5. Place the appropriate word from the list in each of the blanks below:

features, objective, sacred, preservation, set up, landscapes, categories, protected areas

1. Particularly rapid growth of … occurs in developing countries.

2. V. Dokuchaev was among the first who drew attention to the importance of … of virgin steppe.

3. The main … of the reserve consists of the strictest standards of wildlife protection.

4. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) … depending on the level of protection.

5. The first major nature reserve was Yellowstone National Park … by a federal government entirely for the scientific study of nature.

6. Natural Monument is an area containing one, or more, specific natural … which are of outstanding or unique value.

7. In one of the old songs Lake Baikal is called “glorious sea, … Baikal”.

8. Nature reserves and national parks are created for the protection and study of unique plants, rare animals, beautiful …, mountains, volcanoes and caves.

Reading for Speaking and Discussing

Read the text and answer the question:

-Why are protected areas of great significance?

Protected Areas

The term “protected area (PA)” describes a wide array of land and water designations, of which some of the best known are national park, nature reserve, wilderness area, wildlife management area and landscape protected area. More importantly, the term embraces a wide range of different management approaches, from highly protected sites where few if any people are allowed to enter, through parks where the emphasis is on conservation but visitors are welcome, to much less restrictive approaches where conservation is integrated into the traditional human lifestyles. The term “protected area” includes Marine Protected Areas, which refers to protected areas whose boundaries include some area of ocean.

Protected areas are essential for biodiversity conservation. They are the cornerstones of all national and international conservation strategies. They are areas designed to maintain functioning of natural ecosystems, to act as refuges for species and to maintain ecological processes that cannot survive in most intensely managed landscapes and seascapes. Protected areas act as benchmarks against which we understand human interactions with the natural world. Today they are often the only hope we have of stopping many threatened or endemic species from becoming extinct. Protected areas also have direct human benefits. People – both those living in or near protected areas and others from further away – gain from the opportunities for recreation available in national parks and wilderness areas. Many protected areas are also essential for vulnerable human societies and conserve places of value such as sacred natural sites. Most protected areas are set up by governments, others are increasingly established by local communities, private individuals, companies and others.

There are currently over 120,000 protected areas covering 12.2 per cent of the Earth’s land area, 5.9 per cent of the territorial seas and only 0.5 per cent of the extraterritorial seas.

IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) categories for protected areas

The definition of a protected area adopted by IUCN is:

An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.

Although all protected areas meet the general purposes contained in this definition, in practice the precise purposes for which protected areas are managed differ greatly. The following are the main purposes of management:

-Scientific researches

-Protection of nature and wilderness

-Preservation of species and genetic diversity

-Provision of environmental services

-Protection of specific natural and cultural features

-Tourism and recreation

-Education

-Maintenance of cultural and traditional features

The IUCN has defined a series of protected area management categories based on management objectives. The six categories are:

CATEGORY I a: Strict Nature Reserve: protected area managed mainly for science.

CATEGORY I b: Wilderness Area: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection.

CATEGORY II: National Park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation.

CATEGORY III: Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features.

CATEGORY IV: Habitat/Species Management Area: protected area managed mainly for conservation.

CATEGORY V: Protected Landscape/Seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation.

CATEGORY VI: Managed Resource Protected Area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems.