Natural resources are central to human wellbeing. We cannot live without the clean air we breathe, the plants we eat, or the water we drink. We need natural resources to put roofs over our heads and heat our homes. We need them to survive and to thrive. The concept of natural resources refers to naturally occurring living and non-living elements of the Earth system, including plants, fish, and fungi, but also water, soil, and minerals. A prominent way to think about natural resources is to look at them in terms of depletion risk: do they regenerate, and, if so, at what pace? Some resources, such as trees and plants, are renewable because they regenerate relatively quickly. Others, such as copper and oil, take much longer to form and are considered non-renewable.
Community-based management of living resources such as productive soils, water, biodiversity, energy resources and a livable climate is a promising social model that is gaining renewed relevance in the light of the urgent need to rapidly reduce the impact of human activities on climate, natural resource consumption and environmental quality after decades of reliance on global economic integration. The article opens with a chapter on living resources, communities and planetary constraints, followed by an introduction to the concept of community-based management of living resources, which also describes the characteristics of community practices, their environmental and social benefits, and the most common areas of community projects: spatial planning, food self-sufficiency, local circular economy and sustainable consumption, and renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Community projects are characterised by joint or collective management and are most often initiated from below. The key roles are played by residents of the areas concerned, representatives of the local economy and authorities, and NGOs.