How about not only guarding the resource, but be the resource. I'm thinking about crazy Wildlife, that might perhaps be tameable, not in a pet kinda way but as a resource for food etc. (Correct me if i'm wrong, haven't read all the Devblogs yet, but don't our Characters gotta eat something ?)
So right now i was thinking of a resource, and like a vein of ore that is completly mined, if the species is extingt we run out of this resource of food, the prices are getting higher etc.
And for me this would be a more fun factor than getting 50 plus ppl together to get a GatlingLazer +2