CHAPTER 3: RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND

CONSERVATION
Introduction

Three kinds of reserves of natural resources can be identified (Reijnders 1999, Chapman

1983): continuous resources such as sunlight and wind, the use of which does not lead to a

reduction in their size; renewable resources, such as wood and crops that can be harvested

– but not faster than their rate of replenishment; and non-renewable resources such as fossil

fuels and minerals. The last are created by very slow geological processes, so slow in

human terms that their use diminishes the available stocks. Resources such as clean water,

fertile soils and biodiversity, given the time required for their recovery, can also be

considered to be non-renewable.

The Club of Rome first drew attention to the depletion of resources at the beginning of the

1970s. At that time the emphasis was on the depletion of fossil and mineral resources. It

was assumed that various important natural resources such as oil and various metal ores

would be exhausted within a few decades. In fact, this turned out not to be true.

Discoveries of new deposits, technological advances and falling energy prices have made

possible the recovery of lower grade ores, and the estimated remaining lifetimes of some

resources have been considerably extended.

But this is no reason for complacency. Sooner or later, at the current rate of consumption,

the reserves of certain resources will be exhausted. This may be a long way off for a

number of fossil fuels and mineral ores, but other resources such as biodiversity and fertile

soils are being used up so quickly there is a danger that critical thresholds will be crossed.
The drain on biotic resources is particularly alarming; biodiversity and fertile soils are

being rapidly used up. Research by WWF indicates that the ‘health’ of the world

ecosystem, based on measurements of the loss of forest area and freshwater and marine

animal species, has declined by 30% in 25 years (WWF 1998). Half the natural forest

cover worldwide has already disappeared, 13% in the last 30 years. Europe only has 1% of

its original forest cover left. And there is no sign of this attack on biodiversity diminishing.

Poverty is an important underlying cause of further deforestation, of which about two thirds is
carried out by small farmers clearing land for cultivation and to obtain wood for

fuel. Commercial logging for timber is responsible for most of the rest. The pressure on the

remaining forests is increasing as the numbers of people with a low income and worldwide

demand for commercial timber products grow. The demand for food, and therefore for

agricultural land, will also rise sharply as the world’s population rises and people’s diets

contain more protein (Matthews 1999). Almost all the best agricultural land is already

cultivated and so less suitable land is being brought into cultivation, leading to more soil

erosion and loss of biodiversity.

Fertile soil is the basis for agricultural production. In the last 50 years 25% of all fertile

soils have been lost and/or degraded, and intensive efforts will be needed to prevent this

process speeding up. The poorer countries are worst affected, and major problems are

forecast in a number of important food producing areas in third world countries

(PinstrupAndersen 1999). Soils recover naturally at an extremely slow rate and the costs of

restoration are so high they are, in effect, unaffordable for these countries.

The growth in biofuels is also increasing the pressure on the reserves of suitable

agricultural land. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in
the Netherlands has calculated that if a large-scale conversion to biofuels – stimulated by

greenhouse gas policies and the reduced availability of fossil fuels – implies that 20–25%

of all suitable agricultural land will be needed for biofuel crops by 2050 (RIVM 2000a). It

is hardly conceivable that this could happen given the considerable rise in the demand for

land for the production of food.

The worldwide demand for fossil and mineral resources also continues to grow. Global

policies to reduce greenhouse gases may inhibit growth in the use of fossil fuels, but there

is little sign of this (RIVM 2000a). Demand for a number of mineral ores may even be

rising faster than for fossil fuels, and the demand for metals is forecast to double over the

next 50 years. The use of agricultural fertilizers (N, P, K) is rising even faster. Primary

resource use may be checked by closing cycles, but increases in the percentages of

materials recycled are nowhere near high enough to compensate for the growth in demand.

The end result is that the availability of many reserves is declining as the world population

grows and demand for raw materials rises.

Resource use concepts

 Carrying capacity

Carrying capacity is a basic issue in resources management. It has a biological origin and it has
been strongly linked with the concept of sustained yield. It is not a new concept. For example,
between the 13th and 16th centuries Germany regulated timber cutting and thereby introduced
sustained yield (Bernhagen, 1974).

In traditional ecological usage, carrying capacity is a complex concept broad in meaning, but it
can be defined in a general way as the total number of individuals of a species that can live in an
ecosystem (or habitat) under certain conditions (Knight, 1965). The "certain conditions" causing
the complexity include individual, population, and environmental interactions and feedback
mechanisms.
Carrying capacity has also been inherent in man: land ratios, defined in subsistence economies as
"the maximum number of people that a given land area will maintain in perpetuity under a given
system of usage without land degradation setting in" (Allan, 1949).

If the carrying capacity of a population’s species is exceeded, the following repercussions may
occur:

 The species or the organisms may become locally extinct;

 The environment may be permanently altered or destroyed;
 In case of too many animals, overgrazing may occur, loss of vegetation cover,
irreversible changes to soil quality and productivity, which in turn leads to a reduced
carrying capacity for the livestock of the area concerned

 Biodiversity balance

Biodiversity is defined as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including,
inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which
they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.” 

Biodiversity balance has been defined by various online dictionaries as "a state of dynamic
equilibrium within a community of organisms in which genetic, species and ecosystem diversity
remain relatively stable, subject to gradual changes through natural succession." and "A stable
balance in the numbers of each species in an ecosystem."

The most important point being that the natural balance in an ecosystem is maintained. This
balance may be disturbed due to the introduction of new species, the sudden death of some
species, natural hazards or man-made causes.

Sustainability of natural resource use

The exhaustion of reserves is in large part due to the use of raw materials. Of course, there

are other causes; land, for example, is also needed for housing and infrastructure. But the

use of raw materials largely determines the rate of consumption of natural resources. The
extraction and use of natural resources are responsible for environmental problems all over

the world, and the social and economic impacts of their use cannot always be justified. We

now take a closer look at these three aspects of natural resource use.

Environmental impacts of natural resource use

The use of natural resources can lead to a variety of environmental impacts:

· Direct impacts of extraction, for example the impacts on nature and the landscape of

opencast mining.

· Disruption of materials cycles by the introduction of previously unavailable matter into

the biosphere (such as carbon, phosphate and heavy metals), or major movements of

materials through the biosphere (e.g. the nutrients N and P), or the loss of natural areas

(loss of fixed C, N and P as a result of deforestation and erosion).

Various other environmental impacts are also associated with the use of natural resources,

such as pesticides used in the production of food and acidification caused by the

combustion of fossil fuels.

The following table gives an indication of the type of environmental impacts resulting

from the use of a number of important groups of natural resources, throughout the whole

chain from extraction to disposal.

The extraction of fossil fuels and minerals not only causes large local environmental

impacts, but is also associated with regular disasters that have far-reaching impacts.

Examples are the recent disasters in Spain (1998) and Romania/Hungary (1999) and the oil

spills from Russian oilfields (2000). Accidents continue to occur during the transport and

distribution of oil and these can have severe impacts on the marine environment.

Ecological limits

The environmental impacts of using reserves of natural resources are so great that various

ecological limits are easily exceeded.

i) Greenhouse effect

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) the heightened

greenhouse effect must be reduced by 50–70% from 1990 levels to keep the effects of

climate change within manageable proportions (Watson et al. 2000, RIVM, 2000A).

Signing the 1997 Kyoto protocol was the first step for the industrial countries. But so far

little attempt has been made to achieve a reduction of 50%.

ii) Biodiversity

At the 1992 ‘Earth Summit’ held in Rio de Janeiro (UNCED) it was agreed that current

levels of biodiversity worldwide must be preserved as far as possible. Each country is

responsible for the conservation of its own biodiversity. Nevertheless, the loss of

biodiversity is continuing undiminished, despite a small number of successes (WWF 1998,

RIVM, 2000b).

Various attempts have been made to estimate how large an area of the world’s land area

should be left undisturbed to enable biodiversity to be maintained at present levels (de

Vries 1994). These estimates lie around the 20% mark. At present about 30% of the world

can be considered to be in an undisturbed state. This is not a reassuring figure, though,

because the quality of the areas concerned is of great importance for the conservation of

biodiversity. The increasing demand for land for agriculture, forestry and buildings will

lead to the loss of areas of great value for biodiversity. We cannot conclude, therefore, that

there is room for further uncontrolled exploitation of natural areas.

FORMS OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

a) Conservation

Sustainable natural resources conservation is a process of rational use and skilful management
and preservation of the natural environment with all its resources. Integrated environmental
education can provide knowledge which is useful in sustainable management of natural
resources. All human efforts towards development are based upon the presence of natural
resources. Although the earth has continued to support life for thousands of years, today it is
facing serious environmental challenges which are as a result of human impact and this is a
threat to life support systems. This is a potential ecological disaster.

Establishing protected areas not only helps conserve the natural landscape and geography, but
also the wildlife that lives there, like these western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) in
Flinders Chase National Park in South Australia, Australia.

The need to conserve the resources are

 To support life by supporting ecological balance

 To ensure that the future generations will be able to access the resources

 To preserve the biodiversity

 To make sure human race survives.

b) Reclamation

Land reclamation, the process of improving lands to make them suitable for a more intensive
use. Reclamation efforts may be concerned with the improvement of rainfall-deficient areas by
irrigation, the removal of detrimental constituents from salty or alkali lands, the diking and
draining of tidal marshes, the smoothing and revegetation of strip-mine spoil areas, and similar
activities. Reclamation also involves returning the site to approximately pre-mining conditions,
inhabited by organisms in the ecosystem of nearly the same composition and density as those
prior to mining. Land reclamation schemes usually seek to restore an abandoned and derelict
landscape as close as possible to the original state so as to offer alternative land use options.
Further, land reclamation may seek to reclaim additional landscapes for modification to
alternative use, such as in the case of Dutch Dykes and the most recent Palm Island Project in
Saudi Arabia. Land dereliction may occur as a result of long periods of anthropogenic activities
like quarrying and mining or due to natural effects such as a receding ocean and erosion. Land
reclamation efforts therefore involve regrading spoilt heaps, cultivation, tree planting and any
other such measure that will restore landscape beauty. Intervention decisions for carrying out
land reclamation schemes in the last two decades have often been reached through the use of
economic valuation techniques such as the contingent valuation method (CVM).

CASE STUDY: THE BAMBURI RECLAMATION PROJECT

Situated in Bamburi, 10 km north of Mombasa, on the Mombasa - Malindi road along the Indian
Ocean coastline is the Haller Park. The Park, named after founder Dr. René Haller, is a success
story of the land reclamation effort by the Bamburi cement factory. The Park is now part of a
large complex of Baobab farm, comprising Bamburi forest trails, the farm and the park under the
Lafarge Ecosystems (Figure 1).

80 acres of the 300 acre Bamburi limestone quarry near Mombasa, Kenya have been reclaimed
since 1971 in a novel way. 30 000 trees have been planted: Conocarpus
lancifolia and Casuarina equisetifolia are grown for timber and fuel- wood on the quarry floor,
which has been stocked with wildlife and also contains a fish farming operation,
and Prosopis spp. are grown on the quarry sides as fodder for bees and livestock. The result is a
model multiple-use system designed from the beginning as a self-financing enterprise combining
commercial possibilities with the creation of a pleasant environment.
 c) Cropping

Population cropping is commonly used as a management tool, particularly for large vertebrates,

and often appears to prolong high density populations (Caughley, 1985). Cropping or reducing
the density of herbivores to levels at which plants suffer little feeding damage is an experimental
tool for testing hypotheses on damage-induced deterioration of food plant quality with increasing
herbivore populations. Food plants that are not damaged should continue to be good quality and
populations of herbivores should increase rapidly when released from cropping.

d) Recycling

Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown
away as trash and turning them into new products. Recycling can benefit your community and
the environment.
Benefits of Recycling

 Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators

 Conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals

 Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials

 Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials

 Saves energy

 Supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources

 Helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries

FORMS OF RESOURCE PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION

a) Afforestation

Over the last decade, the talk on global warming and climate change has dominated major events
and conferences. Politicians and global leaders have campaigned under the idea of helping
combat the issues of global warming. As such, afforestation has been one of the most talked-
about methods of dealing with global warming.
It refers to the process of sowing seeds or planting trees in an area that does not have trees to
create a forest. Afforestation is “the conversion of bare or cultivated land into forest.” However,
afforestation should not be confused with reforestation. Reforestation refers to planting trees in a
land with a decreasing number of trees.

Importance of Afforestation

1. Provide an alternative source of tree products

In today’s world, the rate at which trees grow naturally in forests is much slower than the rate at
which trees in forests are being cut down for production. The increased demand for tree products
has put pressure on forests resulting in deforestation. Afforestation is helping alleviate the
pressure on natural forests by providing an alternative source of tree products. It is mostly done
for commercial purposes.

2. Increased supply of trees that are in high demand

In the commercial world, the demand is usually high for a specific type of tree. Afforestation
allows stakeholders to plant the type of trees in demand, promoting the fast propagation of
specific types of trees. The introduction of new supply of trees, for instance, can help to stabilize
the cottage industry resulting in stable prices and business reliability.

3. Protection of natural forests

Protecting natural forests without providing alternative sources of tree products is very difficult
and unsustainable. Besides, logging is more common in places where there are no alternative
sources of tree products.

However, when commercial tree users have alternative sources of supply, they can support the
administrative and policy efforts in protecting forests, resulting in more sustainable initiatives.
Protecting natural forests also leads to other benefits that come with increased tree forest cover
like preservation of catchments, wetlands, and riverside zones.

4. Environmental benefits
Planting trees in a barren land is on some occasions more beneficial than planting trees in a
depleted or depleting forest. Planting trees in a depleted or recovering forests helps to restore the
ecosystem of the area, but planting trees in a barren land helps to create a new ecosystem. Most
governments and institutions have used afforestation to help revert the arid and semi-arid areas to
productive areas. It also helps improve the appearance of barren lands to picturesque areas.

5. Value addition

An easy way to transform a barren land is by planting trees. Land with trees is more attractive
and valuable than barren land. Whether one is seeking to develop or sell property, planting trees
is a sure way of increasing the property’s value.

b) Soil conservation

Soil conservation practices are those farming operations and management strategies conducted
with the goal to control soil erosion by preventing or limiting soil particle detachment and
transport in water or air. Indiscriminate cutting of trees and random grazing are number one
agents of land degradation. They are the root cause of soil erosion, resulting in galley formation
and poor soils. Soils should be protected from natural forces such as wind, rainfall, and bad
tillage practices that render them unproductive. Soil conservation techniques encourage water
infiltration in the soil or harvest water in infiltration pits and dams rather than having the water
run on the land surface and carry with it the topsoil and organic matter. Soil conservation
consists of protecting the soil from water runoff through mulching, planting of cover crops, and
contour ridges construction. Tied ridges are also used in various farming systems. Among all
these soil conservation techniques, vetiver grass is a prominent feature, since it is the most
resilient and suitable grass for stabilizing the soil.
Figure 1; vetiver grass Figure 2; contour ridge

c) Landscaping
People have practiced landscaping for centuries. As far back as the ancient Mayans, humans
were manipulating the land for both aesthetic and practical reasons. The addition of plants,
changes to the existing terrain and the construction of structures are all part of landscaping.
Today landscaping refers to the planning, laying out and construction of gardens that enhance the
appearance and create useable space for outdoor activities around a home.

d) Waste management

Waste is a resource that can be managed to achieve economic, social and environmental benefits.
Addressing the waste management challenge effectively in Kenya is critical to delivering on
Kenya’s constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment for all, advancing the circular
economy to create green jobs and wealth from the waste sector, and advancing the nation’s
sustainable development goals. Sustainable waste management is also fundamental to delivery of
each of the government’s “Big Four” national priorities – the transformational agenda on
housing, manufacturing, food and nutritional security and health care – and to Kenya’s
leadership in the blue economy, with its focus on creating economic growth, ensuring healthy
waters and building safe communities.

Kenya aims to transition the waste sector in every county away from low collection rates, illegal
dumping and uncontrolled dumpsites to affordable waste collection, recycling and composting,
and secure final disposal in engineered landfills for the remaining fraction of the waste stream.
As Kenya’s economy and cities grow at accelerated rate consequent to devolution, the country’s
waste management challenges have reached major proportions. The current poor state of waste
management is a public health and environmental threat, a loss of a valuable resources for job
and wealth creation, and an eyesore that negatively affects tourism and the wellbeing of all
Kenyans. If properly managed as a resource, waste recovery and recycling can create new jobs
and attract new investment in a diversified waste sector.

e) Flood control

Flood control refers to all methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects
of flood waters (Wikipedia). Some of the common techniques used for flood control are
installation of rock berms, rock rip-raps, sandbags, maintaining normal slopes with vegetation or
application of soil cements on steeper slopes and construction or expansion of drainage channels.
Other methods include levees, dikes, dams, retention or detention basins.

Flooding has many impacts. It damages property and endangers the lives of humans and other
species. Rapid water runoff causes soil erosion and concomitant sediment deposition elsewhere
(such as further downstream or down a coast). The spawning grounds for fish and other wildlife
habitats can become polluted or completely destroyed. Some prolonged high floods can delay
traffic in areas which lack elevated roadways. Floods can interfere with drainage and economic
use of lands, such as interfering with farming. Structural damage can occur in bridge abutments,
bank lines, sewer lines, and other structures within floodways. Waterway navigation and
hydroelectric power are often impaired. Financial losses due to floods are typically millions of
dollars each year.

ENFORCEMENT REGULATIONS IN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND

CONSERVATION

1. Agricultural/ land use legislations

Agriculture Act (Cap. 318) is an Act of Parliament to promote and maintain a stable agriculture,
to provide for the conservation of the soil and its fertility and to stimulate the development of
agricultural land in accordance with the accepted practices of good land management and good
husbandry.
 2. Public health legislation

This Public Health Act concerns the protection of public health in Kenya and lays down rules
relative to, among other things, food hygiene and protection of foodstuffs, the keeping of
animals, protection of public water supplies, the prevention and destruction of mosquitos and the
abatement of nuisances including nuisances arising from sewerage. The Act establishes the
Central Board of Health and a district health management board in each district. It also
establishes and defines functions of health authorities.

3. Wildlife/forestry legislation

The Forest and Wildlife Act is divided into 9 Chapters: General (Chap. I); Protection of forest
and wildlife resources (II); Sustainable forest resources exploitation regimes and Sustainable
wildlife conservation regimes (III); Forest and wildlife resources restocking (IV); Management
of forest and wildlife resources (V); Forest guarding (VI); Offences and penalties (VII); Final
dispositions (VIII). The present Law establishes the basic principles and norms for the
protection, conservation 

4. International environmental protection conventions

The conventions focus on various issues, for example climate change, stratospheric ozone layer
protection, air quality, chemicals and nature conservation. The conventions are tools for
promoting cooperation and the development of international environmental law and actions.
Some conventions apply regionally, others globally.

The following conventions are among the key environmental protection agreements:

 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making

and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.

 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and

Their Disposal

 Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats

 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.

  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES)

 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP)

 Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

 European Landscape Convention

 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling
of Ships

 Minamata Convention on Mercury

 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl

Habitat

 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

 World Heritage Convention

5. Community norms and customary regulations

The key rules/norms/values that were determined to traditionally govern the planning and
management of key natural resources are presented in Box 1. Some of the rules listed applied in
the past, while others are still used today, albeit with modifications to fit modern realities. In
particular, the role of elders as the sole determinants of punishment for breaking these
rules/norms/values, and of young men as enforcers, has changed. For example, in modern
society, the police, chiefs and other district and provincial administrators play an increasingly
important role in enforcement. As society has modernised, the application of many of these rules
on land, water, environment, wildlife as well as their enforcement has weakened considerably,
particularly as a result of the transformation from a communal to a more individual approach to
the planning and use of natural resources. Individual ownership of land is becoming widespread,
especially in urban, peri-urban and riverine farming areas. As communal use of land for grazing
remains the major land use system in the rural areas, however, one would expect that customary
rules with regard to this would not only remain in existence but also that they would be largely
enforced. In traditional African societies, the role of elders was was often key, not only for the
management of natural resources, but also or political and social organisation of the societies;
indeed, the two were intertwined. In addition, although it was almost entirely elderly men who
formally provided leadership, women also played a significant role in the decisions that the
elders made, even if only indirectly through their influence as wives.

6. EMCA ACT, WATER ACT