Topher White: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone

翻译人员: Jingyao Xue 校对人员: Li Li

(Rainforest noises)

（热带雨林的声音）

In the summer of 2011, as a tourist,

在2011年的夏天， 作为一名旅游者，

I visited the rainforests of Borneo for the very first time,

我第一次参观了 婆罗洲的热带雨林，

and as you might imagine,

正如你可能会想象，

it was the overwhelming sounds of the forest that struck me the most.

森林无法抗拒的声音 给我下了最深刻的印象。

There's this constant cacophony of noise.

就是这种持续不断的喧闹的声音。

Some things actually do stick out.

但有些东西的确非常引人注意。

例如，这是一只很大的鸟， 名叫犀鸟。

For example, this here is a big bird, a rhinoceros hornbill.

This buzzing is a cicada.

这嗡嗡的声音是蝉声。

This is a family of gibbons.

这是一个长臂猿家族，

It's actually singing to each other over a great distance.

它们其实在对彼此唱歌， 隔着很远的距离。

The place where this was recorded was in fact a gibbon reserve,

这个地方实际上是 一个长臂猿保护区，

which is why you can hear so many of them,

这就是为什么你能 听到这么多的声音，

but in fact the most important noise that was coming out of the forest that time

但实际上那个时候最重要的噪声 是来自森林外，

was one that I didn't notice,

我当时却并没注意到，

and in fact nobody there had actually noticed it.

事实上，那里也根本没有人 注意到这种声音。

So, as I said, this was a gibbon reserve.

因此，正如我所说， 这是一个长臂猿保护区。

They spend most of their time rehabilitating gibbons,

他们花了大部分的时间， 重建长臂猿保护区，

but they also have to spend a lot of their time

但他们也花了很多时间

protecting their area from illegal logging that takes place on the side.

保护他们的地区周边 不遭受非法砍伐。

And so if we take the sound of the forest

如果我们弱化森林的声音，

and we actually turn down the gibbons, the insects, and the rest,

我们调低长臂猿， 昆虫和其它的声音,

in the background, the entire time, in recordings you heard,

在这个背景下，整个时间段内， 你听到的这个录音

was the sound of a chainsaw at great distance.

是电锯的声音， 从很远的地方传来。

They had three full-time guards who were posted around this sanctuary

他们有三个全职警卫， 被派驻在整个保护区周围，

whose job was in fact to guard against illegal logging,

他们的工作实际上 是防范非法采伐，

and one day, we went walking, again as tourists, out into the forest,

有一天，我们再次作为旅游者 走进这个森林，

and within five minutes' walk,

在五分钟的步行路程里，

we stumbled upon somebody who was just sawing a tree down,

我们意外发现有人 正把树锯断，

five minutes' walk, a few hundred meters from the ranger station.

五分钟步行路程， 离护林站几百米。

They hadn't been able to hear the chainsaws,

他们一直没能听到电锯声，

因为你们能听到森林的声音 是非常嘈杂的。

because as you heard, the forest is very, very loud.

It struck me as quite unacceptable that in this modern time,

我觉得这是非常难以接受的， 在当今这个时代，

just a few hundred meters away from a ranger station in a sanctuary,

距离一个保护区的护林站仅数百米，

that in fact nobody could hear it when someone who has a chainsaw gets fired up.

竟然没有人能听到有人启动了电锯。

It sounds impossible, but in fact, it was quite true.

这听起来不可能， 但实际上却是事实。

So how do we stop illegal logging?

那么我们要如何制止非法采伐呢？

It's really tempting, as an engineer, always to come up with a high-tech,

这真的很让人激动，作为一名 工程师，总是想到高科技，

super-crazy high-tech solution,

超级疯狂的高科技解决方式。

but in fact, you're in the rainforest.

但实际上，你在热带雨林里。

It has to be simple, it has to be scalable,

能够采用的方法必须是简单的， 能大范围应用的，

and so what we also noticed while were there was that

我们也注意到，在这个地方

我们需要的每件东西 其实都唾手可得。

everything we needed was already there.

We could build a system that would allow us to stop this

我们可以建立一个系统， 使我们能够阻止非法砍伐，

using what's already there.

仅仅利用天然的条件。

Who was there? What was already in the forest?

谁在那里？ 森林里有哪些现成的条件？

Well, we had people.

那里有人。

We had this group there that was dedicated, three full-time guards,

我们已经有三名敬业的专职警卫，

会竭力阻止非法砍伐，

that was dedicated to go and stop it,

but they just needed to know what was happening out in the forest.

但他们首先需要知道 在森林里发生了什么事。

The real surprise, this is the big one,

有一件重要的事情非常出人意料，

was that there was connectivity out in the forest.

那就是森林与外界之间可以建立连接。

有移动电话服务， 在这种偏僻的地方很不寻常。

There was cell phone service way out in the middle of nowhere.

我们谈论的地方距离 最近的公路也有数百公里，

We're talking hundreds of kilometers from the nearest road,

there's certainly no electricity, but they had very good cell phone service,

肯定没有电， 但他们有很好的手机通讯服务，

these people in the towns were on Facebook all the time,

小镇里的人们一直挂在Facebook上，

在手机上浏览网页，

they're surfing the web on their phones,

and this sort of got me thinking that in fact it would be possible

这种情况不禁让我想到， 事实上是有可能

to use the sounds of the forest,

利用森林的声音，

pick up the sounds of chainsaws programmatically,

按照程序指示提取电锯的声音，

because people can't hear them,

因为人们听不到这种声音，

and send an alert.

再发出警报。

But you have to have a device to go up in the trees.

但是，你必须有 一个装置能固定在树上。

So if we can use some device to listen to the sounds of the forest,

所以，如果我们可以用 一些装置采集森林的声音，

connect to the cell phone network that's there,

并连接到那里的手机网络，

and send an alert to people on the ground,

再发送警报给地面上的人，

perhaps we could have a solution to this issue for them.

也许我们就有了一个 对付非法砍伐的解决办法。

But let's take a moment to talk about saving the rainforest,

不过让我们再花点时间 谈论一下拯救热带雨林，

because it's something that we've definitely all heard about forever.

我们肯定早就已经有所了解。

People in my generation have heard about saving the rainforest

我们这一代人在小时候 就已经听说过关于拯救

since we were kids,

热带雨林的话题，

似乎这种信息从未改变：

and it seems that the message has never changed:

We've got to save the rainforest, it's super urgent,

我们必须拯救热带雨林， 情况非常危急，

this many football fields have been destroyed yesterday.

在过去的时间内，相当于这么多 足球场的雨林面积已经遭到破坏,

and yet here we are today, about half of the rainforest remains,

到今天为止，热带雨林的面积 大约只剩下一半，

and we have potentially more urgent problems like climate change.

我们可能还有更迫切的问题， 例如气候变化。

But in fact, this is the little-known fact that I didn't realize at the time:

但事实上，有一件鲜为人知的事实， 我当时并不知道：

Deforestation accounts for more greenhouse gas

砍伐森林导致了更多 温室气体的排放，

than all of the world's planes, trains, cars, trucks and ships combined.

超过世界上所有的飞机，火车， 汽车，卡车和船只的排放总和。

It's the second highest contributor to climate change.

这是导致气候变化第二大的诱因。

Also, according to Interpol,

还有，根据国际刑警组织提供的信息，

as much as 90 percent of the logging that takes place in the rainforest

高达90％的发生在热带雨林的伐木

is illegal logging, like the illegal logging that we saw.

都是非法伐木， 就像我们之前看到的那种情况。

So if we can help people in the forest enforce the rules that are there,

因此，如果我们能帮助护林员 加强警戒和监督，

then in fact we could eat heavily into this 17 percent

实际上，我们可以 大量削减这17％的数字，

and potentially have a major impact in the short term.

并有可能在短时间内产生重大影响。

It might just be the cheapest, fastest way to fight climate change.

这可能是最廉价快速应对 气候变化的方法。

And so here's the system that we imagine.

这就是我们想象中的系统。

It looks super high tech.

它看起来超高科技。

此刻电锯的声音 在森林中被采集，

The moment a sound of a chainsaw is heard in the forest,

the device picks up the sound of the chainsaw,

该装置接收了电锯声，

it sends an alert through the standard GSM network that's already there

并通过现成的标准GSM网络发送警报，

to a ranger in the field

通知现场的护林员，

who can in fact show up in real time and stop the logging.

让他们可以及时赶到制止非法伐木行为。

It's no more about going out and finding a tree that's been cut.

不再需要四处寻找已经被砍掉的树。

It's not about seeing a tree from a satellite

也不需要通过卫星观察

in an area that's been clear cut,

某个区域有一颗树被砍下了，

而是要实现实时干预。

it's about real-time intervention.

So I said it was the cheapest and fastest way to do it,

所以我刚才说了，这是能实现这个目的 最廉价快捷的方式，

but in fact, actually, as you saw, they weren't able to do it,

但事实上，正如你们看到的， 它们还做不到这一点，

so it may not be so cheap and fast.

所以这种方法可能不会这么便宜和快速。

But if the devices in the trees were actually cell phones,

但是，如果在树上的这些装置 实际上是手机，

it could be pretty cheap.

它就可能相当便宜。

Cell phones are thrown away by the hundreds of millions every year,

每年有数以亿计的手机被扔掉，

hundreds of millions in the U.S. alone,

仅在美国就有上亿，

not counting the rest of the world, which of course we should do,

更不要说世界上的其它地方， 当然，这么做没什么问题，

but in fact, cell phones are great.

不过事实上，手机可是个好东西。

They're full of sensors.

它们内置了很多传感器。

They can listen to the sounds of the forest.

它们可以听到森林里的声音。

We do have to protect them.

我们还需要保护它们。

我们必须把它们放在 现在看到的这种盒子里，

We have to put them in this box that you see here,

还要给他们充电。

and we do have to power them.

Powering them is one of the greater engineering challenges

充电是我们必须应对的较大的

that we had to deal with,

工程学挑战之一，

because powering a cell phone under a tree canopy,

因为在树冠下给手机充电，

any sort of solar power under a tree canopy,

任何一种树冠以下的太阳能发电

was an as-yet-unsolved problem,

都是一个尚未解决的难题。

and that's this unique solar panel design that you see here,

这种独特的太阳能电池板设计， 你们现在看到的，

which in fact is built also from recycled byproducts of an industrial process.

实际上也是通过回收一个工业过程中 的副产品建立起来的。

这些是被切割成条之后的样子。

These are strips that are cut down.

So this is me putting it all together

我就像这样把它们拼装在一起，

in my parents' garage, actually.

其实是在父母的车库里。

非常感谢他们的支持和理解。

Thanks very much to them for allowing me to do that.

As you can see, this is a device up in a tree.

你们现在看到的是固定在 一棵树上的装置。

What you can see from here, perhaps, is that they are pretty well obscured

从这个角度可能看得到， 其实它们被遮挡得很好，

up in the tree canopy at a distance.

就在距离很远的树冠上。

That's important, because although they are able to hear chainsaw noises

（挂在树冠上）这点很重要，因为虽然 它们能接收电锯的声音，

最远可以达到1公里，

up to a kilometer in the distance,

allowing them to cover about three square kilometers,

这样它们就可以覆盖 约3平方公里的区域，

但如果有人把它们取走， 就会导致该区域不在保护范围之内。

if someone were to take them, it would make the area unprotected.

So does it actually work?

那么它真的能起作用吗？

Well, to test it, we took it back to Indonesia,

为了进行测试， 我们把它带回了印尼，

不在同一个的地方， 而在另外一处，

not the same place, but another place,

to another gibbon reserve

另一个长臂猿保护区，

that was threatened daily by illegal logging.

每天都会受到非法采伐的威胁。

On the very second day, it picked up illegal chainsaw noises.

第二天，它就接收到 了非法电锯伐木的声音。

We were able to get a real-time alert.

我们能够收到实时警报，

I got an email on my phone.

我在手机上收到 一个电子邮件。

Actually, we had just climbed the tree. Everyone had just gotten back down.

事实上，我们刚爬上了树， 每个人又返回下来。

All these guys are smoking cigarettes,

所有这些人都在吸烟，

and then I get an email, and they all quiet down,

然后我收到一封邮件， 他们都安静下来，

and in fact you can hear the chainsaw

事实上，你可以听到背景音中

really, really faint in the background,

真的有微弱的电锯声，

but no one had noticed it until that moment.

但没有人注意到它， 直到接到警报的那一刻。

于是我们立刻起身去 直接阻止这些伐木工，

And so then we took off to actually stop these loggers.

I was pretty nervous.

我当时很紧张。

This is the moment where we've actually arrived close to where the loggers are.

这会儿我们其实已经 抵达了伐木工所在地的附近。

This is the moment where you can see where I'm actually regretting

此时此刻你们可以看出来， 在那里我已经开始后悔

之前的所有努力，

perhaps the entire endeavor.

I'm not really sure what's on the other side of this hill.

我真的不知道这座山的 另一边是什么状况。

That guy's much braver than I am.

那家伙比我勇敢得多。

But he went, so I had to go, walking up,

但他去了，我不得不跟着， 往山上爬，

and in fact, he made it over the hill,

事实上，他翻过去了，

and interrupted the loggers in the act.

直接制止了伐木工的行动。

For them, it was such a surprise --

这完全出乎了他们的意料——

they had never, ever been interrupted before --

之前他们从来不曾被中途制止过——

that it was such an impressive event for them,

这让他们印象十分深刻，

that we've heard from our partners they have not been back since.

我们已经从合作伙伴里听说， 他们没有再回来过。

They were, in fact, great guys.

事实上，他们（伐木工）人都不错。

他们给我们展示了 整个操作过程，

They showed us how the entire operation works,

and what they really convinced us on the spot was that

他们在现场就让我们真正确信了，

if you can show up in real time and stop people,

如果你能当场现身阻止人们伐木，

it's enough of a deterrent they won't come back.

这就是一个足够的威慑， 他们不会再回来。

So --

所以 ——

谢谢。（掌声）

Thank you. (Applause)

Word of this spread, possibly because we told a lot of people,

这件事传播开了，可能 因为我们告诉了很多人，

and in fact, then some really amazing stuff started to happen.

事实上，有些令人 惊讶的事开始发生了。

People from around the world started to send us emails, phone calls.

来自世界各地的人们开始 给我们发邮件和打电话。

What we saw was that people throughout Asia,

我们看到的是， 整个亚洲，

people throughout Africa, people throughout South America,

整个非洲， 整个南美洲的人们，

they told us that they could use it too,

他们告诉我们他们也 可以使用这种装置，

and what's most important,

最重要的是，

what we'd found that we thought might be exceptional,

我们发现， 当初我们认为可能极不寻常的是，

in the forest there was pretty good cell phone service.

在森林里有相当不错的手机服务。

That was not exceptional, we were told,

不过我们被告知这一点也不稀奇，

and that particularly is on the periphery of the forests that are most under threat.

特别是在森林的周边地区， 那里受到的威胁最大。

And then something really amazing happened,

有些神奇的事情真的发生了，

which was that people started sending us their own old cell phones.

人们开始寄来自己的旧手机。

So in fact what we have now is a system

所以，事实上我们现在有一个系统，

where we can use people on the ground, people who are already there,

我们可以利用地面上的人， 已经在那里的人，

who can both improve and use the existing connectivity,

他们能够同时改进和 使用现有的连接，

and we're using old cell phones that are being sent to us

我们也同时在使用来自世界各地的人们

by people from around the world

贡献的旧手机，

that want their phones to be doing something else in their afterlife,

他们希望自己的手机能够发挥余热，

可以这么说。

so to speak.

And if the rest of the device can be completely recycled,

如果其余部分的装置 可以完全回收利用，

我们相信，这就是一个 完全升级了的回收装置。

then we believe it's an entirely upcycled device.

So again, this didn't come because of any sort of high-tech solution.

那么，这并不是什么高科技的解决方案，

It just came from using what's already there,

它只是利用现有的材料，

and I'm thoroughly convinced that if it's not phones,

而且我完全相信， 即便不用手机，

that there's always going to be enough there

也总会有足够的材料

that you can build similar solutions

让你可以建立类似的解决方案，

that can be very effective in new contexts.

在新的环境中同样会十分有效。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）