VOA标准英语2009年-Governments See Dollars in Re-Grown Forest

By Luke Hunt
Bangkok
05 November 2009

 
FAO says most countries in Europe and North America have reversed centuries of deforestation
As international attention shifts to Copenhagen and the coming United Nations conference on climate change, reforestation is emerging as a critical issue for the environment and as a source for government revenue. The issue is particularly important in Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands of hectares are cleared of trees each year.

Sometimes known as the lungs of the world, rain forests are crucial in filtering greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Less forest land means more carbon dioxide, which many climate experts say leads to increased temperatures and rising sea levels.

Many governments that have allowed forest clearing are now reconsidering such policies. The change is driven in part by the environmental damage, which includes soil erosion and flooding, as well as the potential to raise billions of dollars through carbon trading programs.

In carbon trading, industrial polluters pay for the right to emit greenhouse gases - such as carbon dioxide. One proposal would allow polluters to pay countries with large forests, mostly in the developing world, to keep trees standing¹.

Jack² Hurd is the director of forestry³ in Asia for the Nature Conservancy, a conservation group from the United States. He says governments must deal with reforestation as part of their overall environmental plans, with short-term strategies based on soil retention⁴ and using native species.

"Then you might want to focus in on multiple species being planted, eventually getting to a point where you're reforesting an area that's going to have a complex structure, composition and function of a natural forest," Hurd said. "That's a long-term investment."

Hurd says governments and business need to be encouraged to pursue such long-term projects. He singles out aggressive reforestation efforts in China and Vietnam as examples for other countries.

"I certainly think the Chinese and Vietnamese are heading in the right direction on this," Hurd said. "They've started from a degraded forest system and taking a look at that they realized their best efforts need to be put into reforestation, increasing forest cover and deriving⁵ forest products that they can use for their other industries."

The prospect⁶ of making money from selling carbon credits may make it easier for governments to save forests. Already Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia are racing⁷ to make themselves the regional hub for trading carbon credits.

In Indonesia, new studies put a far higher price on rain forests that are left standing as opposed to the palm oil plantations⁸ that often replace forests. And in Peru, the government hopes its extensive rain forests will allow Lima to raise $8.4 billion by selling carbon credits. And some of that money could be used to replace trees that have already been lost to logging.

Environmentalists and the United Nations hope that nations agree on carbon emissions⁹ caps at climate change talks in Copenhagen next month. If they do, then a trading system of carbon credits can evolve under what is called the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation¹⁰ program, or REDD.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

4 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

5 deriving   

v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• I anticipate deriving much instruction from the lecture. 我期望从这演讲中获得很多教益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He anticipated his deriving much instruction from the lecture. 他期望从这次演讲中得到很多教益。 来自辞典例句

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

8 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

9 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

10 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。