Nature is everywhere -- we just need to learn to see it | Emma Marris

翻译人员: Shiwen He 校对人员: Moire Yim

We are stealing nature from our children.

我们正从后代手中偷取大自然。

Now, when I say this, I don't mean that we are destroying nature

我并不是在说我们在毁坏大自然

that they will have wanted us to preserve,

孩子们想让我们保护的大自然，

although that is unfortunately also the case.

尽管我们的确在毁坏大自然。

What I mean here is that we've started to define nature in a way

这里我所指的是，我们给自然

that's so purist and so strict

下了一个纯粹又严格的定义。

that under the definition we're creating for ourselves,

在这个我们自己的定义之下，

there won't be any nature left for our children

当我们的孩子长大成人，

when they're adults.

他们的自然将会所剩无几。

But there's a fix for this.

但这个问题有办法解决。

So let me explain.

让我来解释一下。

Right now, humans use half of the world

现在，人类正在把半个地球

to live, to grow their crops and their timber,

用于生活，种植农作物、木材

to pasture their animals.

和饲养牲畜。

If you added up all the human beings,

如果把所有人类质量加总

we would weigh 10 times as much as all the wild mammals put together.

相当于所有野生哺乳动物的10倍。

We cut roads through the forest.

我们从砍伐森林中建设道路。

We have added little plastic particles to the sand on ocean beaches.

我们把塑料颗粒混在了海滩的沙粒中。

We've changed the chemistry of the soil with our artificial fertilizers.

我们用人造的化肥改变了泥土的化学性质，

And of course, we've changed the chemistry of the air.

当然我们也改变了空气的成分。

So when you take your next breath,

所以，当你呼吸下一口空气时，

you'll be breathing in 42 percent more carbon dioxide

你吸入的二氧化碳

than if you were breathing in 1750.

比1750年多42％。

So all of these changes, and many others,

所以，这些改变，和其他的一起，

have come to be kind of lumped together under this rubric of the "Anthropocene."

都集合在”人类世”的大标题下。

And this is a term that some geologists are suggesting

这是一个由地质学家们建议的术语，

we should give to our current epoch,

因为人类的影响无处不在，

given how pervasive human influence has been over it.

我们正所处的时代被叫做“人类世”。

Now, it's still just a proposed epoch, but I think it's a helpful way

现在，它仍只是一个被建议使用的名词，

to think about the magnitude of human influence on the planet.

但我认为这可以帮助人类 思考自己对这个星球的所作所为。

So where does this put nature?

所以这对自然有什么影响？

What counts as nature in a world where everything is influenced by humans?

在这个遍布人类影响的世界， 什么才算自然？

So 25 years ago, environmental writer Bill McKibben said

25年前，环境作家比尔·麦克基本认为，

that because nature was a thing apart from man

因为自然是人类之外的东西，

and because climate change meant

以及因为气候变化

that every centimeter of the Earth was altered by man,

意味着地球的每分每寸都被人类改写了，

then nature was over.

自然已经不存在了。

In fact, he called his book "The End of Nature."

其实他的书就叫《自然的终结》。

I disagree with this. I just disagree with this.

我不同意这观点。我就是不同意。

I disagree with this definition of nature, because, fundamentally, we are animals.

我不同意这个对自然的定义， 因为根本上我们人类是动物

Right? Like, we evolved on this planet

对吧？我们在这个星球上进化

in the context of all the other animals with which we share a planet,

在这里，我们同所有动物、

and all the other plants, and all the other microbes.

所有植物、所有微生物共享这个星球。

And so I think that nature

并且，我坚信，自然不应该是一个

is not that which is untouched by humanity, man or woman.

未被人类所碰触的地方。

I think that nature is anywhere where life thrives,

我坚信，自然是一个有生命茂盛兴旺，

anywhere where there are multiple species together,

有万物共同生长，

anywhere that's green and blue and thriving and filled with life

有绿色蓝色，旺盛充盈着生命的

and growing.

一个不断生长的地方。

And under that definition,

在这个定义之下，

things look a little bit different.

事情变得有些不同。

Now, I understand that there are certain parts of this nature

现在，我深知自然中某些部分

that speak to us in a special way.

会用一种特殊的语言和我们对话。

Places like Yellowstone,

有很多地方，就象黄石公园、

or the Mongolian steppe,

蒙古大草原、

or the Great Barrier Reef

大堡礁，

or the Serengeti.

还有塞伦盖蒂，

Places that we think of as kind of Edenic representations

这些好似伊甸园一样的地方，

of a nature before we screwed everything up.

那个还没有被我们摧毁一切的自然。

And in a way, they are less impacted by our day to day activities.

而且它们较少受到 我们一天一天的活动的影响。

Many of these places have no roads or few roads,

很多地方几乎没有道路，

so on, like such.

之类的，等等。

But ultimately, even these Edens are deeply influenced by humans.

但最后，这些伊甸园还是被人类深深影响。

Now, let's just take North America, for example,

现在，让我们用北美举个例子，

since that's where we're meeting.

既然我们就处在北美。

So between about 15,000 years ago when people first came here,

在15000年前，当人们第一次来到这片土地时，

they started a process of interacting with the nature

他们开始和自然进行互动。

that led to the extinction of a big slew of large-bodied animals,

这导致了大量大型动物的灭绝，

from the mastodon to the giant ground sloth,

从乳齿象到地懒，

saber-toothed cats,

剑齿虎，

all of these cool animals that unfortunately are no longer with us.

这些动物都不幸地灭绝了。

And when those animals went extinct,

当这些动物走向灭绝，

you know, the ecosystems didn't stand still.

生态系统就不能一如既往地运行。

Massive ripple effects changed grasslands into forests,

涟漪效应使草原变成了森林，

changed the composition of forest from one tree to another.

使丛林的树从一种变成了另一种。

So even in these Edens,

甚至那些伊甸园，

even in these perfect-looking places

那些绮丽之地也深受影响。

that seem to remind us of a past before humans,

这似乎让我们想起了一段人类出现之前的历史。

we're essentially looking at a humanized landscape.

我们其实是在看一个人类化的风景,

Not just these prehistoric humans, but historical humans, indigenous people

不止这些史前人类，还有历史上的人和原著人民

all the way up until the moment when the first colonizers showed up.

一直追溯到第一个殖民者到来的那一刻。

And the case is the same for the other continents as well.

并且这些情况对其他大陆也是一样的。

Humans have just been involved in nature

长久以来，人类已在自然之中

in a very influential way for a very long time.

进行了富有影响力的进化。

Now, just recently, someone told me,

就在刚刚，有个人对我说：

"Oh, but there are still wild places."

“啊，其实还有原生态的地方啊。”

And I said, "Where? Where? I want to go."

我说：”哪里啊？在哪？我想去。“

And he said, "The Amazon."

他说：”亚马逊。“

And I was like, "Oh, the Amazon. I was just there.

我说：”哦，亚马逊，我就在那。“

It's awesome. National Geographic sent me to Manú National Park,

这很不错，国家地理派遣我去的马努国家公园

which is in the Peruvian Amazon,

就在祕鲁亚马逊

but it's a big chunk of rainforest, uncleared, no roads,

那是一大片雨林，很模糊，没有公路

protected as a national park,

作为一个国家公园被保护

one of the most, in fact, biodiverse parks in the world.

实际上，这里受保护的物种堪称世界之最

And when I got in there with my canoe, what did I find, but people.

当我撑着我的小舟来到这里， 我找到的，只有人。

People have been living there for hundreds and thousands of years.

人们来到这片雨林有上百或上千年了。

People live there, and they don't just float over the jungle.

住在这的人，他们不只乘舟穿越丛林，

They have a meaningful relationship with the landscape.

他们同这地方有寓意悠远的关系。

They hunt. They grow crops.

他们打猎，他们种植农作物

They domesticate crops.

他们培育农作物。

They use the natural resources to build their houses,

他们用自然资源做自己的房屋，

to thatch their houses.

用茅草盖屋顶，

They even make pets out of animals that we consider to be wild animals.

他们甚至把我们眼中认为的野生动物当作宠物。

These people are there

人们在那

and they're interacting with the environment

和环境共生互动。

in a way that's really meaningful and that you can see in the environment.

你可以从环境中清楚看到 这其中深刻的意义。

Now, I was with an anthropologist on this trip,

当时我和一位人类学家相伴而行，

and he told me, as we were floating down the river,

当我们正在漂度河流时，

he said, "There are no demographic voids in the Amazon."

他说：“在亚马逊没有人口空隙。”

This statement has really stuck with me,

这个说法着实让我很困惑，

because what it means is that the whole Amazon is like this.

因为这意味着，整个亚马逊就是

There's people everywhere.

人类无处不在。

And many other tropical forests are the same,

并且其它热带雨林也是这样的，

and not just tropical forests.

并且不止是热带雨林，

People have influenced ecosystems in the past,

人们在过去影响过生态系统，

and they continue to influence them in the present,

现在仍在影响，

even in places where they're harder to notice.

即使在他们很难注意到的地方，影响依旧还在。

So, if all of the definitions of nature that we might want to use

所有我们要使用的对自然的定义

that involve it being untouched by humanity

包括那条：未被人类触及之地

or not having people in it,

还有那个：没有人类的地方

if all of those actually give us a result where we don't have any nature,

所有这些明确地给了我们一个结论：自然已不复存在

then maybe they're the wrong definitions.

但这些可能是错误的定义

Maybe we should define it by the presence of multiple species,

或许我们应该用多物种的存在、

by the presence of a thriving life.

用兴旺生命的存在，定义自然

Now, if we do it that way,

现在，如果我们这样想

what do we get?

我们可以得到什么

Well, it's this kind of miracle.

这有点像个奇迹

All of a sudden, there's nature all around us.

忽然间，我们被自然环绕

All of a sudden, we see this Monarch caterpillar

忽然间，我们可以看见黑脉金斑蝶幼虫

munching on this plant,

大口大口吃着叶片

and we realize that there it is,

并且我们意识到它在哪

and it's in this empty lot in Chattanooga.

在查塔努加的一片空地

And look at this empty lot.

看这这的很空

I mean, there's, like, probably,

我是说，或许

a dozen, minimum, plant species growing there,

最少，这有十几种植物

supporting all kinds of insect life,

支撑着各种各样昆虫的生活

and this is a completely unmanaged space, a completely wild space.

这是一个完全自由的，完全野生的地方

This is a kind of wild nature right under our nose,

这自然原始之地就在我们鼻子底下

that we don't even notice.

而我们从没注意过

And there's an interesting little paradox, too.

还有个有趣的小反例

So this nature,

这便是自然

this kind of wild, untended part

那些有点野生，没被注意的地方

of our urban, peri-urban, suburban agricultural existence

在我们的城市、城市周边、郊区农业

that flies under the radar,

都有苍蝇在雷达下面

it's arguably more wild than a national park,

这可以证明这个地方比国家公园更原生态

because national parks are very carefully managed

因为国家公园被十分小心地管理着

in the 21st century.

在21世纪

Crater Lake in southern Oregon, which is my closest national park,

火山口湖坐落于俄勒冈州南部，是距离我最近的国家公园

is a beautiful example of a landscape that seems to be coming out of the past.

这是一个非常美的地方，不过似乎要成为过去了

But they're managing it carefully.

但它现在保管得十分小心

One of the issues they have now is white bark pine die-off.

现在一个很严重的问题就是白松树即将灭绝

White bark pine is a beautiful, charismatic --

白皮松树是一种非常美

I'll say it's a charismatic megaflora

而富有魅力的巨型植物群

that grows up at high altitude --

它们生长在高海拔地区

and it's got all these problems right now with disease.

但它现在有很多问题包括疾病

There's a blister rust that was introduced,

包括白皮松色锈病的出现

bark beetle.

还有树皮甲虫

So to deal with this, the park service has been planting

所以，为了解决这个，公园维护人员已将其移栽

rust-resistant white bark pine seedlings in the park,

抗病菌的白皮松树苗在公园内

even in areas that they are otherwise managing as wilderness.

在这里它们被其他方式管理，像野外一样

And they're also putting out beetle repellent in key areas

并且把虫药喷放在关键地区

as I saw last time I went hiking there.

我上次徒步走过看到了

And this kind of thing is really much more common than you would think.

这比你想象得要普遍得很多

National parks are heavily managed.

人们确实谨慎地管理着国家公园

The wildlife is kept to a certain population size and structure.

野生动物被划分成有固定的数量和组织

Fires are suppressed.

冷杉在控制中禁止生长

Fires are started.

又在控制中繁茂生长

Non-native species are removed.

非本土物种被迁移

Native species are reintroduced.

本土物种又被引入

And in fact, I took a look,

我在注视

and Banff National Park is doing all of the things I just listed:

班夫国家公园做了刚刚我列举的所有事

suppressing fire, having fire,

抑制冷杉生长，协助冷杉生长

radio-collaring wolves, reintroducing bison.

给狼带无线项圈，引入北美野牛

It takes a lot of work to make these places look untouched.

他们花费太久时间让这个公园看似未经触碰

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

And in a further irony, these places that we love the most

更嘲讽的事，我们还深爱这些地方

are the places that we love a little too hard, sometimes.

这些地方往往深得我们喜爱

A lot of us like to go there,

我们之中很多人还向往着去那里

and because we're managing them to be stable

我们的管理，使其稳定

in the face of a changing planet,

其实是在改变地球

they often are becoming more fragile over time.

它们会变得更加破碎不堪

Which means that they're the absolute worst places

意味着，它们会变成完全相反的坏地方

to take your children on vacation,

带着你的孩子去度假

because you can't do anything there.

因为在那里，你无事可做

You can't climb the trees.

你不能爬树

You can't fish the fish.

不能钓鱼

You can't make a campfire out in the middle of nowhere.

你不可能在任何地方搭建营火

You can't take home the pinecones.

甚至不可能拿走一个小松果

There are so many rules and restrictions

从一个孩子的视角来看

that from a child's point of view,

这有太多的规矩和束缚

this is, like, the worst nature ever.

这里，错误的存在，这不再是自然

Because children don't want to hike

因为孩子们不想仅仅

through a beautiful landscape for five hours

再美景中步行五个钟头

and then look at a beautiful view.

然后再看景色

That's maybe what we want to do as adults,

或许你们大人愿意

but what kids want to do is hunker down in one spot

但是孩子，他们只想蹲在一个地方

and just tinker with it, just work with it,

就是笨手笨脚，就是空忙

just pick it up, build a house, build a fort, do something like that.

就是捡起个树枝，一个石头，搭个小房子，盖个城堡

Additionally, these sort of Edenic places

加之，这也是个伊甸园

are often distant from where people live.

通常离人类所居比较遥远

And they're expensive to get to. They're hard to visit.

很难到达，更难观光

So this means that they're only available to the elites,

这意味着它们只有可能成为精英

and that's a real problem.

这才是真正的问题

The Nature Conservancy did a survey of young people,

自然保护协会对年轻人做了一个调查

and they asked them, how often do you spend time outdoors?

内容是：你在户外的频率为？

And only two out of five spent time outdoors

五个人中，只有两个

at least once a week.

最少一周一次

The other three out of five were just staying inside.

其他三个只是在屋里

And when they asked them why, what are the barriers to going outside,

然后问他们为什么，去外面有障碍？

the response of 61 percent was,

61％的回答是

"There are no natural areas near my home."

我家外没有自然干净的地方

And this is crazy. This is just patently false.

这太疯狂了，很明显在撒谎

I mean, 71 percent of people in the US

我是说，美国71％的人

live within a 10-minute walk of a city park.

走10分钟就可以到一个城市公园

And I'm sure the figures are similar in other countries.

我确信这个数字在其他国家也很接近

And that doesn't even count your back garden,

这个数字甚至不包含家里的后花园

the urban creek, the empty lot.

城市中有很多空地

Everybody lives near nature.

每个人离大自然都很近

Every kid lives near nature.

每个孩子都在大自然中

We've just somehow forgotten how to see it.

我们只是因为某些原因忘记去看了

We've spent too much time watching David Attenborough documentaries

我们花太多时间去看大卫·爱登堡的纪录片了

where the nature is really sexy --

那里的自然才是真正吸引人的

(Laughter)

（笑声）

and we've forgotten how to see the nature that is literally right outside our door,

我们会遗忘是如何看那触手可得的自然

the nature of the street tree.

那就在门外的，就在街边树上的

So here's an example: Philadelphia.

这有个实例：费城

There's this cool elevated railway

这有个非常酷的高架铁路

that you can see from the ground, that's been abandoned.

你可以从周围土地看出，都已经被抛弃了

Now, this may sound like the beginning of the High Line story in Manhattan,

现在，这听起来有点像在曼哈顿 高铁故事 的开端

and it's very similar, except they haven't developed this into a park yet,

除了它还没被发展成公园，其余都非常相似

although they're working on it.

不过正在修建

So for now, it's still this little sort of secret wilderness

时至今日，这还是一个小小的隐蔽的荒郊

in the heart of Philadelphia,

在费城要地

and if you know where the hole is in the chain-link fence,

如果你知道铁丝网栅栏的漏洞在哪

you can scramble up to the top

你就能爬上顶端

and you can find this completely wild meadow

然后你可以发现一个完全原生的草原

just floating above the city of Philadelphia.

浮动在费城城区之上

Every single one of these plants grew from a seed

每个植物的单体都有一个种子生长而成

that planted itself there.

在这自生自长的种子

This is completely autonomous, self-willed nature.

这是一个完全自治的，顽强的地方

And it's right in the middle of the city.

而且就在城市的中心

And they've sent people up there to do sort of biosurveys,

很多人被派去做生物调查

and there are over 50 plant species up there.

有超过50种植物种类生长在此

And it's not just plants.

但这里不是只有植物

This is an ecosystem, a functioning ecosystem.

这是一个生态系统，一个功能完整的生态系统

It's creating soil. It's sequestering carbon.

它在制造土壤，它在封存碳

There's pollination going on.

昆虫在这里授粉

I mean, this is really an ecosystem.

真的，这是一个真正的生态系统

So scientists have started calling ecosystems like these "novel ecosystems,"

科学家管这叫“新奇生态系统”

because they're often dominated by non-native species,

因为这些地方经常被非本土的物种所支配

and because they're just super weird.

而且因为这里确实非常离奇

They're just unlike anything we've ever seen before.

确实，它们很任何地方不同，我们从未见过

For so long, we dismissed all these novel ecosystems as trash.

长久以来，我们就像对垃圾一样去除这些地方

We're talking about regrown agricultural fields,

取而代之的是重新种植农田

timber plantations that are not being managed on a day-to-day basis,

或者不用日日照看的木材厂

second-growth forests generally, the entire East Coast,

二次生长森林布满了东海滩

where after agriculture moved west, the forest sprung up.

又于农业种植之后，向西生长

And of course, pretty much all of Hawaii,

当然夏威夷的大多数

where novel ecosystems are the norm,

几乎都是新奇生态系统

where exotic species totally dominate.

外来物种已完全控制这里

This forest here has Queensland maple,

森林中有昆士兰州枫树

it has sword ferns from Southeast Asia.

还有来自南亚的剑厥

You can make your own novel ecosystem, too.

当然，你可以坐一个你自己的新奇生态系统

It's really simple.

这非常简单

You just stop mowing your lawn.

你只需停止割草

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Ilkka Hanski was an ecologist in Finland, and he did this experiment himself.

Ilkka Hanski 是芬兰的生态学家，他自己做了这个实验

He just stopped mowing his lawn,

他就只是停止了割草

and after a few years, he had some grad students come,

一年之后，有些校友来看

and they did sort of a bio-blitz of his backyard,

他们对他的花园做了一个生物闪战

and they found 375 plant species,

然后他们发现 375种植物物种

including two endangered species.

包括两种濒危灭绝的物种

So when you're up there on that future High Line of Philadelphia,

所以当你在将来的费城高架索上时

surrounded by this wildness,

看看这周围自然环境

surrounded by this diversity, this abundance, this vibrance,

看看这多样的，庞大的，活跃的，

you can look over the side

再看看这外面的

and you can see a local playground for a local school,

你可以看到一个当地的操场，一个当地的学校

and that's what it looks like.

这就是它的样子

These children have, that --

这些孩子

You know, under my definition,

在我的定义之中

there's a lot of the planet that counts as nature,

地球大多数被算作自然

but this would be one of the few places that wouldn't count as nature.

但也有一小部分不能入内

There's nothing there except humans, no other plants, no other animals.

这除了人什么也没有，没有其它植物，没有其它动物

And what I really wanted to do

而我最想做的是

was just, like, throw a ladder over the side

只是，在这中间放个梯子

and get all these kids to come up with me into this cool meadow.

让所有这些孩子，和我一起，去那个超棒的草地

In a way, I feel like this is the choice that faces us.

某种程度上，我觉得这就是我们所面对的选择

If we dismiss these new natures as not acceptable or trashy or no good,

如果仅仅是因为我们不通过，觉得不够好，没有用，我们就剔除这些自然

we might as well just pave them over.

我们或许就只是把它铺平成路了

And in a world where everything is changing,

这个世界的点滴还在不断变化

we need to be very careful about how we define nature.

我们要小心谨慎地定义自然

In order not to steal it from our children,

为了不从孩子手中夺取

we have to do two things.

我们不得不做两件事

First, we cannot define nature as that which is untouched.

其一，我们不能定义自然为未被触碰之物

This never made any sense anyway.

这从各方面都无法说通

Nature has not been untouched for thousands of years.

自然改变原样已经数千年

And it excludes most of the nature that most people can visit

它排除了人类可以闲玩的

and have a relationship with,

有着密切的联系的大多数地方

including only nature that children cannot touch.

包含着那些孩子不可以玩耍的自然

Which brings me to the second thing that we have to do,

让我想起了我们还有第二件事可以做

which is that we have to let children touch nature,

那就是我们一定要让孩子接触自然

because that which is untouched is unloved.

因为没有过触碰，就不会去爱戴

(Applause)

（掌声）

We face some pretty grim environmental challenges on this planet.

现在，我们正面对的，是诸多严峻的环境挑战

Climate change is among them.

气候变化也在其中

There's others too: habitat loss is my favorite thing

当然还有其他很多：生物栖息地锐减是我最感兴趣的事

to freak out about in the middle of the night.

以至于在午夜亢奋难眠

But in order to solve them,

但为了解决它

we need people -- smart, dedicated people --

我们需要聪明的人，专业的人

who care about nature.

真正关心自然的人

And the only way we're going to raise up a generation of people

唯一的办法就是我们要鼓动一代人

who care about nature

带领他们去接触自然

is by letting them touch nature.

使他们变成真正关心自然的人

I have a Fort Theory of Ecology,

我有一个生态学的理论宝库

Fort Theory of Conservation.

环境保护的理论宝库

Every ecologist I know, every conservation biologist I know,

每个我认识的生态学家，每个我认识的生物保护学者

every conservation professional I know,

每个我认识的保护专家

built forts when they were kids.

都在他们儿时建立起了自己的宝库

If we have a generation that doesn't know how to build a fort,

如果我们有一代不知道如何建立宝库的人

we'll have a generation that doesn't know how to care about nature.

那他们就不会知道如何保护自然了

And I don't want to be the one to tell this kid,

我不想告诉这个孩子

who is on a special program

他在一个特殊的行程：

that takes Philadelphia kids from poor neighborhoods

将费城孩子从贫乏的地区

and takes them to city parks,

带到市中心花园

I don't want to be the one to tell him that the flower he's holding

我不想告诉他 现在他攥着的花

is a non-native invasive weed that he should throw away as trash.

是一个外侵物种，有强大的繁殖能力的杂草

你应该把它当垃圾扔掉

I think I would much rather learn from this boy

我认为我们应该从他身上学习

that no matter where this plant comes from,

学习不管这株植物从何而来

it is beautiful, and it deserves to be touched and appreciated.

因为它很漂亮，所以被人触碰被人视若珍宝，都是它应得的

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）