亚马逊雨林大火还未熄灭，5种措施根除火患

这个问题还真是火急火燎。随着大火席卷巴西亚马逊雨林，人们不禁想，如何才能把为贫困农民开发土地的愿望与保护环境的迫切需要协调起来？

亚马逊雨林对全球生态系统来说至关重要，不仅是地球最大的“肺”，而且在物种大量灭绝的时代是保留生物多样性的宝库。问题是，巴西许多农民很贫穷，希望通过耕种土地来摆脱贫困。因此，他们在现任巴西政府的支持之下开始垦荒，全球资源宝库亚马逊雨林之所以燃起熊熊大火，垦荒就是原因之一。

“今年火情严重，短期内能做的事情不是很多，”上周四在中国云南举行的《财富》全球可持续论坛上，大自然保护协会亚太区总干事杰克·赫德说道。“在印度尼西亚，25年以来发生过多起森林火灾，而在其他拥有大片森林的国家也是一样。”

但赫德表示，长远来看希望犹存，如果各种活动人士和利益相关者能处理好五个领域的问题，就有望扭转目前的毁林趋势。

“首先，我们必须真正了解亚马逊雨林和其他森林的价值，”赫德说道。人们应该了解热带雨林对生物多样性、氧气生成及其影响降雨的经济价值，制定商业和环境方面的国家决策时都应考虑在内，他说道。

其次是土地利用规划，也就是决定发展农村经济时应该保护、改造或充分管理哪些地区。

三是制定有效的雨林治理体系，治理机构中的法律、政策、制度和人们的行为都要升级，才能达成巴西为亚马逊设定的长期目标。治理体系和相应结构都要就位，赫德说道。

实施最优管理实践也至关重要。“采矿业是亚马逊地区的重要行业，从根本上说采矿没什么不对，”赫德说道。但跟养牛和种植农作物一样，采矿也应采取有效而健全的管理实践。“可以通过高效和先进的运作最大限度地提高土地回报，”他说道。

但总得有人为此付出代价。所以世界各国政府要通过各种机制来解决融资问题，例如其他国家直接向巴西提供资金、建立补偿基金和碳排放气候基金、以及开征旅游税等。

“关键点在于，要努力找到重视亚马逊的人与想利用雨林谋求利益的企业和个人之间的直接联系，” 赫德说道。“通过一些公正公平的方式完成支付。”

否则，如果雨林继续燃烧，最后从地球上消失，所有人都会因不作为付出惨痛代价。（财富中文网）

译者：艾伦

审校：夏林

It is literally a burning question. As fires rage across Brazil’s [hotlink ignore=true]Amazon[/hotlink] rainforest, how can the desire to develop land for poor farmers be reconciled with the urgent need to protect the environment for everyone?

The Amazon is essential for the global ecosystem. The planet’s largest ‘lung,’ the Amazon is a treasure trove of biodiversity in an age of extinction. But many farmers in Brazil are poor and want to work the land as a way to escape poverty. And so, with the blessing of the current Brazilian government, they started clearing the land, an effort that’s at least partly to blame for setting one of the world’s greatest resources ablaze.

“This is the burning season, and in the short term not a lot can be done,’’ said Jack Hurd, regional managing director in Asia-Pacific for the Nature Conservancy, at Fortune’s Global Sustainability Forum in Yunnan, China on Thursday. “It’s been happening in Indonesia for 25 years, and in other countries with large forested regions.”

However, there is hope in the longer term, Hurd said. It requires various actors and stakeholders to address five areas that could reverse the trend of destruction.

“We have to start by getting a true sense of the value of the Amazon, and other forests,’’ Hurd said. Knowing the economic worth of the rainforest’s biodiversity, oxygen production, and its effect on rainfall could and should be used to inform national decision making on both business and the environment, he said.

Land-use planning is second. Decisions need to be made about which areas will be protected, converted, or substantially managed in terms of rural development.

Third is developing an effective system of governance of the rainforest. Laws, policies, institutions, and the behaviors of people in those institutions must be upgraded to meet the long-term objectives Brazil has for the Amazon. A governance system and structure needs to be put in place, Hurd said.

Best management practices are also critical. “Mining is an important industry in the Amazon, and fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with mining,” Hurd argues. But mining, like cattle raising and crop farming, needs to put in place effective and sound management practices. “With efficient and progressive operations, we can maximize the returns on the land,’’ he said.

But, as always, someone has to pay for it. So governments around the world must address financing through various mechanisms, such as direct payments to Brazil by other countries, compensation funds, carbon climate funds, and tourism taxes.

“The point is to try and find a direct link between the people who value the Amazon and the businesses and individuals who utilize the land for their benefits,’’ Hurd said. “There are ways to pay for all of this that are fair and equitable.”

Otherwise, as the forests burn and disappear, we will all pay a price for inaction.