Natural Resources — Basic Structure

Basic Structure

Resource assessment

Name the resource, place, timescale, use and supporting ecological process. Physical presence differs from usable supply. Technology and access influence what can be used, while ecological conditions constrain what should be taken.

Stock and flow

Renewable flows vary in location and time.
Biological or hydrological renewal has a rate and can be damaged.
Non-renewable stocks are not replenished on the relevant human timescale.
A renewable label does not guarantee unlimited local extraction.

Four dimensions

Quantity, quality, access and environmental effects. A volume or area count can remain unchanged while usefulness or ecological condition declines. Diagnose the actual constraint before proposing more extraction or storage.

Intervention ladder

Avoid unnecessary demand; improve efficiency; extend product life; repair and reuse; recycle where effective; manage residuals. Assess the full life cycle and the infrastructure required. Collection alone is not proof of complete material recovery.

Arithmetic check

Total use = use per unit × activity. Efficiency can improve while total pressure rises if activity expands faster. Report both measures when evaluating a claim.

Governance questions

Who benefits, who bears costs, who depends on the resource downstream or later, and which effects lie outside the decision-maker's account? Match interventions to these relationships and verify outcomes with indicators of resource condition and service access, not only the quantity extracted.