Protecting the Wilderness
Why cold environments like Svalbard matter as wilderness, the threats they face from a warming climate, resource extraction and tourism, and how they can be managed and kept sustainable for the future.
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The last great cold wilderness
Svalbard is a Norwegian group of islands high in the Arctic, home to polar bears, Arctic foxes and reindeer, and to the global seed vault where crops from around the world are kept safe. Places like this are among the last true wilderness on Earth, but they are fragile and under pressure. This module works through why the cold wilderness matters, what threatens it, and how it can be protected.
Wilderness words to know
Learn these before you weigh up value against threat.
Why it matters against what harms it
A strong answer holds both sides together for a named place like Svalbard.
Join value to a named threat
In the exam, link the value to a threat rather than listing them apart. Name a real cold place such as Svalbard, say what makes it special, then join that value to the exact thing that puts it at risk: as the ice warms and melts the wildlife suffers, mining leaves scars on land that is slow to recover, and too many visitors disturb the very place they came to see. Then give one way it is looked after. Value, threat, response, always joined up.
Match the term
- wilderness
- biodiversity
- sustainability
- fragile environment
- a wild area barely touched by people
- the range of living things in a place
- using a place without harming its future
- one easily damaged and slow to heal
Match threat to harm
- a warming climate
- coal mining and drilling
- growing tourism
- new roads and buildings
- melts the sea ice that polar bears hunt from
- digs up tundra that regrows very slowly
- disturbs wildlife and leaves litter behind
- break up areas that were once untouched
Why is Svalbard valuable to science?
Why is a cold environment like Svalbard valuable for scientific research?
- It is a pristine place for studying climate and wildlife
- It has warm, easy weather for long fieldwork
- It has large cities full of laboratories
- It has no living things to study
True about cold wilderness
Select the TWO true statements about protecting cold environments.
- A warming climate is a major threat to cold environments
- Cold environments are fragile and recover slowly from damage
- Cold environments have huge biodiversity like a rainforest
- Tourism has no effect at all on cold wilderness
Plan the monitoring
A protected reserve is divided into 8 monitoring zones, and each zone is checked 3 times in a season. Multiply the number of zones by the number of checks to find the total number of checks in a season. What is the answer?
Order the protection plan
Put the steps of planning to protect a wilderness in order, earliest first.
- Identify the value of the wilderness at risk
- Name the threat that could damage it
- Set up protection such as a national park
- Monitor the area and adjust the rules
Complete the rules
A wild area barely changed by people is called a _____. Cold environments are _____, so damage heals very slowly. A major threat to them is a warming _____. Using an environment without harming its future is called _____.
Spot the real threats
Tap the TWO real threats to a cold wilderness like Svalbard.
- a warming climate melting the sea ice
- mining and drilling for resources
- heavy rainfall growing thick forests
- too many large cities being cooled
Judge the case
Read each case and choose the best answer.
- Melting sea ice is leaving polar bears with less ground to hunt from. What kind of problem is this?
- To protect wildlife, much of Svalbard is set aside as national parks and nature reserves. What is this an example of?
- A firm wants to open a new coal mine on untouched tundra. Why is this a concern for the wilderness?
Explain protecting the wilderness
Explain the value of a cold environment such as Svalbard, the threats it faces, and how it can be protected.
- Explain why the cold wilderness is valuable, using a named place
- Explain two threats and link each to what it damages
- Explain one way the environment is managed sustainably