Resource depletion is the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources. Use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion.

Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to farming, fishing, mining, water usage, and consumption of fossil fuels.

Human beings maintain their life by using natural resources. These sources are to be mobilized properly and rationally. Conservation of natural resources is to be done by mankind realizing the dependence on the natural resources and living beings and their interrelationship with environment

Natural Resource Depletion in each year in Nepal

Though Nepal adjusted savings: natural resources depletion (% of GNI) fluctuated substantially in recent years, it tended to decrease through 1994 - 2013 period ending at 4.18 % in 2013.

Impact of Human Activities on Natural Resources

Human beings depend upon the natural resources of the universe for their development activities. If they use the natural resources without their development activities. If they use the natural resources without considering their conservation, they can create a situation of imbalance in environment. Some of the important points of impact made on natural resources by human activities are explained below:

1. Scarcity of Water

Water is a renewable nature resource. water is needed for various activities of human beings, like drinking, irrigation, industry, navigation, electricity production, etc. Water scarcity leads to the degradation of vegetation which in turn increases natural disasters like soil erosion, landslides and flood.

2. Environmental pollution

The major resources of the earth like air, water and land get polluted due to human activities. Industries are established mainly to produce valuable goods like cloths, food items, beverages, cement, bricks, etc. But, these industries are also major sources of pollution for air water and land resources and the environmental pollution is caused.

3. Depletion of wildlife

People are destroying forest for the purpose of timber, firewood and agriculture. Beside, forest is also used for the house settlement zone. The habitat of valuable animals like rhinoceros, tiger, bear, leopard, wild cow, yak, etc. is endangered.

4. Deforestation

Forest is not only important to get valuable forest products but also important to maintain ecological balance. Due to extreme poverty most of the people depend on forest resources for their survival. People collect firewood, timbers, folder, etc from the forest which depletes the forest resources. Landslides, floods, climatic variations such as excessive rainfall, drought, etc are also the consequences of deforestation.

5. Degradation in Eco-system

Problems like depletion of forests, floods, landslides, extreme utilization of land are started to be observed due to various activities of people. Pollution caused by industrial works degrades the status of land, water and vegetation. Natural status of the earth has started to destroy due to these reasons.

6. Depletion of pasture land

The pasture land for animals has been depleting due to various types of development activities. Overgrazing of pasture land results in the problems like soil, landslides, deforestation etc.

7. Floods, Landslides and Soil Erosion

The activities of man cause floods, landslides and soil erosion. Destruction of forest, excess use of land, cultivation of sloppy land, excess grazing, etc. have supported flood, landslides and soil erosion. Destruction of forest, excess use of land, landslides and soil erosion. It causes imbalance in the environment of hills and Terai.

8. Declining of ecosystem

A functional system operating in the environment by the interaction of living beings with their non-living environment is called ecosystem. When the resources like air, water and land get polluted then it affects the survival of plants and animals.

Solution

Sustainability has become an important concept in economic growth and development in the world. Sustainable development means the development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Human economy receives its inputs from the natural environment and disposes of its waste to environment cannot operate without regard for resources and carrying capacity of nature. Sustainable development implies that the use of non-renewable resources should be equally distributed among generations and the use of renewable resources should be to the extent that it does not hamper the capacity of the concerned resource to regenerate itself.

 Source : https://knoema.com/WBWDIGDF2015Aug/world-development-indicators-wdi-september-2015?tsId=2836130

http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/nepal/adjusted+savings%3A+natural+resources+depletion+of+gni

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_depletion