VOA标准英语2010年-Study: 'Shoot to Kill' Policy in Afric

According to a new study published in Britain, wildlife conservation in Africa is leading to widespread human rights abuses.  In her new book, Nature Crime, researcher Rosaleen Duffy wrote that organizations in Africa are operating a shoot-to-kill policy against poachers to protect endangered species.

 

Rosaleen Duffy of Britain's University of Manchester said that in many African countries conservation has become heavily militarized in recent years.  In countries such as Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, she said private security firms have been recruited to protect endangered species.  Duffy said many shoot to kill poachers as standard operating procedure.

"We've got to remember that people who are shot on sight - they have never been through a court of law; they have never actually been convicted of anything," said Duffy.  "And in many cases, I think, we can think of these as gross human rights abuses."

Duffy said international tourism means the pressure to protect endangered animals is intense.  She said the militarization of conservationism can have negative effects on local communities.

"Those alienate¹ local communities because it increases a sense of injustice² and a feeling that particularly Western conservation organizations care more about wildlife than they do about people," said Duffy.

Duffy said she does not believe it necessarily is the best way to protect endangered animals.  "In the short-term, it might mean that you save a few animals.  But in the longer-term, it just turns communities right off conservation and actually makes them more likely to support or turn a blind eye to commercial poaching gangs operating in their area."

Mark Wright is with the Worldwide Fund for Nature.  He said conservationism has changed considerably³ during the past decade, partly due to conservationists responding to changes on the ground.

"The poachers themselves tend to be more highly organized, far better equipped, often heavily armed," said Wright.  "And so to respond to that, I think there has been an inevitable⁴ change in the way that the national parks or protected areas are policed."

Wright says it is important to remember that it is not only poachers who have died in the battle over endangered species.  In the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said, hundreds of park rangers⁵ also have lost their lives.

 

1 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

2 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

3 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册