Natural Resource Management in IB ESS: Stocks and Flows

20 Jul Natural Resource Management in IB ESS: Stocks and Flows

In ESS, natural resource management concerns how people use and protect resources while considering environmental limits and societal needs. A useful starting point is to distinguish the available stock from the flows that add to or remove it.

Match the strategy to the resource

A renewable biological resource can regenerate, but its continued availability depends on conditions and management. A non-renewable resource is not replenished on the timescale of human use. Some materials can be recovered and recycled; calling all used minerals “gone permanently” overlooks this distinction.

For a fishery or forest, ask how extraction compares with regeneration and what other pressures affect the system. For a mineral resource, consider demand reduction, reuse, recycling and the environmental consequences of extraction. The fact that a resource is useful does not establish that current use is sustainable.

Natural capital and natural income

A forest’s standing timber is part of its natural capital; growth can provide a flow of natural income. Harvesting timber removes part of the stock. Keeping harvest below measured growth does not by itself establish sustainability: species composition, soil, habitat, disturbance and the uncertainty of growth estimates also matter. For non-renewable minerals, recycling can reduce demand for new extraction but does not make the geological stock regenerate.

Consider perspectives and trade-offs

A management decision can affect communities, workers, businesses and future users differently. Explain whose needs are considered, what evidence is available and which outcomes are being compared. An environmental improvement can involve costs or unequal effects that also need discussion.

Turn a resource example into an explanation

Name the resource and define the system boundary. Identify what adds to the stock and what removes it, then explain how management could change those flows. Finish by identifying the evidence needed to judge the outcome. For a fishery, for example, distinguish fish population from the annual catch rather than treating them as the same measure.

Monitor the result

Choose indicators that match the objective, such as extraction rate, habitat condition or material recovered. Explain the time period and measurement limits. Use observations to revise a strategy when the evidence warrants it.

Original planning exercise

Propose a school paper-use strategy. Identify what you would measure before and after it, how you would account for changes in student numbers and which stakeholders should be consulted. This is a suggested exercise, not an assessed investigation or a case study with invented outcomes.

For related work, read environmental management strategies.

Practise with individual ESS support

In Marija’s online IB ESS SL and HL lessons, you can work on concepts, data interpretation and clear explanations. Request a free 20-minute trial lesson to discuss your priorities. For IA work, the investigation and submitted writing remain your own.

Official reference: IB ESS guide, first assessment 2026. Updated 19 October 2026.