English PSSSB Practice 62

National parks, often celebrated as sanctuaries of unspoiled beauty, stand as humanity's noble attempt to reconcile progress with preservation. They represent the paradoxical intersection of civilization and wilderness-domains where human ambition seeks to protect precisely what it once threatened to destroy. Conceived as refuges for biodiversity and serenity, these vast tracts of land are both monuments to human foresight and reminders of our ecological guilt. Yet, beneath their picturesque grandeur lies a profound dilemma: can nature truly remain pure once it has been touched by the machinery of human management? The creation of national parks, while born from reverence, often necessitates an act of exclusion. Indigenous communities who once lived in symbiosis with these landscapes were frequently displaced in the name of conservation, transforming sacred homelands into regulated zones of "untouched" wilderness. Thus, the concept of preservation becomes paradoxical-it protects nature by alienating humanity from it. What was once a living ecosystem, intertwined with human culture and tradition, is now curated, patrolled, and exhibited like a masterpiece behind invisible glass. Moreover, the modern tourist, armed with cameras and smartphones, ventures into these sanctuaries not merely to experience nature, but to capture and possess it through pixels and posts. The very presence of visitors-vehicles, litter, and noise-quietly erodes the fragile ecosystems they come to admire. Conservation efforts, though sincere, often find themselves entangled in bureaucratic complexities and economic compromises. The park becomes a spectacle, an aesthetic commodity shaped by the same consumerism that once endangered it. In essence, national parks embody both hope and hypocrisy-a testament to humanity's yearning for redemption amidst destruction. They remind us that preservation is not the mere act of setting boundaries around nature, but the deeper practice of humility, restraint, and reverence. Until mankind learns to coexist rather than dominate, to protect without possession, the forests will remain both our sanctuaries and our mirrors-reflecting the contradictions of our civilization.