Natural resource | Definition, Examples, & Facts (2024)

natural resource, any biological, mineral, or aesthetic asset afforded by nature without human intervention that can be used for some form of benefit, whether material (economic) or immaterial. What is considered a “resource” (or, for that matter, “natural”) has varied over time and from one society to another. Examples of assets that can be considered natural resources include forests, surface water and groundwater, and the fertile lands or the soil and minerals within them (rather than the crops that grow on them), as well as energy resources (such as petroleum, natural gas, and heated water [that is, geothermal energy]) contained within layers of rock.

The practice of natural resource management considers the ways in which societies manage the supply of or access to the natural resources upon which they rely for their survival and development. Under some definitions, only those natural resources that can renew themselves and whose exploitation relies on their regenerativecapacitiesproperly necessitate management. For example, petroleum (oil) is not usually considered a subject of natural resource management, whereas forests are. The management of renewable natural resources seeks to balance the demands of exploitation with a respect for regenerative capacities. In contrast, the use, regulation, and protection of nonrenewable resources tend to fall under the auspices of natural resources law, which is made up of a complex body of national and local laws that have both statutory andcommon-lawcomponents.