Note/Material

Our National Wealth and Natural resources

Picture required: Picture of national heritages, mountains, forests and water resources

Objective: To identify the national heritages and resources of our country and promote and use them wisely.

Introduction:

Your books, pens, pencils, erasors etc are your personal properties and you have a personal right over them. No one can use them without your permission. The belongings of your family like the house, clothes, beds, furnitures, utensils, T.V., computers, Cell Phone, etc. are used by the members of your family. If you lose them, you and your family suffer.

The property to which all of us have a common right to share is called national property. National property does not belong to any individual. It belongs to the whole community and the nation. Every day we use roads, buses, electricity, schools, colleges, hospitals, library, public parks, grounds, temples, stone taps, street lights etc. We, the people and government jointly created these properties. Our anscestors have built Pashupati Nath, Manakamana, Gorkha Palace, Changu Narayan, durbar squares, Singha Durbar, Janaki  Mandir, Swoyambhu Nath etc. a large amount of money and hard work was needed for the construction of these monuments and temples. These things are not owned by any individual. They belong to all of us.

Some of our national properties like 3 Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Pashupati Nath, Swoyambhu Nath, Changu Narayan, Chitwan National Park, Sagarmatha National Park, Lumbini and Bouddha Nath have been included in the world heritage list of UNESCO. Every one of us has equal right to watch, enjoy and utilize them for our benefit. It is our utmost duty to maintain, preserve and protect these properties for our future generations.

Our Natural resources:

The properties which have been provided by the nature are called natural resources. We have many such resources that the nature has very generously provided us as gifts like forests, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, caves etc. many snow covered mountains like Mt. Everest, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Langtang, Ganesh, Gaurishankar, Makalu, Lhotse, Kanchanjungha etc. attract a lot of tourists. There are a number of lakes and rivers which provide us water for drinking, irrigation and hydro-power production.

Other important natural resource of our country is the forest. We say “Green Forests, Nepal’s Wealth.” During the recent years, the forest has been destroyed to a large extent due to the rapid growth of population. Our forests are the sources of animal food, building materials, fuels and herbs for making medicines.

As for the natural resources like oil, gas and other minerals are concerned; we have not been able to utilize them. The government and private sectors have conducted some survey works and Mica, Zinc, limestone, Copper, Iron etc. have been found.

Protection of National Property:

The protection of natural wealth should start from our home, neighbor, community and surroundings. We have to think about the condition of old monasteries, temples, inns, rest houses, dhungedhara, irrigation canals, drainage etc. that are found in our places and take immediate necessary action to repair and protect them.

When deforestation takes place, numbers of rivers get dry, rare birds and animals disappear, less rainfall occurs, production decreases and the people will have to starve to death. Individual and collective efforts should be made to control deforestation. If we cut down one tree, we have to plant two of them.

Everything in our surroundings that has historical and archaeological importance should be preserved. Due to the presence of such heritages, the foreigners appreciate Nepal and its historical and archaeological property.

Unfortunately, in the name of political protest and strike, we tend not to value these properties like street light, grounds, parks, iron railings, telephone booths, garden etc, and destroy them to show our anger. This will make the loss of national property and ultimately we become the sufferer. Thus, we should protect all the natural properties as we preserve our private properties. Above all, it is our moral and civil duty to preserve and promote them.