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Food & Raw Materials

Food & Raw Materials

The Food and Raw Materials sector includes groups that harvest natural resources from the earth, including agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, forestry, mining, and the oil and gas industry (NAICS 2007).

CMap

Socio-Economic Drivers include the sectors that fulfill human needs for Food & Raw Materials, Water, Shelter, Health, Culture, and Security, and the Infrastructure that supports the sectors. The Food and Raw Materials sector includes groups that harvest natural resources from the earth, including agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, forestry, mining, and the oil and gas industry. The Fishing Sector includes the harvesting of fish for food and recreation. The Aquaculture sector is involved in the raising and production of aquatic animals and plants in controlled environments. The Agriculture Sector includes both animal and crop production. The Oil and Gas Industry specializes in the finding of natural resources such as crude petroleum and natural gas, and the creation, maintenance, and operation of wells to extract the oil and gas from the earth and prepare it for sale. The Mining Industry consists of the operation of mines, quarries, and wells, and the extraction of natural resources, such as solid and liquid minerals and gases, from the earth. The Forestry sector specializes in harvesting of wood resources for fuel, wood, and paper products, and often implements practices that will sustain resources, such as reforestation. Responses are actions taken by groups or individuals in society and government to prevent, compensate, ameliorate or adapt to changes in Ecosystem Services or their perceived value. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems . Regulating Services are benefits obtained from ecosystem processes that regulate the environment, including erosion regulation, natural hazard regulation, and climate regulation. Landscape Changes are alterations of the natural landscape through human activities, including coastal development, shoreline armoring, impervious surfaces, deforestation, or soil disturbance, which can alter water flow patterns and lead to pollutant runoff into coastal systems. Provisioning services are the products or ecosystem goods obtained from ecosystems, including seafood, genetic and biochemical resources, pharmaceuticals, ornamental resources, and water resources. Pressures are human activities that create stress on the environment. Food & energy policies are legislation, restrictions, and guidelines that pertain to sectors that harvest or extract natural resources. Fisheries and hunting policies control who can fish, harvest and hunt. Contact Uses, such as biological additions, physical damage, and biological harvesting, are activities in which humans create pressures through direct contact with the ecosystem. Reef Life is the abundance, distribution, and condition of the biological components of the coral reef ecosystem. Cultural services are the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, recreational opportunities, aesthetic experiences, sense of place, and educational and research opportunities. Supporting services are ecological processes that indirectly benefit humans by maintaining a functional ecosystem for the production of other ecosystem goods and services. Discharges are the intentional or unintentional distribution of chemicals, debris, or other pollution, into the environment as a consequence of human activities. The Reef Ecosystem includes a suite of abiotic variables that form the physical and chemical environment. Agriculture, aquaculture and forestry policies regulate and control agriculture, aquaculture and forestry. Energy policy & development includes policies and regulations adopted to control the production, distribution, and consumption of energy. Mining policies are specific to where, when, what and how non-living natural resources can be extracted. The state of the Reef Ecosystem is the condition, in terms of quantity and quality, of the abiotic and biotic components including physical, chemical, and biological variables.

CMap Description

Food & raw materials sectors create pressures on the reef ecosystem through activities that cause landscape changes including harvesting trees & vegetation, lead to non-point source discharges resulting from application of fertilizers or other chemicals, or through contact uses from dredging and harvesting. Many food & raw materials sectors are dependent on ecosystem services provided by the reef ecosystem, particularly provisioning of harvestable fish and invertebrates. These sectors also benefit from climate regulation and shoreline protection, as well as cultural services that improve overall cultural and economic well-being of other sectors, such as tourism & recreation, which depend on food & raw materials. Policies can be enacted by government agencies or decisions taken by individuals to modify the number or practices of farms, fisheries, and other businesses within the food & raw materials sectors.

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