70 Unit 05 | Caring for our world Work in small groups. The expressions in the box come from the article ‘Rent a panda’ below. Use them to guess what it might be about. Share your ideas in class. good news safeguard bamboo forests panda diplomacy 58 pandas on loan a win-win Skim the article to find out the meaning of the term ’panda diplomacy’. Now read the article about giant panda conservation more closely, then choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) for questions 1–7. Put a cross ( ) in the correct box. The first one (0) has been done for you. READING 6 7 a b Rent a panda Cute, cuddly and eminently distinctive, pandas are loved by everyone. The giant panda is synonymous with wildlife conservation, owing primarily to it being the logo of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The species itself faced serious threats to its existence up to the 1980s, when only around 1,000 animals remained in the wild. Often a victim to poachers, the giant panda was also seriously affected by the growing population in China, to which the animal is indigenous. However, efforts by China and conservation agencies have led to an increase in its population. The latest census in 2014 found that there were 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild. As a result, in 2016, in a welcome piece of good news for the world’s threatened wildlife, the giant panda was downgraded from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the global list of species at risk of extinction. This demonstrates how conservation work can help save our planet’s vanishing biodiversity. This success for one of nature’s most lovable creatures has been achieved through the tireless work of NGOs such as WWF, raising awareness of the panda’s fate and working together with politicians in an effort to conserve the bears’ habitats. In the 1980s, WWF became the first international organisation to work in China. Since then, this organisation has been collaborating with the government to save giant pandas and their habitat. This has involved helping to establish a network of giant panda reserves as well as working with local communities to develop sustainable livelihoods whilst minimising negative human impact on the forests. These efforts have seen the number of panda reserves jump to 67, which now protect nearly twothirds of all wild pandas. They have also helped to safeguard large areas of bamboo forests, which shelter countless other species and provide natural services to millions of people living there. Another crucial factor in saving the panda was based on China’s so-called ‘panda diplomacy’. Up until 1982, giant pandas had been gifted by the Chinese government to countries as a token of goodwill and in exchange for lucrative trade deals. Nowadays, however, pandas are no longer given away but can be rented from China. Of course, this renting opportunity comes with a hefty price tag: panda rent can cost as much as one million dollars annually for a period of at least ten years for each animal. China remains the owner of all these pandas and their cubs and can demand them back if needed. Fortunately, after years of hard work, some of the money made from ‘panda loans’ benefits panda conservation in China. Although it is unclear how much money China actually spends on its panda-breeding efforts or on conserving wild panda habitat, it’s safe to say that those costs are also high. According to the state-owned China Daily newspaper, 70 percent of the one-million-dollar loan fee goes directly towards the protection of natural habitats in China, while another 20 percent supports panda research. Thus, the currently 58 pandas on loan to 17 countries Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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