Ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning, Today I would like to begin with a story. The was once a physical therapist who traveled all the way from america to africa to do a census about mountain gorillas. These gorillas are a main attraction to tourists from all over the world; This put them severely under threat of poaching and being put into the zoo. She went there out of curiosity, but what she saw strengthened her determination to devote her whole life to fighting for those beautiful creatures. She witnessed a scene, a scene taking us to a place we never imaged we've ever been, where in the very depth of the african rainforest, surrounded by trees, flowers and butterflies, the mother gorillas cuddled their babies. Yes, that's a memorable scene in one of my favorite moives, called Gorillas in the Mist, based on a true story of Mrs, Dian Fossey, who spent most of her lifetime in Rwanda to protect the ecoenvironment there until the very end of her life. To me, the movie not only presents an unforgettable scene but also acts as a timeless reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our eco-environment.
Today we live in a world of prosperity but still threatened by so many new problems. On the one hand, tourism, as one of the most promising industries in the 21st century, provides people with the great opportunity to see everything there is to see and to go any place there is to go. It has become a lifestyle for some people, and has turned out to be the driving force in GDP growth. It has the magic to turn a backward town into a wonderland of prosperity. However，There are strong incentives to site hotels and build tourist facilities near hotspots to attract and accommodate tourists, regardless of the environmental damage that may result. Tourism brings economic benefits to countries, but there are usually substantial socio-economic and environmental costs associated with it. How to balance these problems is what confronts all of us as we try to develop its tourism sector while maintaining its natural surroundings All these appalling facts have brought us to the realization that we can no longer stand by and do nothing, because the very thought of it has been eroding our resources.
It forecast that 1.5 billion tourists will visit foreign countries annually by the year 2020, spending approximately US$2 trillion per year. Tourism transforms locally non-traded goods and services into exports which benefits local communities. But, tourism is not usually well-managed from the environmental perspective. Increasing visitor arrivals not only makes the local environment overcrowded, but also causes resources to be overexploited. natural habitats are increasingly being destroyed, and more pollution is being generated. It is often questionable whether local communities get enough revenues and other benefits from tourists to outweigh the environmental costs incurred.Now every year, many local ecoenviromental protection organizations are receiving donations-big notes, small notes or even coins-from housewives, plumbers, ambulance drivers, salesmen, teachers, children and invalids. Some of them can not afford to send the money but they do. These are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in hospitals, who are suffering from ecological damage in their neighborhood. Why? Because they care. Bacause they still want their mother nature back. Because they know it still belongs to them.
Once again, I have come to think of Mrs. Dian Fossey because it's with her spirit, passion, courage and strong sense of our ecoenvironment that we are taking our next step into the world.I found myself humming softly, not to the music, but to something else, someplace else, a place remembered, a place untouched, a filed of grass where no have been except the deer. And all those unforgettable scenes strengthened the feeling that it's time for us to do something, for our own and our coming generation. And no mater who we are, what we do and where we go, in our mind, there's always a scene to remember, a scene worth our effort to protect it and fight for it.
Thank you very much.
(责任编辑：演讲网 yanjiangcn)
