The article talks about what a national park is. Why they are created, how they differ from reserves and what are reserves.
Nature
Life on our planet exists, according to scientists, more than 3 billion years. During this time, many biological species have changed on it - some have disappeared, others have evolved, and still others have been completely exterminated by man. The same is with plant life: it has undergone many changes and there are some of its species that need protection to protect against complete extinction.
Since the industrial revolution and mass industrialization, the amount of wild and untouched nature has been gradually decreasing. The reason for this was deforestation, mining, hunting, etc. Gradually, at least in the European part of our continent, the number of cities also increased. This is happening at such a fast and massive pace that, starting around the middle of the 19th century, in many countries it was decided to create green areas and national parks in general within the city. So what is a national park, what are its tasks and how does it differ from a reserve? We'll figure it out.
Definition
First, let's get some terminology out of the way. According to the official definition, a national park is a special natural area in which, in order to preserve it, economic activity, hunting or other anthropogenic interference is prohibited in part or in full. But at the same time, visiting national parks is allowed for tourists or just nature lovers. Naturally, provided that the established rules are not violated. For example, you can not leave garbage, harm vegetation, animals, make fires, etc. So now we know what a national park is. But why, besides ecological tourism, are such protected natural areas created?
Meaning
National parks are not just for regulated tourism or visitation. Typically, such a status is given to those natural areas in which there are objects of scientific, cultural or aesthetic significance. They often host various research projects, excursions for students of educational institutions, and so on. Also, sometimes such parks have historical value. For example, these are relic forests with unique vegetation or places where processes important for a particular region or all of humanity once took place. So we figured out what a national park is.
But still, they are the most popular among the common population precisely as places where you can join nature, do light tourism and have a good time. Andan important role in this is played by the absence of garbage, which is abundant in any forests close to people.
Also, national parks are an effective measure of preserving some important or special areas of nature from cutting down, human settlement and disturbance of the natural balance in the animal world. But when the task is to preserve a site of nature and its inhabitants in its original form or restore their population, nature reserves come to the rescue. What is it and how are nature reserves different from parks? We'll figure it out.
What is a national park and reserve?
We have considered the definition of the national park, now it is the turn of the reserve. So what are their differences?
Reserves are forests, water areas and other natural areas in which, in order to preserve the flora of the fauna or restore their population, any human activity, including visiting, is completely prohibited. True, visitors are still allowed into some reserves, but only as part of excursions accompanied by experienced rangers who keep order.
To put it simply, the purpose of the reserve is to preserve a certain natural area and prevent human interference. Of course, hunting, logging and other destructive activities in them are completely prohibited, and scientists monitor the natural balance. Various research activities are also carried out in the reserves.
So we have analyzed the definition of the reserve, and what is the national park of Russia - we will consider further. The first of them were formedback in the days of the USSR, and now there are specially protected ecologically clean territories in almost every region of our country. The most famous of them are "Lake Pleshcheyevo", "Elk Island", "Curonian Spit".
Conclusion
Organization and preservation of national parks and reserves is an important task, since the anthropogenic factor has a strong impact on the animal and plant world in our time. So, in the last century alone, dozens of biological species have been destroyed. And a serious role in this was played by poachers who penetrate the territories of reserves and shoot rare or endangered species of animals, whose skins, horns, hooves and meat are then resold at fabulous prices.
So now we know what a national park is. Examples of their existence can be found on all continents, and in Russia there are 47 of them. All of them are valuable in their own way, they are located in different regions and are especially interesting for scientists and tourists.
