 mammal species, and 287 bird species need protection. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has established a special Red Book, which provides information about endangered species and provides recommendations for their conservation. Many endangered animal species have now recovered their numbers. This applies to elk, saiga, egret, and eider.
The conservation of flora and fauna contributes to the organization of nature reserves and sanctuaries. In addition to protecting rare and endangered species, they serve as a basis for the domestication of wild animals with valuable economic properties. Reserves also serve as centers for the resettlement of animals that have disappeared in a given area, or for the purpose of enriching the local fauna. The North American muskrat has taken root well in Russia, providing valuable fur. In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, musk ox imported from Canada and Alaska successfully reproduces. The number of beavers, which almost disappeared in our country at the beginning of the century, has been restored.
Such examples show that a careful attitude based on deep knowledge of the biology of plants and animals not only preserves it, but also provides a significant economic effect.
Conclusion.
Humanity, in its desire to improve living conditions, is constantly increasing the pace of material production, without thinking about the consequences. For example, modern man has increased the volume of pollution habitual to nature so much that nature does not have time to process them. Moreover, it began to produce such contaminants for which there are no appropriate types in nature for processing, and for some contaminants, for example radioactive ones, they will never appear. Therefore, the “refusal” of the biosphere to process the fruits of human activity will inevitably act as an increasingly growing ultimatum in relation to humans. Therefore, the future of man as a biological species is predictable: an ecological crisis and a decline in numbers.
Bibliography:
General biology. Reference materials. M., Bustard, 1995.
General biology. Textbook for secondary specialized educational institutions.
S.G. Mamontov, V.B. Zakharov, M., Higher School 2000
With the help of this video lesson, you can independently study the topic “Rational use of nature and its protection.” During the lesson you will learn that nature is not an inexhaustible resource. The teacher will talk about the need for rational use of nature and ways to protect it.
BIOLOGY
9TH GRADE
Topic: basics of ecology
Lesson 64. Rational use of nature and its protection
Anisimov Alexey Stanislavovich,
teacher of biology and chemistry,
Moscow, 2012
Each of us, regardless of age, has the power to positively or negatively influence the future of nature. Scientists and environmentalists argue that in order to contribute to saving the future of the biosphere, it is enough not to throw away plastic bags, constantly buying new ones, to refuse goods in plastic bottles, and not to throw batteries, accumulators and equipment with the corresponding markings into trash bins. It is harder to be a master of nature than to be a consumer of it. But only responsible owners care about their future.
For many centuries, humanity has treated nature as an almost inexhaustible source of well-being. Plowing more land, cutting down more trees, mining more coal and ore, and building more roads and factories was considered the main direction of progressive development and prosperity. Already in ancient times, with the beginning of agriculture and cattle breeding, human activity led to real environmental disasters: irreversible changes in large ecosystems and devastation of large areas.
By the middle of the twentieth century it was already obvious that environmental disruption was caused by anthropogenic impact, which has not only local but also planetary significance. The question of the limits of the planet's ecological capacity for human existence has become acute.
Population growth and the technogenic nature of the use of nature have led to the threat of environmental violations affecting not only individual states and countries, but also the biosphere as a whole. Planetary circular cycles—the circulation of substances—change. As a result, humanity has faced a number of environmental problems caused by anthropogenic impact on the environment.
Depletion of natural resources. The resources on which humanity lives are divided into two categories:
1. Renewable (soil, vegetation, fauna).
2. Non-renewable (reserves of ores and fossil fuels).
Renewable resources are capable of recovery if their consumption does not exceed critical limits. Intensive consumption has led to a significant decrease in the populations of salmon, sturgeon, many herrings, and whales.
Soil loss, settlement and erosion, destruction and removal of the fertile layer by water and wind have acquired enormous proportions. Both arise as a result of improper agricultural exploitation of land. Tens of millions of hectares of valuable soil are lost every year.
Environmental pollution
As a result of industrial production, a huge amount of harmful substances enter the atmosphere, water and soil as waste, the accumulation of which threatens the lives of most species, including humans.
A powerful source of pollution is modern agriculture, which saturates the soil with excessive amounts of fertilizers and poisons to combat pests. Unfortunately, the practice of using these substances is still widespread.
Rational use of natural resources and nature conservation
Currently, global environmental threats have begun to be recognized by society. Environmentally competent and rational use of natural resources is the only possible way for humanity to survive.
It is impossible to ensure the survival of humanity without the development of environmental science, rational use and nature conservation. The science of ecology allows us to understand in what ways we need to build relationships with nature in different areas of human activity. In addition, over many centuries, different peoples have accumulated extensive experience in caring for the natural environment and using its resources. This experience was largely forgotten with the advent of the scientific and technological revolution, but is now again attracting attention. What gives us hope is that modern humanity is armed with scientific knowledge (http://spb.ria.ru/Infographics/20120323/497341921.html). The main difficulty is that in order to prevent global environmental disasters and ensure the rational use of nature, it is necessary to maintain consistency in the activities of many environmental groups, all states of the world and individuals.
It requires a restructuring of every person from old forms of exploitation of nature to constant care for it, a transition to new technologies of industry and agriculture. All this is impossible without investing large amounts of money, universal environmental awareness and acquiring deep knowledge in every area of interaction with nature.
Universal environmental education is becoming one of the main requirements of the time. Present and future generations will face an intense conscious struggle for the coordinated activities of people to preserve the biosphere (http://spb.ria.ru/Infographics/20120418/497610977.html). In the present and future, the restructuring of industry and agriculture on an environmental basis, the introduction of new legislation, new moral standards, and the formation of an environmental culture for the sake of the further prosperity and development of humanity on Earth are inevitable.
Environmental disasters of antiquity
The first environmental disasters caused by humans occurred several thousand years ago. Thus, forests were cut down in Ancient Greece and Asia Minor, the desert area was greatly expanded due to excessive grazing, and the number of ungulates dropped sharply.
Environmental disasters caused by disruption of natural connections have repeatedly occurred in different regions of our country.
Dust storms caused by the plowing of large areas lifted up and carried away fertile soils in the USA, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
Due to deforestation, navigable rivers became shallow.
In areas of dry climate, excessive watering caused soil salinization.
In the steppe regions, ravines spread, robbing people of fertile lands.
Polluted lakes and rivers turned into sewage ponds.
Species extinction
Due to human fault, the species diversity of plants and animals is catastrophically decreasing. Some species have disappeared as a result of direct extermination. For example, the passenger pigeon, Steller's sea cow and others.
Much more dangerous were the sudden changes in the natural environment caused by humans and the destruction of habitual habitats. Because of this, 2/3 of existing species are threatened with death. Now the pace of anthropogenic impoverishment of wildlife is such that several species of animals and plants disappear every day. In the history of the Earth, processes of extinction of species were balanced by processes of speciation. The pace of evolution is not comparable with the destructive influence of humans on species diversity.
Earth Hour
Earth Hour is an annual international event organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It takes place on the last Saturday of March and calls on all individuals and representatives of organizations to turn off lights and other electrical appliances for one hour. In this way, environmentalists seek to draw attention to the problems of climate change. The first Earth Hour took place in Australia in 1997, and the following year this goodwill event received worldwide support. To date, Earth Hour is the most widespread attempt in human history to draw attention to environmental problems.
According to the Wildlife Foundation, more than a billion people on the planet participate in this action every year.
Questions:
1. When did people begin to think about the harm caused to nature by their activities?
2. What international environmental organizations do you know?
3. How has the chemical composition of the atmosphere changed before and is it changing now due to the growth of industry?
4. Offer your own promising ways to preserve the natural environment from destruction by humans.
1. Mamontov S.G., Zakharov V.B., Agafonova I.B., Sonin N.I. Biology. General patterns. - M.: Bustard, 2009.
2. Pasechnik V.V., Kamensky A.A., Kriksunov E.A. Biology. Introduction to general biology and ecology: Textbook for grade 9. 3rd ed., stereotype. - M.: Bustard, 2002.
3. Ponomareva I.N., Kornilova O.A., Chernova N.M. Fundamentals of general biology. 9th grade: Textbook for 9th grade students of general education institutions / Ed. prof. I.N. Ponomareva. - 2nd ed., revised. - M.: Ventana-Graf, 2005.
Only a highly educated society that understands its goals and is able to balance its needs with the opportunities that nature gives it can enter the era of the noosphere. For reasonable management of the biosphere and the transition to the level of the noosphere, it is necessary not only to know the structure and principle of “work” of this huge and complex system , but also be able to influence the processes occurring in it in the desired direction.
And yet, even perfect knowledge of biosphere mechanisms and a clear understanding of what needs to be done will not bear real fruit in the absence of a certain level of maturity and culture of society. The most important task here is the formation of a new social and environmental morality. To replace slogans like “Man is the king of nature” or “We cannot expect favors from nature; taking them from her is our task!” There must be an attitude towards a reasonable and careful attitude towards what makes us exist, towards our common and only home - planet Earth. It is necessary to formulate a strategy for the development of human society that would allow it to harmoniously combine its needs with the possibilities of the normal functioning of the biosphere. This means not only the widespread dissemination of production methods (technologies) for saving energy and resources, but also (first of all!) a change in the nature of people’s needs.
We now live in what is called a “disposable society.” It is characterized by irrational wasteful exploitation of natural resources. To preserve human civilization, it is necessary to build an environmentally friendly society that wisely uses natural resources.
Natural resources are the most important components of the human environment, used to satisfy all kinds of material and cultural needs of society. They are very diverse.
The limited resources of the Earth are currently becoming one of the most pressing problems of human civilization. Finding ways to rationally manage natural resources is one of the most important tasks of our time.
The limited nature of natural resources and imperfect technology for their extraction and processing often lead to the destruction of biogeocenoses, environmental pollution, climate disturbances and the circulation of substances in ecosystems.
The general task of rational management of natural resources is to find the best (according to certain criteria), or optimal, ways of exploiting natural and artificial ecosystems.
The creation of new technologies must be combined with competent, competent environmental assessment of all, especially large-scale, projects in industry, construction, transport, agriculture and other sectors of human activity. Conducted by special independent bodies, such an examination will avoid many miscalculations and unpredictable consequences of the implementation of these projects for the biosphere.
In general, environmental protection and natural resource restoration tasks should include the following activities:
- -- local (local) and global environmental monitoring, i.e. measurement and control of the state of the most important characteristics of the environment, the concentration of harmful substances in the atmosphere, water, soil;
- -- restoration and protection of forests from fires, pests, diseases;
- -- expansion and increase in the number of protected areas, unique natural complexes;
- -- protection and breeding of rare species of plants and animals -- widespread education and environmental education of the population;
- -- international cooperation in environmental protection.
Only active work in all areas of human activity to form a new attitude towards nature, the development of rational environmental management, and environmentally friendly technologies of the future will be able to solve the environmental problems of today and move on to harmonious cooperation with nature. The development of perfect environmental legislation and the creation of effective mechanisms for its implementation are an indispensable element of building a society living in harmony with nature.
Awareness of common goals and difficulties standing in the way will inevitably give rise to a feeling of planetary unity of people. We need to learn to feel like members of one family, the fate of which depends on each of us.
Awareness of the unity of humanity is one of the foundations of environmental morality and humanism.
Take care of these lands, these waters,
I love even a small epic.
Take care of all animals within nature,
Kill only the beasts within yourself.
E. Yevtushenko
Principles are the basic provisions that define the goals and objectives, forms and methods, procedure and conditions of environmental activities of the federal state, sovereign republics within the Russian Federation, organizations and enterprises, regardless of forms of ownership and types of activities, and citizens.
APPLIED ECOLOGY is engaged in the development of principles for the rational use of natural resources without degradation of the living environment, norms for the use of natural resources and the living environment, permissible loads on them, forms of management of ecosystems at various hierarchical levels, and methods for greening the economy.
DEGRADATION [fr. degradation] - gradual deterioration, degeneration, decline, movement backward. D. environment - general deterioration of the natural environment, joint deterioration of the natural and social environments.
The political leadership of the state develops and proclaims the principles of its activities to ensure rational interaction between society and nature, maintaining the proper quality of the habitat of living beings, including humans, in the form of environmental doctrines.
ECOLOGICAL DOCTRINE - a system of views about the essence, principles, main directions of interaction between society and nature and ways to optimize the relationship between man and his environment.
BASIC PRINCIPLES:
- 1. A developed system of standards in the field of environmental protection, taking into account environmental, sanitary, hygienic and economic requirements. The system of standards in the field of nature conservation includes the following sets of standards: a set of organizational and methodological standards; a set of standards in the field of soil protection and rational use; a set of standards in the field of atmospheric protection; a set of standards in the field of soil protection and rational use; a set of standards in the field of improving land use; a set of standards in the field of protection and transformation of landscapes; a set of standards in the field of protection and rational use of subsoil.
- 2. Regional planning is a project for the integrated use of individual regions of the country, providing for the rational placement of industry, agriculture, resorts, construction industry facilities, transport and communication facilities, convenient settlement of urban and rural populations, technically sound location of engineering structures (water supply, sewerage, etc. ), ensuring sanitary conditions and environmental protection.
- 3. Rational use of natural resources - a comprehensive environmental and economic activity, consisting of scientifically based, planned, efficient use and consumption of natural resources to meet economic needs in combination with the requirements for their conservation, careful use, reproduction and ensuring environmental protection, taking into account possible environmentally harmful consequences of the exploitation of natural resources.
- 4. Rational environmental management - scientifically based, planned. integrated, cost-effective use of the natural environment to meet the needs of the national economy and population, taking into account the immediate and long-term consequences in the state of the natural environment.
- 5. Regulation of the river bed - an artificial change in the shape of the water regime of the river bed for the purpose of its rational use in the interests of the people's economy. clean They are produced to protect lands from flooding, improve conditions for navigation and timber rafting, improve the operation of water intakes, rafting the direction of water flow to the openings of hydraulic structures, protect the beret from erosion, etc.
recycling quality air integrity
Purpose of the lecture: generalize knowledge about the environment, give the concept of diversity in different resources and instill respect for nature.
Lecture outline:
1. The concept of nature conservation
2. Natural resources and their use
3. Aspects of nature conservation
Basic concepts on the topic: Protection of Nature; Natural resources; exhaustible and inexhaustible resources; renewable and non-renewable resources; principles of nature conservation; regionality rule; environmental legislation.
For humans, nature is the environment for life and the source of existence. As a biological species, a person needs a certain composition and pressure of atmospheric air, clean natural water with salts dissolved in it, plants and animals, and earthly temperature. The optimal environment for humans is the natural state of nature that is maintained normally by the ongoing processes of the circulation of substances and energy flows. As a biological species, humans, through their life activities, influence the natural environment no more than other living organisms. However, this influence is incomparable to the enormous impact that humanity has on nature through its work. The transformative influence of human society on nature is inevitable; it intensifies as society develops and the number and mass of substances involved in economic circulation increases. The changes introduced by man have now acquired such a large scale that they have become a threat to disrupt the balance existing in nature and an obstacle to the further development of productive forces. For a long time, people looked at nature as an inexhaustible source of the material goods they needed. However, faced with the negative consequences of their impact on nature, they gradually came to be convinced of the need for its rational use and protection.
Nature conservation is a system of scientifically based international, state and public measures aimed at the rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources, at protecting the natural environment from pollution and destruction in the interests of existing and future generations of people.
The main goal of nature conservation is to create favorable conditions for the life of present and subsequent generations of people, the development of production, science and culture of all peoples inhabiting our planet.
Biological, including food, resources of the planet determine the possibilities of human life on Earth, and mineral and energy resources serve as the basis for the material production of human society. Among the natural resources of the planet, a distinction is made between inexhaustible and exhaustible resources. Inexhaustible resources. There are not so many inexhaustible natural resources. They are divided into space, climate And aquatic. This is the energy of solar radiation, sea waves, and wind. Taking into account the huge mass of air and water on the planet, atmospheric air and water are considered inexhaustible. Selection is relative. For example, fresh water can already be considered a finite resource, since acute water shortages have arisen in many regions of the globe. We can talk about the unevenness of its distribution and the impossibility of using it due to pollution. Atmospheric oxygen is also conventionally considered an inexhaustible resource.
Modern environmental scientists believe that with the current level of technology for using atmospheric air and water, these resources can be considered inexhaustible only with the development and implementation of large-scale programs aimed at restoring their quality.
Exhaustible resources. They are divided into renewable and non-renewable. Renewable resources include flora and fauna and soil fertility. Non-renewable resources include minerals. Their use by humans began in the Neolithic era. The first metals to find use were gold and copper. They were able to extract ores containing copper, as well as tin, silver, and lead already 4 thousand years BC. e.
At present, man has brought into the sphere of his industrial activity the predominant part of known mineral resources. More and more various ores, coal, oil and gas are being extracted from the bowels of the earth. Scientific and technological progress is opening up ever new areas of application of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and various non-metallic raw materials. As a result, the development of ore deposits is expanding and oil production from the seabed is increasing. New territories are being brought into economic circulation, and the use of timber and game animals is increasing. Significant areas of land are being processed in order to grow plant foods and create feed for livestock.
In modern conditions, a significant part of the Earth's surface is plowed or represents fully or partially cultivated pastures for domestic animals. The development of industry and agriculture required large areas for the construction of cities, industrial enterprises, the development of mineral resources, and the construction of communications. Thus, to date, about 20% of the land has been transformed by humans.
Significant areas of the land surface are excluded from human economic activity due to the accumulation of industrial waste on it and the impossibility of using areas where mining and mineral resources are being mined. In the adjacent territories, dumps, quarries, waste heaps are created - earthen cones, sinkholes that appear in places of voids underground.
Among the renewable natural resources, forests play a major role in human life, and are of no small importance as a geographical and environmental factor. Forests prevent soil erosion, retain surface water, i.e., serve as moisture reservoirs, and help maintain groundwater levels. Forests are home to animals of material and aesthetic value to humans: ungulates, fur-bearing animals and other game. In our country, forests occupy about 30% of its total land mass and are one of the main natural resources.
Natural resources are objects and forces of nature used by humans to maintain their existence.
These include sunlight, water, soil, air, minerals, tidal energy, wind power, flora and fauna, intraterrestrial heat, etc.
Natural resources are classified according to a number of criteria:
- on their use- for production (agricultural and industrial), healthcare (recreational), aesthetic, scientific, etc.;
- by affiliation to certain components of nature - land, water, mineral, as well as flora and fauna, etc.;
- by replaceability- into replaceable (for example, fuel and mineral energy resources can be replaced by wind, solar energy) and irreplaceable (there is nothing to replace oxygen in the air for breathing or fresh water for drinking);
- by exhaustibility- into exhaustible and inexhaustible.
To the inexhaustible Natural resources can roughly include sunlight, atmospheric air, water, wind energy, tidal energy, and intraterrestrial heat.
Exhaustible Resources are divided into renewable, relatively renewable and non-renewable
Non-renewable resources- these are resources that are not restored at all or the rate of their recovery is so low that their practical use by humans becomes impossible. These include, for example, minerals located in the bowels of the earth.
Towards relatively renewable resources include soil and forest resources that have the ability to self-heal, but this process occurs over many decades and even centuries.
Renewable resources- these are resources that can be restored through various natural processes in a time commensurate with the timing of their consumption. These include vegetation, fauna and some mineral resources deposited on the bottom of modern lakes and marine lagoons.
In 1957, P. Dansereau formulated the law of irreversibility of interaction “Man - Biosphere”, according to which part of renewable natural resources (animal, plant) can become exhaustible, non-renewable, if a person makes their life and reproduction impossible through irrational agricultural, hydraulic, industrial and other measures. For example, uncontrolled hunting of the Steller's cow led to its extinction as a biological species. The same thing happened with some other animal species.
In general, over the past 400 years, more than 160 species of mammals and birds have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Currently, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one species of animal and plant disappears every year as a result of human activity.
The process of exploiting natural resources in order to satisfy the material and cultural needs of society is called environmental management.
I.V. Komar proposed the concept of so-called resource cycles. The resource cycle is a cycle of transformation of natural substances, which successively includes the identification, extraction, processing of a particular resource and the return of waste from these processes back into nature. I.V. Komar identified the following six resource cycles: energy resources; metal ore resources; non-metallic fossil raw materials; forest resources; soil and climate resources; wild fauna and flora resources. As is easy to see, the first three cycles are associated with non-renewable, and the rest - with renewable natural resources.
As for non-renewable resources, their depletion over time is inevitable, and the task is not so much to stretch these resources over a longer period, but rather to find a substitute for it of natural or artificial origin before the depletion of one or another natural resource, or to find the possibility of its regeneration through the use of recycled materials.
Depending on the interaction between man and nature, the following aspects, or aspects, of its protection are distinguished.
Economic aspect- the most important aspect of nature conservation, because any products consumed by people are created through the consumption of natural resources. A lot of natural substances are involved in economic circulation, and the reserves of many of them are small (for example, mercury, copper, silver, tin, lead), so they are rapidly depleted. The search for new sources and the enrichment of low-grade ores require large economic costs. It is necessary to use natural resources carefully to extend their useful life. The issue of rational use of minerals, fertile soils, fresh water, vegetation and wildlife is especially acute.
Socio-political aspect. The results of human impact on nature must be considered not only in the light of technological progress and population growth, but also depending on the social conditions in which they manifest themselves. Modern society is characterized by a predatory attitude towards nature; its negative impact on the environment is increasing due to the concentration and internationalization of monopoly capital. Developing countries serve as an important source of raw materials for developed countries, which seek to locate their mining industries and use their mineral and agricultural raw materials.
Health aspect. Clean water, air, forest - necessary conditions for the normal functioning of people, which have a beneficial effect on human health, are widely used for health purposes. It is in places with well-preserved nature that sanatoriums, holiday homes, and tourist centers are located. Pollution of the environment with harmful substances causes great harm to human health. In this regard, the health aspect of nature conservation becomes extremely important.
Aesthetic aspect. Nature is a source not only of material wealth, but also of satisfying human aesthetic needs. Since ancient times, it has evoked positive emotions in people and inspired poets and artists to create. Human aesthetic needs in nature are no less important than material ones. The protection of aesthetically valuable places on Earth must be given special attention.
Educational aspect. Communication with nature has a positive effect on a person, makes him kinder, softer, and awakens better feelings in him. The role of nature in the education of young people is especially great.
Love of nature, skills of careful handling of it, caring for living beings develop positive character traits, kindness, curiosity, and patriotism.
Scientific and educational aspect associated with the need to preserve natural, undisturbed areas for research. The study of nature while preserving its diversity makes it possible to clarify the patterns of changes introduced into nature by human activity, make forecasts of these changes, and develop practical measures to protect nature.
The universal relationships and interdependencies existing in nature determine the basic rules and principles of nature conservation.
1. All natural phenomena have multiple meanings for humans and must be assessed from all points of view.
Each phenomenon should be approached taking into account the interests of different sectors of the economy and the preservation of the restorative forces of nature itself. Thus, the forest is considered primarily as a source of wood and chemical raw materials. However, the global role of forests in the biosphere is associated with its photosynthetic capacity. The climate-forming, soil-protecting, water-regulating role of forests is great. Forests are important as places of recreation for people, especially in health resort areas and green areas around cities. In this case, there is no need to talk about forest as an industrial raw material for the woodworking and chemical industries. However, the prevailing idea is still that it is an object of industrial logging. The same can be said about reservoirs. A wide and deep river cannot serve only as a transport route, much less as a drainage point for waste water from industry. Rivers have an important planetary significance: they deliver nutrients to the seas, thereby providing them with the richness and diversity of organic life, including fish resources. It is irrational to use the river in the interests of only one sector of the economy, as is often the case. This is especially clearly demonstrated by the consequences of the construction of a cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the lowland rivers of European Russia. It is necessary to find opportunities for the integrated use of rivers in the interests of various sectors of the economy, healthcare, and tourism, taking into account the restorative forces of nature itself.
2. When using natural resources, it is necessary to be guided by the regional rule.
This rule must be taken into account when using subsoil, water resources, forests, and wildlife. It is not advisable to extract minerals where their reserves are small; it is not economically profitable. It is significant that the United States has mothballed oil production on its territory, considering it profitable to purchase it from oil-rich countries. There are many places on Earth where there is a shortage of fresh water. Excess water in other places does not change this situation. There is nothing more destructive than the intensive use of a resource where there is a shortage of it, on the grounds that there is an excess of that resource elsewhere. The country's wealth in any resource and its use without taking into account the rule of regionality leads to its complete depletion precisely where it is scarce and especially needed. The rule of regionality also applies to the animal world. The same species of game animal in one area requires strict protection due to its extremely low numbers; in other areas it can be intensively hunted. Thus, according to the rule of regionality, the treatment of the same natural resource should be different depending on the specific conditions of the area and on how this resource is represented in it.
3. The rule arising from the interconnection of phenomena in nature is that the protection of one natural object can simultaneously mean the protection of other objects closely related to it.
Thus, protecting water from pollution is at the same time protecting the animals living in this body of water. Protecting the normal hydrological regime with the help of forests also means protecting the soil from water erosion and leaching of mineral salts from it. The protection of insectivorous birds and red forest ants is, to some extent, the protection of the forest from insect pests. Knowledge of trophic, topical connections, patterns of coupled dynamics of predator and prey makes it possible to predict the results of environmental measures in the case of indirect protection or protection of one natural object through the protection of another.
There are also opposite relationships in nature, when the protection of one object causes harm to another. For example, the protection of ungulates, in particular elk, which in some places leads to overpopulation, causes significant harm to the forest due to damage to the undergrowth. One can recall the significant damage caused to the vegetation of some specially protected areas in Africa by elephants, which are concentrated in abundance in these areas. Therefore, the protection of each natural object must be correlated with the interests of the protection of other natural components.
Thus, nature conservation should always be considered as a complex problem, and not as a sum of individual natural components independent of each other. A departmental approach to nature conservation that ignores its integrity and the multifaceted and numerous natural connections between objects and phenomena is unacceptable.
In 1974, B. Commoner’s popular book “The Closing Circle” was published in Russian, where the principles and rules of nature conservation were defined in a brief and vivid form, which in popular science and methodological literature often began to be called “Commoner’s ecological laws.” Here are some of these well-remembered formulations: everything is connected to everything; everything has to go somewhere; nature “knows” better; nothing is given for free, etc.
Conclusions:
The protection and use of nature are, at first glance, two oppositely directed human actions. However, the contradictions between these actions should not be antagonistic. These are two sides of the same phenomenon - the relationship of man to nature. Therefore, the question that is sometimes asked - to protect nature or to use it - does not make sense; Nature must be both protected and used.
What is important is a reasonable balance between the use and protection of nature, which is determined by the quantity (number of resources, their distribution), socio-economic conditions, and culture of the population. Therefore, the basic principle of nature conservation is protection during use.
Control questions:
1. Define the concept of “environmental protection”.
2. What are the differences in defining renewable and non-renewable natural resources?
3. Explain the meaning Law of irreversibility of interaction “Man-Biosphere”
4. Give examples of inexhaustible natural resources.
5. What is the meaning? Resource Cycle Concepts?
6. List the main aspects of nature conservation depending on human impact.
7. Name the basic rules and principles of nature conservation.
8. List the non-renewable mineral resources, the reserves of which will be more than half exhausted in the first half of the 21st century.
The teacher reports that it is possible to understand the importance of the problem of nature conservation only if we consider it from a historical perspective.
It is necessary to especially emphasize the importance of forests for the creation of health centers, and to show their locations using specific examples. The teacher then notes that only wise, planned use of natural resources can satisfy the needs of humanity. Students know that the number of plants and animals of many species decreases catastrophically from year to year. Nature conservation is a national and national concern. Taking into account the above, the teacher asks to independently select and prepare specific examples of plants and animals living in the territories of the Republic of Kazakhstan that are subject to protection.
The ultimate goal of nature conservation is to ensure favorable living conditions for present and future generations of people; Concern for environmental protection is a matter of national importance.
Rational use of natural resources
At the end of the last century, the attention of scientists turned to the influence of economic and other human activities on the biosphere. Increasing the pace of material production has a negative impact on the environment, producing an unequal exchange of valuable resources for waste and toxic substances that cannot be disposed of. This poses a direct threat not only to human existence, but also to the entire ecosystem of the planet, so a rational approach to environmental management, natural resources that are as free from negative impacts as possible, and environmental protection are the only optimal solution to the problem.
Rational use of water resources is one of the main problems, the solution of which lies in the following processes:
- the use of single-stage production processes instead of multi-stage ones;
- transition from liquid processing processes to gas ones;
- replacing water in industry with other solvents;
- extraction of useful substances from wastewater;
- transfer of industrial enterprises to waste-free production technology;
- transition to integrated processing of raw materials.
Rational use of soil resources is also one of the main problems in connection with the intensification of soil salinization and the destruction of perennial plants due to the use of excessive amounts of pesticides and fertilizers. A significant problem is also deforestation due to the increasing demand for wood fuel, leading to their degradation and reduction of forest areas. The main thing that environmental protection is aimed at is ensuring the safety of the population and reducing deforestation in order to prevent the threat of a total lack of oxygen and, as a consequence, growing statistics on the incidence of respiratory diseases.
Basic principles of protection and rational use of natural resources
The principles of protection and rational use of natural resources include:
- The principle of complexity, meaning the widespread and organized use of natural resources in various economic sectors.
- The principle of regionality, which implies taking into account the characteristics of local conditions when using and protecting natural resources.
- The principle of unity of conservation activities and the use of natural resources, which means the protection of nature simultaneously with the use of natural resources.
- The principle of forecasting, which implies the anticipation of possible negative consequences of economic and other activities for nature and their timely prevention.
- The principle of increased intensity of development of the natural environment, meaning an increase in intensity along with taking into account the characteristics of the territories being developed and the elimination of significant losses of minerals during their extraction and processing.
- The principle of the significance of natural phenomena and objects, implying the use of natural resources taking into account the interests of various economic sectors.
- The principle of indirect protection, which implies exclusive attention to the indirect protection of natural objects along with the main protection and the elimination of the possibility of causing harm to them.
Measures to protect natural resources
The use and protection of natural resources in Russia require the implementation of certain measures for their restoration and improvement.
Article 23 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Subsoil” dated February 21, 1992 states that the main directions of rational use of subsoil are:
- complete extraction of mineral resources from them, both basic and co-occurring;
- a progressive methodology for geological study of the subsoil for a correct assessment of the presence of minerals, their quantitative and qualitative composition, as well as for studying the characteristics of territories not intended for mining.
Subsoil protection includes measures, the main of which are:
- protection from fires, watering, flooding and other negative factors of mineral resources;
- protection of valuable deposits from a decrease in the quality of extracted resources or from complications in their processing;
- prevention of pollution during subsoil use works.
Article 1 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation states that the protection of water bodies is activities aimed at their preservation and restoration. The main necessity, which is indicated by Article 11 of the same code, is the prevention and maximum elimination of possible negative consequences of the use of water bodies. Ignoring this need leads to legal consequences.
The Forest Code of the Russian Federation in Article 2 establishes ensuring the rational use of forest resources, their protection and reproduction as the main direction of the legal activity of forest legislation.
Main measures for forest protection:
- carrying out forest work in ways that limit the negative impact on the territories used;
- application of forest restoration measures;
- cleaning of cutting areas.
The protection of objects of the animal world is defined by the Federal Law “On Animal World” of April 24, 1995 as activities aimed at the stable existence of the animal world and the preservation of the animal gene pool, associated with the creation of legal conditions for the use of objects of the animal world without negative consequences.
Land protection, according to Article 12 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, pursues the following goals:
- prevention of degradation, littering, disturbance and pollution of lands under the influence of human economic activities;
- restoration and improvement of lands that have been negatively impacted by human activity.
According to Article 1 of the Federal Law “On the Protection of Atmospheric Air,” atmospheric air protection is a set of measures to improve the properties of atmospheric air in order to suppress its harmful effects on the environment.
Summarizing the provisions of environmental legislation on the protection and use of the environment, we can conclude that measures to protect natural resources are aimed at preserving and improving the species, qualitative and quantitative characteristics of renewable and non-renewable natural resources and preventing harm to them.
