单选题 Wildlife-based tourism is growing rapidly worldwide as the number of tourists continues to grow and as we, as travellers, seek out new and more enriching personal experiences with local cultures and wildlife. Experiencing the natural beauty of places like the Amazon rainforest, Iguazú Falls and Machu Picchu and the local people fighting to protect them was life-changing.
The UN World Tourism Organisation estimates that 7% of world tourism relates to wildlife tourism, growing annually at about 3%, and much higher in some places, like our Unesco world heritage sites. A WWF report shows that 93% of all natural heritage sites support recreation and tourism and 91% of them provide jobs. In Belize, more than 50% of the population are said to be supported by income generated through reef-related tourism and fisheries. But the very assets that underpin this wildlife based tourism—the wildlife itself—are under severe threat. The threats come from a multitude of sources: habitat loss, pollution, infrastructure, climate change, over-exploitation and illegal trade, the most immediate threat to wildlife. If we lose the wildlife, we lose the wildlife based tourism and the jobs that go with it.
The surge in illegal wildlife trade witnessed in recent years is industrial in scale and is driven by transnational organised criminals. They target high-value wildlife without regard for the animals or people"s lives. They corrupt local officials, recruit and arm local poachers, plunder local wildlife, create insecurity and put local communities into a poverty spiral.
The international community is fighting back. There is a global collective effort underway to take on these criminals. But they are hard to beat. We cannot rely on law enforcement alone. We need the private sector, especially the transport, travel and tourism sectors, to join the fight. Many in the transport sector, especially airlines, have come on board largely thanks to HRH the Duke of Cambridge, through his Transport Task Force initiative. The tourism sector must join us as well, as must each one of us, as tourists.
Well-managed wildlife-based tourism can offer an economic opportunity that supports wildlife. It must be responsibly managed and operators must engage with staff, customers and, most importantly, local people. Staff can be eyes and ears for the police, and customers can stop buying illegally or unsustainably sourced wildlife products. Engaging local people is the key, and that takes effort. Evidence shows that when? local people have a stake in it they will be the best protectors of wildlife, as is evident in the Northern Rangelands Trust.
Tourism operators have the power to lift local people out of poverty in a manner that will be mutually beneficial and self-sustaining. Or they can choose not to engage with local communities and to invest in a manner that sees all of the profits go offshore—in which case I would say they are no better than the poachers and the smugglers. The reality is that the tourism sector is not a fringe player in the fight against illegal wildlife trade—it is right at the centre of it. Tourism operators are on the front line of this fight along with the customs and rangers and inspectors.

单选题 Which of the following is NOT listed as a source of threat to wildlife?

单选题 The annual growth rate of wildlife-based tourism is estimated at approximately ______.

单选题 The word "surge" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 All the following statements about wildlife-related criminals are true EXCEPT that ______.

单选题 What is the main idea of the passage?