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. The use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion. The value of a resource is a direct result of its availability in nature and the cost of extracting the resource. The more a resource is depleted the more the value of the resource increases. There are several types of resource depletion, the most known being: Aquifer depletion, deforestation, mining for fossil fuels and minerals, pollution or contamination of resources, slash-and-burn agricultural practices, soil erosion, and overconsumption, excessive or unnecessary use of resources.
Lake Natron is a salt or alkaline lake located in north Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in Tanzania at the border with Kenya. It is in the Gregory Rift, which is the eastern branch of the East African Rift. The lake is within the Lake Natron Basin, a Ramsar Site wetland of international significance. It is the only regular breeding area for Africa's lesser flamingoes, although this habitat is not protected and is under threat from planned development projects.
Tsavo East National Park is a national park in Kenya with an area of 13,747 km2 (5,308 sq mi). It was established in April 1948 and covers a semi-arid area previously known as the Taru Desert. Together with the Tsavo West National Park, it forms an area of about 22,000 square kilometers. The Tsavo River flows west to east through the national park, which is located in the Taita-Taveta County of the former Coast Province.
Nyahururu is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall and/or windy or place of storms. It is allegedly located in Laikipia County. Despite this, Nyahururu formerly functioned as the administrative capital of Nyandarua District, before it became a county, until the headquarters was shifted to Ol Kalou. There have been calls for a reversal. The town has an urban population of 36,450. The town still continues to be a central economic power of the immediate former district of Nyandarua. For that reason, the town has strong economic ties to the two counties.
Isiolo County is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its population is 268,002 and its capital and largest city is Isiolo. Isiolo County is to be the first county to be developed as part of the Kenya Vision 2030 program. Other upcoming urban centres are: Garbatulla, Modogashe, Kinna, Merti and Oldonyiro.The county is home to Sakuye and Borana tribes but also has a significant number of people from Turkana, Samburu, Gabra, Garre and Meru communities.
Namibia is one of few countries in the world to specifically address habitat conservation and protection of natural resources in their constitution. Article 95 states, "The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following: maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia, and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future.".
Sclerophrys turkanae, the Lake Turkana toad or Turkana toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Kenya, and is only known from two localities; Loiyangalani on the southeastern shores of Lake Turkana, and the Ewaso Ng'iro River in the Samburu National Reserve.
Lake Galilee is a semi-arid salt lake in the locality of Galilee, Barcaldine Region, within the Desert Uplands area of Central West Queensland, Australia. The lake is about 36 kilometres long, up to 12.5 kilometres wide and covers approximately 25,700 hectares.
The Paroo-Darling National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Far West region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 178,053-hectare (439,980-acre) national park spans two distinct regions in the outback area. This region covers the arid catchments of the Paroo River and the Paroo-Darling confluence to the south.
Sand dams are a simple, low-cost and low-maintenance, replicable rainwater harvesting technology. They provide a clean, local water supply for domestic and farming use and are suited to semi-arid areas of the world.
Water scarcity in Kenya is affecting the Kenyan population who relies on water resources, not only for drinking but also for agriculture and fishing. For example, wetland grasses are used to feed and keep livestock. Human populations throughout Kenya have been affected by a lack of clean drinking water due in large part to the overuse of land and increases in community settlements. A specific example of this is in the Mau Forest, in the highlands of Kenya, that is a major watershed for the country. In the Mau Complex, individuals have used land for their personal gain, creating homes and farms at the expense of the natural biodiversity.
The Shompole Conservancy is a large privately operated conservation area in the south of the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is located between Lake Magadi to the north and Lake Natron to the south, two alkaline lakes.
The Malewa River rises in the western slopes of the Aberdare Range in Kenya and flows south and west into Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley. Lake Naivasha is an important source of water in a semi-arid environment, and supports export-oriented horticulture and floriculture businesses as well as tourism. Malewa River water quality has deteriorated because of more human activities in the upper catchment. Long-term effects of this on the percentage of rainfall getting into Lake Naivasha are not clear. Possibly in low-rainfall years the percentage will drop because of water abstraction, while in high-rainfall years the percentage will go up because of cultivated soils having a lower water-holding capacity and the introduction of more 100% runoff surfaces like tarmac roads and iron sheets, etc.
The Southern Ewaso Ng'iro is a river in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. It plays an important role in the ecology of Lake Natron, the main regular breeding site for near-threatened lesser flamingos. Changes to land use in the river's headwaters or in the marshes before the river enters the lake could have a serious impact on this species.
Hussein Adan Isack is a naturalist and ethnobiologist living in Kenya, having been a research scientist in ornithology.
The Ewaso Lions Project was founded in 2007 for the protection of lions and their habitat in Northern Kenya. The project works to study and incorporate local communities in helping to protect the lions in the Samburu National Reserve, Buffalo Springs National Reserve and Shaba National Reserve of the Ewaso Nyiro ecosystem in Northern Kenya.
The Hoanib is one of the 12 ephemeral seasonal rivers in the west of Namibia, where it used to be the border between northern Damaraland and Kaokoland. Its length is 270 km. With the low population density in the area, the oasis character of the river valley and the relatively high wildlife population of the Hoanib, like in the case of the Hoarusib, its valley is one of the last true wilderness areas in Namibia. One of the last settlements of desert elephants, it is characterised by strong wind and water eroded, weathered stone deposits. Inflows of Hoanib are Aap River, Otjitaimo River, Ombonde, Ganamub, Mudorib and Tsuxub.
Milk River Natural Area is a provincially designated protected area in the southeastern corner of the province of Alberta, Canada, approximately 160 km south of the city of Medicine Hat. It lies primarily in the County of Forty Mile with a small portion in southwest Cypress County. On the Alberta Township System (ATS) grid it is located in portions of Township 1, Range 5 and 6, and Township 2, Range 6, west of the Fourth Meridian.
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include non-salty mineral-rich waters such as chalybeate springs. Fresh water may encompass frozen and meltwater in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, snowfields and icebergs, natural precipitations such as rainfall, snowfall, hail/sleet and graupel, and surface runoffs that form inland bodies of water such as wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, as well as groundwater contained in aquifers, subterranean rivers and lakes. Fresh water is the water resource that is of the most and immediate use to humans.
