Explain several reasons for the development of parks and protected areas?

What will be an ideal response?


First is the belief that enormous, beautiful, inspirational, or unusual features such as the Grand Canyon and Mount Rainier should be protected. Second, parks have been created to provide economic benefits via ecotourism. A third reason we have set aside parks is for utilitarian purposes. A watershed protected from development provides cities with clean drinking water and a buffer against floods. A fourth reason for the creation of protected areas has been their recreational value to tourists, hikers, fishers, hunters, and others. The preservation of biodiversity is a fifth reason that has been increasingly prioritized in recent years. Human impact alters habitats in myriad ways and has led to countless population declines and species extinctions. A park or reserve is widely viewed as a kind of Noah's Ark, an island of habitat that can, scientists hope, maintain species that might otherwise disappear. In addition, forests are valuable protection against global climate change.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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