Kurt Holle's 1)Ecolodge in the 2)Amazon 库尔特·赫勒与他的“亚马逊生态旅馆”
生存与发展从来都是不可或缺的两个重要命题。对于原始森林资源丰富的发展中国家来说,如何能既保障生存又求得发展显得尤其重要,而这也是众多热心环保人士不停在探索的问题之一。
1983年,国际自然保护联盟特别顾问谢贝洛斯·拉斯喀瑞首次提出“生态旅游(ecotourism)”这一概念,它更强调对自然景观的保护,是一种“可持续发展”的旅游方式。在全球面临生存环境危机的背景下,“生态旅游”作为一种绿色旅游消费方式,一经提出便在全球引起巨大反响。不少有着以原始森林为主的优良生态系统的发展中国家成为了“生态旅游”的目的地,其中南美亚马逊地区和非洲野生动物园等成为了热门的“生态旅游”区。随着“生态旅游”日益兴起,“生态旅馆”也应运而生。下面我们就一起来了解一下库尔特·赫勒和他那位于秘鲁茂盛的热带雨林之中的“亚马逊生态旅馆”。
文字难度：★★★
For someone who’s changing the way business is done in the Amazon, Kurt Holle is remarkably 3)low-key. Raised in Peru’s capital, 4)Lima, he seems happiest in knee-high rubber boots, walking jungle trails while the 5)indigenous co-owners of his ecolodge help guests spot 6)tamarin monkeys and 7)scarlet 8)macaws.
作为正改变着亚马逊地区商业模式的一员,库尔特·赫勒显得极为低调。他那家生态旅馆的当地合伙人指点着游客们认识绢毛猴和深红色的金刚鹦鹉,而成长于秘鲁首都利马的他,足蹬齐膝橡胶靴,跟随人群行走在丛林间,看上去是最愉快的人。
9)The Posadas Amazonas lodge he launched 13 years ago in a 10)groundbreaking venture with a native Amazon 11)community is now studied by business schools at Stanford and Harvard universities. It’s won multiple awards. And it’s seen worldwide as a model for protecting the rain forest while providing jobs—and careers—for indigenous people who would otherwise join the swelling 12)ranks of illegal gold miners or 13)loggers 14)tearing up the jungle to 15)strike it rich.
十三年前,他开办了“亚马逊生态旅馆”,这在当时的亚马逊地区是一次破天荒的冒险。但如今,这已经成为斯坦福和哈佛两所大学的商学院的研究案例。旅馆赢得了无数奖项。在全球范围内,该旅馆已经被视作一个典范,因为它不仅保护了当地的热带雨林,还为当地人提供了工作和事业发展机会——否则,当地人要么会加入日益壮大的非法掘金者队伍,要么成为为了发财而摧毁丛林的砍伐者。
“This is a pioneer effort, not only in Peru, but in the whole region,” says environmental activist Enrique Ortiz. “People are always talking about working with the Indians, but no one is actually doing it. We all talk about community-based approaches, but there are no other examples that have worked and lasted. Mr. Holle’s success is extremely rare.”
“不止在秘鲁,即使是在全世界,这也是一项具有拓荒性质的事业,”环保人士恩里克·奥尔蒂斯表示,“人们总是说要和印第安人一起合作,却没有人真正去做。我们都谈过基于社区来发展的方法,却没有其他有效且可持续的先例。赫尔先生这样的成功个案极其罕见。”
Holle might be forgiven for 16)puffing out his chest while the 17)accolades 18)roll in, but that’s not his style. He prefers to speak about the details of his business, and he likes to remind people he’s not there for charity. “The market is giving us an opportunity to give value to the forest,” he says 19)matter-of-factly. “We’ve always been frank that this is a moneymaking operation.” His preference for action over talk is a big part of his success. Perhaps more important, though, is his ability to hear the concerns of his Indian partners and make 20)unorthodox business decisions based on them.
当荣誉接踵而来,赫勒先生即便耀武扬威,大家也不会怪他,只不过,这不是他的风格。他乐于谈论自己生意的细节,也喜欢提醒人们——他不是来做慈善事业的。“市场给我们提供了一个机会来赋予这里的森林以价值,”他中肯地说,“我们一直很坦白,这是一个要赚钱的项目。”行动胜于言语是他成功的一大秘诀。然而,或许更重要的是,他会去倾听他那些印第安同伴们讲述其所关注的事情,并据此做出非同一般的商业决策。
“The project is running well, because [Holle] consulted with the community and we moved ahead little by little,” says Federico Duran, the community leader in charge of relations with Holle. “It’s a good example for other communities that want to do something similar.”
“目前这个项目运作良好,因为赫勒与当地社群部落商议过,然后我们一步步地向前推进,”当地负责与赫勒协调关系的部落首领菲德里克·杜兰表示,“对于其他那些想要开展类似项目的社区来说,这是一个好榜样。”
Holle and his business partner, a fellow 21)well-to-do white 22)Peruvian named Eduardo Nycander, got into the 23)ecotourism business in their early 20s using start-up money from friends and family. After founding Rainforest Expeditions in 1989, they built a couple of successful ecolodges aimed mainly at European tourists, whose longer vacations gave them time to get to lodges deep in the jungle. They wanted to build a lodge closer to the provincial capital, 24)Puerto Maldonado, so they could attract Americans, who often had only three or four days to visit the Amazon while in Peru. At about that time, they received a letter from a local chief asking them to build a lodge on his community’s land to provide jobs.
早在二十岁出头时,赫勒与其商业伙伴、富有的秘鲁白人埃德瓦多·尼坎德尔一道,已经运用从朋友和家人那里筹来的启动资金涉足“生态旅游”生意。1989年,在创立名为“雨林探险”这一项目之后,他们成功建造了几个生态旅馆,主要针对来自欧洲的游客,因为这部分游客有更长的假期,有时间入住位于丛林深处的旅馆。此外,他们还打算在省会城市马尔多纳多港附近建造一间生态旅馆,以此吸引在秘鲁仅有三四天时间游览亚马逊地区的美国游客。正在此时,他们收到一封来自当地酋长的信,请求他们去他部落所在的地区开办一间旅馆来为当地人提供就业机会。
In 1996, Holle and Mr. Nycander did the unthinkable. They formed a joint venture 25)whereby the entire Eseeja community—whose 26)communal values ran completely contrary to Western business concepts—would own a new lodge funded and initially run by Holle and Nycander. The community receives 60 percent of the profits until 2016, when it will completely run and own all aspects of the business.
1996年,赫勒和尼坎德尔先生做出了一次非同寻常的举动。他们与Eseeja社区——该社区的共同价值观与西方的商业理念完全不同——组建了一家合资公司,这家公司会在当地建造一所新旅馆,由赫勒和尼坎德尔投入资金并进行初期运营。在2016年前,Eseeja社区将获得旅馆总盈利的60%,而在此之后,该社区将获得旅馆的所有权并独立运作旅馆的所有业务。
“We said, ‘You [contribute] the land and labor, and we’ll fund the lodge. We need 20 years to recover the investment and to train you guys. We also need special zones where you do nothing else,’ ”says Holle, explaining that any hunting, fishing, mining, and logging would chase away wildlife and ruin the business.
“我们当时说,‘由你们提供土地和劳动力,而我们出资建造旅馆。我们需要二十年来收回投资及训练你们的人员。我们还需要一些专门的地带,在那里你们什么都不要做,’”赫勒说道。他解释说,任何捕猎、捕鱼、开矿和砍伐活动都会把野生动物赶走,进而影响旅馆的生意。
The 27)precedent-setting arrangement hasn’t been easy. “There’s always tension,” Holle says. “It’s difficult to establish trust with the community. We look different. We think different. Our objectives are different.” For example, Holle says, high job turnover is bad for business. But local chiefs wanted everyone in the community to cycle through all the positions at the lodge so that everyone would gain valuable skills. The 28)rotation hurt the business. It took Holle months to explain the need for a highly qualified staff to make foreigners comfortable in the middle of the jungle. “Consensus is more important [to the indigenous community] than making quick decisions,” Holle says. “Nine times out of ten, we go with consensus.” The lodge is now managed by a woman from the community, and members with the most 29)aptitude are now learning marketing and other business skills.
商定合作模式的这个过程并不简单。“当时双方的关系一直很紧张,”赫勒说,“我们很难与那个部落社区建立起信任。我们样子不同,想法不同,目标也不同。”比如,赫勒举例说,工作人员的高频率轮岗不利于生意。但当地酋长们想要社区里的每个人都在所有岗位上轮一遍,让每个人都能掌握宝贵的技能。人员的流动影响了旅馆的生意。为此,赫勒用了几个月的时间来解释为了让外国游客在丛林中感到舒适,极有必要保持雇员的高素质。“比起快速决断,与当地社区达成共识更加重要,”赫勒表示,“绝大部分情况下,我们都是按共识行事。”如今,这家旅馆由一名来自当地社区的女性管理,同时社区中最具天资潜质的一批当地人正在学习市场营销和其他商业技能。
But one of the most promising signs of the success of the Posadas Amazonas lodge is that many of its employees used to make a living by damaging the forest. Javier Chambi, a groundskeeper at the lodge, used to hunt the forest’s animals and sell illegal timber. He now makes slightly more money while enjoying a steady income and good job security. And he doesn’t have to worry about dodging the police.
而衡量“亚马逊生态旅馆”的成功,一个最显著的标志是,许多过去曾以破坏雨林而谋生的人们成了它的雇员。曾依靠捕猎雨林里的野生动物和非法出售木材来谋生的贾维尔·查姆比现在是旅馆的一位场地管理员。如今,他可以享受一份收入稳定且有良好保障的工作,而且此时的收入比之前还略高一点。同时他再也不必担心如何躲避警察的追捕了。
Bus driver Ronaldo Salazar, who wants to be trained as a mechanic, used to illegally mine gold from the nearby 30)Tambopata River. While his income from mining would sometimes 31)dwarf what he makes now, he enjoys not going through the 32)backbreaking work and long periods without income. “Before, I had no job security,” Mr. Salazar says. “Now, whether it rains or not, I work and I’m paid.”
巴士司机罗纳尔多·萨拉扎尔曾在坦博帕塔河附近非法盗采金矿,如今他希望通过培训成为一名技工。虽然当时的采矿所得有时会让他如今的收入相形见拙,但他很享受现在这份并不繁重且不会长时间没有收入的工作。“过去,我没有工作保障,”萨拉扎尔先生说道,“如今,无论是晴天还是下雨,我都可以工作并获得报酬。”
Part of being an environmentalist now is tackling the 33)daunting challenge of providing livelihoods for indigenous people, who will otherwise put food on the table by harming the rain forest. The makes Holle a man 34)in demand. “Kurt is my 35)guru [of] whom I ask questions every time I have a problem with the native communities,”says businessman and environmental activist Roberto Persivale. “When we started, we were 36)way out in the bush,” he says. “Now we’re listed online next to Disney for vacations.”
作为一位环保人士,当前需要应对一个巨大挑战——为当地人提供生计。否则,他们将会通过破坏雨林来为自己谋食糊口。这使得库尔特·赫勒成为一个举足轻重的人。“库尔特是我的导师,每次我在当地社区遇到问题时都会向他请教,”商人兼环保人士罗伯托·珀斯瓦尔说道。“起初,我们在丛林中寻找出路,”他说,“如今,我们已经抢滩网上,与迪斯尼乐园在同一页面,成为大家度假的又一热门选择”。
