Plan this advantages and disadvantages essay about environment with the ideas and outline below, write it on a 40-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
National parks and nature reserves now charge tourists high fees and allow thousands of visitors each year.
Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
Pick two or three points from one or both columns. You do not need all of them, and your own examples score better than memorised ones.
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 250 minimum
Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.
Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
National parks and nature reserves increasingly charge high fees and welcome thousands of visitors each year. I think the advantages of this approach outweigh the disadvantages, if visitor numbers are properly managed.
There are clear benefits. Entrance fees provide money for rangers, trail maintenance, conservation projects and research, which many parks cannot afford from government budgets alone. Tourism also supports local communities by creating jobs for guides, drivers and hotel staff, and it gives residents a reason to protect wildlife rather than hunt or clear it for farmland. In Rwanda, for instance, expensive permits to see mountain gorillas fund conservation and have helped the gorilla population to recover. Visitors who experience nature at first hand often become more concerned about the environment and more willing to support protection efforts.
However, there are genuine harms. Large numbers of tourists can trample plants, erode footpaths, disturb animals and leave rubbish, while vehicles and hotels add pollution and noise. Animals that become used to people may change their feeding and breeding habits. High fees may also exclude local families and people on low incomes, making national heritage accessible only to wealthy visitors, and communities may resent a system in which most of the income goes elsewhere.
These problems can be reduced with careful management. Parks can limit daily numbers through permits, direct visitors along designated paths, close sensitive areas during breeding seasons and require guides in fragile places. Lower fees or free days for residents would keep parks accessible, and a fair share of revenue should be returned to nearby communities.
In conclusion, high fees and tourism provide funding, jobs and support for conservation, and since the environmental damage can be controlled through limits and planning, I believe the benefits are greater.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| national park | protected natural area |
| ecotourism | travel that protects nature |
| visitor numbers | how many people come |
| nature reserve | land kept for wildlife |
| footpath erosion | wearing away of trails |
| wildlife disturbance | harm to animals' lives |
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