NCERT Science book class 10 ch-16 Sustainable Management of Natural resources Text book/Exercise solution
# Text book/Exercise Questions solutions-1. What changes would you suggest in your home in order to be environment friendly? Solution : Few suggestive methods are : 1. A running tap or a defective tap should be rectified to minimise loss. 2. Water should be considered a precious commodity as per the need of a person. 3. Turn off the water tap during brushing or soaping up under tap or shower. 4. Wash the car with bucket and not with water pipe. 5. Efforts should be made to utilise the enormous potential of non-conventional energy sources like solar energy. Switch off the light, fan or other electrical appliances wen not in use. 6.Gas and kerosene need to be used carefully. 7. Pressure cooker and other fuel saving methods help to save the gas and kerosene. 8. Reduce and reuse the materials as far as possible. 2. Can you suggest some changes in your school which would make it environment friendly? Solution : Few methods are : 1. Celebrate ‘van mahotsava’ every year. Do plantation on this day. If area available is shady, ornamental trees should be planted. 2. Special attention should be given to the cleanliness of your school. 3. If you are residing in a nearby area. come to school on a bicycle. Do not use school bus. It will be a fuel saving method. Suggest few more methods to make your school environment friendly. 3. We saw in this chapter that there are four main stakeholders when it comes to forests and wild life.Which among these should have the authority to decide management of forest produce ? Why do you think so ? Solution : Join Forest Management (JFM) committees should be set up as a partnership between the Government and local communities to recover degraded forests and wild life. Nature enthusiasts and those who want to conserve the nature should be made a party to this management system. Due to this following benefits can be seen : 1. State Forest Department and voluntary village community/NGO should work together. 2. Village community (beneficiary) should be entitled to their share as prescribed by the Government. 3. Ownership should not be given beneficiary. 4. Village community (beneficiary) can use products like grass,tops of branches and minor forest produce. On successful protection of forests, they may get benefit from the sale of trees. 5. Grazing in such areas should not be permitted.
4. How can you as an individual contribute or make a difference to the management of : (a) Forest and wildlife (b) Water resources (c) Coal and petroleum Solution : (a) Forests and wildlife 1. In conservation schemes, the endangered species should be given priority over vulnerable species,and vulnerable species over rare species. 2. In fixing priorities for conservation, the economic values of respective species should also be taken into consideration. 3. The wild relatives of all our useful plants and animals should be converted , because these act as a gene bank for the latter 4. Migratory or wide-ranging wild animals feed, breed and rest in different habitats. All these critical habitats should be safeguarded and preserved. 5. The wildlife must be protected both in situ (i.e., natural habitats) and ex situ (i.e., in artificial habitats) established as zoological and botanical gardens or parks. 6. All efforts should be made to conserve all threatened species, but special attention should be paid to the species which are the sole representative of their respective larger groups or taxa(i.e., genera, families.orders,classes etc). 7. Game hunting should generally be discouraged. Strict laws for punishing poachers mus be enacted. 8. Widespread networks should be established of educated general public about the perils of biosphere destruction and benefits of conservation. 9. Effective national and international bodies should be set up to control and coordinate conservation programmer of the different countries of the world. 10. All habitats en-route of the migratory wild animals should be conserved, because these are used as landmarks for navigation by these animals. 11. In case of migratory animals which migrate from one to some other country, bilateral or multilateral agreements should be made for combined efforts for conservation of habitats and these animals themselves. 12. While planning conservation, emphasis should be laid on the entire ecosystems, and not on single species. (b) Water resources 1. Economical utilization of water. 2. Preventing the pollution of our water sources by domestic sewage and industrial effluents. 3. Dams should be built to store the flood water. 4. Afforestation and reforestation at hill slopes to check loss of water in floods. 5. To maintain top soil to check the soil erosion. 6. To decrease loss of water in surface run-off by employing contour cultivation, terrace- farming, developing water storage structures like farm ponds, adding surfactants and chemical conditioners ( like gypsum, hydrolysed polyacrylonitrile, etc) to the soil to improve soil permeability etc. 7. To reduce evaporation losses by developing subsoil horizontal asphalt barriers or adding super slurper ( a copolyment of starch and acrylonitrile) on the sandy soil to increase in availability to the crop plants. 8. To reduce irrigation losses of water by drip-irrigation, growing hybrid crop varieties (have low water requirements), early morning or late evening irrigation, and brick-lining of canals (to reduce seepage). 9. To prevent wastage of water in households, commercial buildings and public places. 10. To promote recycling of water and treated water should be used for irrigation purpose 11. To increase block pricing to avoid wastage. (c) Coal and petroleum Some suggestive methods are: 1. To develop renewable and pollution-free energy resources like solar radiation, wind power, geothermal power, hydel power, nuclear power, biomass etc. 2. Judicious use of our non-renewable sources of energy and their wastage should be avoided. 3. Non-renewable energy resources should be used only when no non-conventional source of energy if available. 5. What can you as an individual do to reduce your consumption of various natural resources?Solution :
Minimise depletion of non-renewable resources.
Conservation of earth’s vitality and diversity.
Change of personal attitude and practices.
Improve the quality of life-supporting systems of the earth.
Keep the population within the carrying capacity of the earth.
Enable communities to take care of their own environment.
To ensure the availability and sustainability of resources, to assure the survival of all the species in a healthy and easy manner.
To prevent the biodiversity so that evolution and development of life in the long run does not get disturbed.
Conservation of water by closing the water taps when not in use, using less water-consuming toilets, watering of plants in the evening, rain water harvesting in the houses using drip irrigation and sprinkling irrigation to water lawns, economic use of water for domestic and industrial purposes.
Conservation of energy by avoiding wastage of energy by using most efficient fuels in a judicious manner in efficient heating devices, change of life style to avoid wastage of energy because energy saved is energy produced,development of alternative and renewable sources of energy like solar energy, tidal energy, wind power, nuclear energy, biomass energy, bio-diesel, etc. to decrease the demand of fossil fuel like coal,petroleum, etc.
Conservation of soil by preventing the soil erosion by crop rotation, terrace-farming on the slopes, contour farming, regulating grazing afforestation, reforestation, etc. and restoring the soil fertility by judicious use of fertilizers, green manuring, biofertilizers, etc.
With reference to natural resources, sustainable development proposes 3-R approach which states:
– Reduce excessive use of natural resources like fossil fuel, minerals, water etc. – Reuse of natural resources instead of waste generation and pollution. – Recycle the materials to reduce the pressure on our existing natural resources. Through these activities, inter-generational equality and intra-generational equality aim of sustainable development can be ensured. 6. List five things you have done over the last one week to:(a) Conserve our natural resources.(b) Increase the pressure on our natural resources. Solution: Think of the actions done by you doing during last one week and list them. Identify the activities which are responsible for conservation of natural resources and which will increase the pressure on natural environmental. 7. On the basis if issues raised in this chapter what changes would you incorporate in your life-style in a move towards a sustainable use of our resources ? Solution : One should incorporate the following changes in life-style in a move towards a sustainable use of our resources: 1) Stop cutting trees and practice plantation of trees. 2) Stop using plastic and polythene bags for carrying goods. 3) Use recycled paper. 4) Throw biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste into separate bins. 5) Waste minimum amount of water while using and repair leaking taps. 6) Practice rainwater harvesting. 7) Avoid using vehicles for short distances.