BGEC 113: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT

DIPLOMA PROGRAMME
SECOND SEMESTER, 2020/2021 ACADEMIC YEAR

LECTURERS
Mr. Lawrence Offei Asare, Dr. Michael Mensah, Dr. Jennifer
Ayamga, Ms. Razeena Mohammed Siita, Mrs. Erika M Osae
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 WEEK 1: OVERVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (I)

Course objectives
• Define the environment and explain the
various components of the environment
• Discuss natural resources and types of natural
resources
• Discuss the concept of ecosystems and
ecosystem services

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Learning outcomes
At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:
– Define and Explain what the environment is.
– Describe the various components of the environment.
– Define and explain Natural Resources.
– Describe the various types of natural resources.
– Explain the concept of ecosystem and ecosystem services.
– identify the various types of ecosystems and ecosystem
services

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 An overview of environmental
management (EM)

Introduction

• EM is a course of recent origin

• It takes its roots from different discipline

• Very difficult to define because each

discipline has its own definition

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Definitions of Environment

• “Everything else except himself” could be:

• Natural and man-made
Albert • Living and non-living
Einstein • Tangible and intangible (physical and non-physical)

• “For it could encompass anything from the whole

Biosphere to the habitat of the smallest creature or
Bernie & organism”
Boyle (1998)

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Definitions of Environment contd.
Buchanan (1983):

• “A surrounding, especially the conditions that

play a part in determining the growth and
development of living organism”

• Surrounding connotes outside of the organism

• Conditions could be natural, man-made, physical

and non-physical

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Definitions of Environment contd.

• “the circumstances or conditions that surround an

organism or group of organisms and the complex of
Cunningham social and cultural conditions that affects an individual
& Saigo or community”
(1997)

• “ the totality of physical, economic, cultural, aesthetic

and social circumstances and factors which surrounds
Black’s Law and affects the desirability and value of property and
Dictionary which also affect the quality of people’s lives”
(6th Ed.) 1998

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
In essence the environment is constituted
by:
Natural world (Biophysical)
• Biological (Biotic)
• plants, animals, microorganisms and man which constitute
the biosphere
• Physical (abiotic)
• landforms, water bodies, climate, soils, rocks and minerals

Built Environment
• human-made including technology, buildings,
machines, cities and their supporting infrastructure etc.

Socio-Cultural environment
• economic, social and political systems which are
essentially man made.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Summary:

In summary, the environment

encompasses : that affect us as individuals,
communities and nations and are
in turn affected by what we do.

• both the natural world

(biotic and abiotic),
• Our very survival in this planet
• and the ‘built’ world of earth depends on the proper
technology, cities and management of our
environment
machines,
• as well as human and social
or cultural and economic
systems and institutions

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Natural Environment
The natural environment encompasses all
living and non-living things occurring
naturally on Earth and other places
thereof.

The natural systems that

1.
Occur within their boundaries (vegetation,
microorganisms, soil, rocks,
etc.
2.
Lack clear-cut boundaries (air, water, and climate, as well
as energy, radiations etc).

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
The Built Environment
Refers to the human-made surroundings that
provide the setting for human activity, ranging in
scale from buildings and green space to
neighborhoods and cities that can often include
their supporting infrastructure, such as water
supply, energy networks

It is the human-made space in which people live,

work, and recreate on a day-to-day basis”.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 The Earth/Biosphere

The Earth (biosphere) has unique characteristics that

makes its possible for life to flourish. It is made up of
three main components:

The Hydrosphere or water (about 71% of the earth

surface) - includes all oceans, seas, lakes, rivers etc.

The Lithosphere (the rocks and the soil) - constitute

about 29 % of the earth’s surface

The Atmosphere: an envelop of gases that covers the

hydrosphere and the lithosphere (100% envelope
around the earth)

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Natural Resources

A resource is
anything that is
useful to man or A natural resource Natural resources
can be transformed is the resource that form the very basis
into a useful is obtained from of the entire life on
product or can be nature. earth.
used to produce a
useful thing

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Natural Resources Cont’d.
Natural Resources can be:

Biotic or Abiotic:
• A biotic resource is one that is directly or indirectly
derived from photosynthetic activity of green plants
(biological activity). Examples are food, fruits, wood,
fibre, milk and milk products, fish, meat, leather,
timber etc.

• An abiotic resource is one that is formed not as a result

of any biological activity. Examples include minerals,
fresh water, rocks, etc.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Renewable or Non-renewable
Resources
Renewable Resources
• Renewable resources are those that can be
regenerated. They are developed directly or
indirectly by recent photosynthetic or biological
activity are all renewable resources. Eg. Food (crops,
meat, fish), fresh water, solar energy, biomass
(trees, grass)

Non-renewable Resources
• Non-renewable resources which cannot be
regenerated once they are exhausted. So they are
finite and exhaustible. Their formation requires
millions of years, which cannot occur within human
life span. Examples include mineral deposits, fossil
fuels (coal, oil and natural gas).

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Resources important to man
of today can be grouped into:
Food resources

Water resources

Energy resources

Mineral resources

Forest and Wildlife resources

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
The Ecosystem
• A dynamic complex of micro-organism, plant, animal
and human communities and their non-living
environment interacting as a functional unit
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).

– Essentially, an ecosystem is a community of living

organisms (plants, animals and microbes – biotic
components) in conjunction with the nonliving (abiotic)
components of their environment (things like air, water
and mineral, soil), interacting as a system.

– These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as

linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
The abiotic factors determine the type of organisms that can successfully live in a
particular area. Some of the major nonliving factors (abiotic factos) of an ecosystem
include:
– Sunlight -- necessary for photosynthesis

– Water -- all living things require some water, but some can live with lesser
amounts than others

– Temperature -- all living things have a range of temperatures in which they can
survive; beyond those limits they will have difficult time

– Oxygen -- many living things require oxygen; it is necessary for cellular

respiration, a process used to obtain energy from food; others are actually
killed by the presence of oxygen (certain bacteria)

– Soil -- the type of soil, pH, amount of water it holds, available nutrients, etc
determine what type of organism can successfully live in or on the soil; for
example, cacti live in sand, cattails in soil saturated with water

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Biotic factors

Biotic factors include the plants, animals, fungi,

bacteria and any other living things that live in
an area. Categorized into:

➢Producers (Autotrophs)

➢Consumers (Heterotrophs)

➢Decomposers (Heterotrophs)

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Producers or autotrophs
Producers or autotrophs make
their own food. Producers, such
as plants, make food through a
process called photosynthesis. In
photosynthesis, plants use
sunlight, carbon dioxide and
water to make food
(carbohydrates). This food is
used by the plant for its own
energy or may be eaten by
consumers.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Consumers
Consumers or heterotrophs need to eat food that
autotrophs have produced. They are categorized into:
– Primary consumers (Herbivores) eat plants. Eg.
Grasshopper, cow, deer, horses, rabbits etc.

– Secondary consumers (Carnivores) eat animals (meat).

Eg. Tiger, lion, cat, spiders, frogs etc.

– Tertiary consumers (Omnivores) eat both plants and

animals. Eg. Humans, bear, snakes, most primates

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Decomposers
• Decomposers break down
dead plants and animal
remains and return the
nutrient to the soil. They are
important in the ecosystem
because:
– They acts as cleaners in the
environment by breaking
down waste (organic)

– They recycle nutrients

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 The pyramid of
energy

Soil/decomposers

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Food chain

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
The Ecosystem contd.
• Within an ecosystem, all living things have a
habitat or the physical area in which they live.

• The habitat of an organism may include many

different areas.

• Think of the various places you might find a

mouse; in a field, a garden and in the walls of
your house. Animals that migrate will have
different habitats during different seasons.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 The ecosystem contd.
• The earth is composed of many interacting
ecosystems (ecological systems), the boundaries of
which are often indistinct, taking the form of
transition zones (ecotones), where organisms from
adjoining ecosystems may be present together.

• It is possible for some organisms to be restricted to

an ecotone only.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Transition zone-
an example

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Classification of Ecosystems
Ecosystems can generally be classified into
two main categories:

Terrestrial Ecosystems
(Land based)
Aquatic Ecosystems
(Water based).

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Terrestrial ecosystems
can be divided into:
–Forest ecosystems
• Arctic and Alpine
Forest (Tundra)

• Coniferous Forest
(Taiga)

• Deciduous Forest

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
• Tropical rain
Forest
–(200-250cm of
rainfall annually)
–20 -30 degree
Celsius temp

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Terrestrial ecosystems contd.
– Grassland
Ecosystem
• Intermittent and
erratic rainfall
• 25-85cm
• Grasses are
dominant

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Terrestrial ecosystems contd.
– Desert
ecosystems
• about 18% of
total surface of
planet

• less than 25cm

of rainfall
annually

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Terrestrial ecosystems contd.

• Agro-ecosystems: natural
systems modified by
human for agricultural
production

• Urban ecosystems (what

are some of the abiotic
composition of the urban
ecosystem ??? eg.)

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Aquatic ecosystems
These covers more than ¾
of the earth and can be
divided into:
– Freshwater ecosystems
• Rivers, lakes, ponds
etc.

– Salt water ecosystems

• Marine
• Coral reefs

– Estuarine ecosystems
(mixture of salt water and
freshwater)
• Mangrove
• Wetlands

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
 Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits derived
from ecosystems to humanity (MEA, 2005).

• The MEA (2005) categorizes ecosystem services into four types:

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Activities
1. Describe any four natural resources of Ghana and explain how they benefit the
economy of Ghana.

Instructions
1. Not more than 5 pages
2. Times New Roman
3. Font size 12
4. Double spacing
5. To be submitted in PDF format on the platform

SERVICE EXCELLENCE
SERVICE EXCELLENCE