To mark Endangered Species Day today, The TreadRight Foundation, a joint initiative between The Travel Corporation's (TTC) family of brands, celebrates TTC's recent signing of the Buenos Aires Declaration on Travel & Tourism and Illegal Wildlife Trade at the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) Global Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Buenos Aires Declaration represents a fundamental step in WTTC's efforts to fight wildlife crimes, bringing together the leaders of the travel and tourism sector to take an active role in ensuring wildlife populations around the world can thrive.

Stopping wildlife crime has been at the core of TreadRight's wildlife conservation efforts through the foundation's 10-year history. Over the past decade, protecting endangered species has been central to many of the not-for-profit's project partnerships with outstanding organizations such as Wilderness Foundation Africa, Wildlife SOS – India, World Animal Protection, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Shark Savers, WildAid, Endangered Wildlife Trust, and the Wilderness Wildlife Trust.

On World Wildlife Day 2018 in March, TTC and TreadRight announced the expansion of The TreadRight Wildlife Initiative to include the fight to help save big cats with the introduction of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Big Cat Fund project partnership, followed by the announcement of further support for the continued development of The Cape Leopard Trust's conservation efforts at Bushmans Kloof, South Africa.

TTC Chief Executive and TreadRight Co-Founder Brett Tollman was in attendance at the WTTC Global Summit to sign the Buenos Aires Declaration.

“It is a privilege for our organization to be among the first to sign such an important initiative,” said Tollman. “The Buenos Aires Declaration on Travel & Tourism and Illegal Wildlife Trade has been particularly encouraging to TTC and TreadRight as it identifies specific actions that the sector can take to address the challenge presented by the illegal wildlife trade, taking the important step of establishing a framework on which the industry can build viable long-term solutions towards ending wildlife crime.”

Central to the Buenos Aires Declaration is a commitment to developing and providing sustainable livelihoods for those communities most affected by the illegal wildlife trade through promotion of the benefits of wildlife tourism and encouraging investment in infrastructure, communities and people.

The Declaration consists of four pillars:

1. Expression and demonstration of agreement to tackle the illegal wildlife trade
2. Promotion of responsible wildlife-based tourism
3. Awareness raising among customers, staff and trade networks
4. Engaging with local communities and investing locally

As a global community of travel organizations and travelers, the potential reach and influence of the sector is exceptional. Together, there is incredible capacity to identify and develop a positive way forward. With more than 40 WTTC members having now signed the Declaration, significant strides have already been made in prioritizing this issue. As members return from the WTTC Global Summit and encourage organizations within their respective spheres to join the fight against the illegal wildlife trade by signing the Buenos Aires Declaration, momentum continues to build. TreadRight and TTC are committed to working with partners across the industry to continue adopting the sector's unrivaled aptitude for innovation, education, and evolution and apply them to establishing a brighter and more sustainable future for our planet.