Natural resources are resources which are provided, rather gifted to us by our Mother Nature, to help us live a sustainable life on Earth. Natural resources are of two types- renewable and non-renewable. Renewable resources are those which can be renewed by nature itself, like air, water bodies, soil and terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna. Non-renewable resources include those which cannot be renewed by nature, or may take more than thousands of years to be formed again, like coal, petroleum and gem stones. One of the greatest leaders of India, Mahatma Gandhi had said, "There is enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed". This is the exact reason for depletion of natural resources. With increasing industrialization, globalization and the growing demands of better and even better lifestyles, the natural resources are being depleted beyond renewal. The non-renewable resources are depleting faster and the renewable resources are getting used up faster than the time needed by nature to replenish them, thus depleting them too.
Unequal distribution of natural resources, pollution and disruption of biodiversity, are the main reasons for depletion and degradation of natural resources. One of the most important reason is the unequal distribution of natural resources. Apparently, the increasing human population across the world seems to be the sole cause behind fast depletion of resources- the fact that more and more resources are being used up because of this rise in population has been held responsible for this crisis. However, even if population control methods are adopted, the crisis shall still persist. This is because unequal distribution of natural resources is more severe a reason than huge human population. The rich take up more resources, the poor are left behind with the little remaining resources. Equal distribution of resources will not only ensure that the rich and the poor get equal benefits, but will also ensure less wastage of resources by the rich and reduction of scarcity of resources for the poor.
