Ecotourism生态旅游

Imagine the scene. You’re sitting in the hot sunshine beside the swimming pool of your international luxury hotel， drinking your imported gin and tonic. In front of you is the beach， reserved for hotel guests with motor boats for hire. Behind you is an 18-hole golf course， which was cleared from the native forest and is kept green by hundreds of water sprinklers1. Around the hotel are familiar international restaurant chains and the same shops that you have at home. You’ve seen some local people—some of them sell local handicrafts outside the hotel. You bought a small wooden statue and after arguing for half an hour you only paid a quarter of what the man was asking. Really cheap！

想象一下这样的场景：坐在豪华国际酒店的泳池边，沐浴在骄阳下，喝着进口的金汤力；身前是专供酒店客人休憩的海滩，上面停泊着租用的摩托艇；身后是一个由天然林开垦而来的18洞高尔夫球场，数百个喷洒器让其保持绿意盎然。酒店周边有熟悉的国际连锁餐厅以及跟你家附近一模一样的商店。你见过一些当地人——有几个人在酒店外兜售当地手工艺品。你买了一个小木雕，经过半小时的讨价还价，只付了那人要价的四分之一。真便宜！

Is this your idea of heaven or would you prefer something different？

这是你心目中的天堂吗？或者你更向往别的地方？

Nowadays， many of us try to live in a way that will damage the environment as little as possible. We recycle our newspapers and bottles， we take public transport to get to work， we try to buy locally produced fruit and vegetables and we stopped using aerosol2 sprays years ago. And we want to take these attitudes on holiday with us. This is why alternative forms of tourism are becoming more popular all over the world.

如今，我们中的许多人试图以尽可能少破坏环境的方式生活。我们回收报纸和瓶子，乘坐公共交通工具去上班，尽量购买本地生产的水果和蔬菜，几年前就不再使用气溶胶喷雾剂。我们也想带着这种态度去度假。这就是为什么新型旅游在世界各地变得越来越流行。

But what is ecotourism？

可什么是生态旅游？

There are lots of names for these new forms of tourism： responsible tourism， alternative tourism， sustainable tourism， nature tourism， adventure tourism， educational tourism and more. Ecotourism probably involves a little of all of them. As per The International Ecotourism Society （TIES）， ecotourism is now defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the envir-onment， sustains the well-being of the local people， and involves interpretation and education”.

新型旅游名目繁多：负责任旅游、替代性旅游、可持续旅游、自然旅游、探险旅游、教育旅游，等等。生态旅游大概每样都沾点边。国际生态旅游协会将生态旅游定义为“对自然地区负责任的旅行，以保护环境、维护当地民众福祉为前提，亦包含诠释和教育”。

Most people agree that ecotourism must：

大多数人认同生态旅游必须：

1. conserve the wildlife and culture of the area;

1. 保护该地区的野生动植物和文化；

2. benefit the local people and involve the local community;

2. 让当地民众受益，让当地社区参与；

3. be sustainable， that is， make a profit without destroying natural resources;

3. 可持续发展，即在不破坏自然资源的前提下营利；

4. provide an experience that tourists want to pay for.

4. 提供游客愿意付费的体验。

So for example， in a true ecotourism project， a nature reserve allows a small number of tourists to visit its rare animals and uses the money that is generated to continue with important conservation work. The local people have jobs in the nature reserve as guides and wardens3， but also have a voice in how the project develops. Tourists stay in local houses with local people， not in specially built hotels. So they experience the local culture and do not take precious energy and water away from the local population. They travel on foot， by boat， bicycle or elephant so that there is no pollution. And they have a special experience that they will remember all of their lives.

例如，在一个真正的生态旅游项目中，自然保护区允许少量游客参观其稀有动物，并将产生的收益继续投入到重要的保护工作中。当地人在自然保护区担任导游和管理员，也对项目开发具有一定发言权。游客住进当地人开办的民宿，而非专门修建的酒店。这样一来，他们既体验了当地文化，也不会从当地居民那里夺走珍贵的能源和水。在旅途中，他们步行、坐船、骑车、骑大象，不造成任何污染。他们拥有了一段毕生难忘的特殊体验。

Choose your holiday carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask the holiday company about what they do that is ‘eco’. Remember that ‘eco’ is very fashionable today and a lot of holidays that are advertised as ecotourism are not much better than traditional tourism.

务必谨慎选择度假服务。不要怯于询问旅游度假公司他们的行程哪方面是“生态”的。记住，虽然现在“生态”一词非常流行，但是许多打着生态旅游旗号的度假服务并不比传统旅游好多少。

But before you get too enthusiastic， think about how you are going to get to your dream ‘eco’ paradise. Flying is one of the biggest man-made sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Friends of the Earth4 say that one return flight from London to Miami puts as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as the average British car driver produces in a year. So don’t forget that you don’t have to fly to exotic locations for your ‘eco’ holiday. There are probably places of natural beauty and interest in your own country that you’ve never visited.

在心潮澎湃之前，先想想将如何到达你梦想中的“生态”天堂。飞机是大气中最大的二氧化碳人为来源之一。国际地球之友称，从伦敦到迈阿密飞一个来回，排放到大气中的二氧化碳相当于英国小汽车司机人均一年的排放量。因此别忘了，你大可不必为了“生态”假期而飞到异国他乡。在你自己的国度，可能有一些你从未造访过的自然美景和名胜古迹。

The impacts of ‘ecotourism’

“生态旅游”的影响

Ecotourism calls on vacationers to redefine what it means to take a vacation—not only where you go and how you get there， but also what you do while you’re there.

生态旅游促使度假者重新定义度假——度假不仅关乎你要去哪儿、怎么去，还关乎你去那里做什么。

This strategy affects how people choose where to stay. With home-sharing sites like Airbnb5 growing more popular with five million listings worldwide， many people are opting for a more cost-effective， authentic experience for their vacations. （Airbnb has itself been criticised because of its impact on local communities and economies.）