How you can help save the monarch butterfly -- and the planet | Mary Ellen Hannibal

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Hi there.

嗨，各位。

I'm in the habit of saying I would like it if butterflies could talk,

我很習慣會說， 我真希望蝴蝶能說話，

but I've been recently reconsidering that,

但最近我在重新考慮這件事，

because we already have a pretty loud world.

因為我們的世界已經夠吵了。

Can you imagine if butterflies were yakking out there all over the place?

你能想像如果到處都有蝴蝶 喋喋不休，會是怎樣的光景嗎？

But I would like to ask butterflies one question, which is,

但，我很想問蝴蝶一個問題：

what is the meaning of some of the stories that we humans tell about them?

我們人類說了些關於蝴蝶的故事，

這些故事的意義是什麼？

Because remarkably, all over the world, cultures have really similar stories,

因為，很神奇的是， 世界各地的文化都有些

很類似的故事或神話， 提到蝴蝶和人類的靈魂有關。

similar mythologies about butterflies having to do with the human soul.

Some cultures tell us butterflies are carrying the souls of children

有些文化告訴我們， 如果孩子枉死或早死，

who have died wrongly or too soon,

蝴蝶會載送他們的靈魂，

and other cultures tell us that butterflies

其他文化則告訴我們， 蝴蝶會載送我們祖先的靈魂。

are carrying the souls of our ancestors among us.

This butterfly is called a Kallima inachus.

這種蝴蝶叫做枯葉蝶。

On one side, it looks like a beautiful butterfly,

從一面看，牠是美麗的蝴蝶， 另一面則是一片樹葉，

and on the other side, it looks like a leaf,

and it folds up like a leaf to elude predators.

牠會像一片樹葉一樣 摺起來，躲避獵食者。

So now you see it, now you don't,

一下看得見牠，一下看不見牠，

something hidden, something revealed.

部分隱藏起來，部分展現出來。

Maybe we got our ideas about the human soul from this butterfly.

也許是這種蝴蝶讓我們 產生關於人類靈魂的想法。

So it's possible that butterflies have some sort of outsized role

有可能蝴蝶在我們的來生

扮演著非常重要的角色。

in our afterlife.

But in this life, in this world, butterflies are in really serious trouble.

但在此生、在這個世界中， 蝴蝶遇到了很大的麻煩。

This is a moth.

這是蛾。

Moths and butterflies are related. Moths generally fly at night.

蛾和蝴蝶是親戚。

蛾通常在晚上飛行。

This is called "praedicta," because Darwin predicted that it must exist.

這長喙天蛾名為 praedicta（預測），

因為達爾文預測牠一定存在。

So today, more than 60 species of butterflies are endangered

現今全世界有六十種蝴蝶瀕臨絕種，

around the world,

but even more than that,

但更嚴重的是，

insects are declining, declining, declining.

昆蟲變得越來越少，越來越少。

In the last 50 years,

在過去五十年，

we've lost nearly 50 percent of the total number of bodies of insects.

我們失去的昆蟲數目 佔總體的近 50%。

Now this is a disaster.

這是個災難。

It could impact us in a more serious way more quickly than climate change,

它對我們的影響可能 比氣候變遷更嚴重、更快速，

because butterflies don't do that much in the ecosystem that we depend on,

因為，雖然蝴蝶在我們仰賴的 生態系統中沒有太大的作用，

but they do things for other creatures that we do depend on,

但牠們會影響 其他我們所仰賴的生物，

and that's the same story with all insect life.

所有的昆蟲生命皆是如此。

Insect life is at the very foundation of our life-support systems.

昆蟲生命屬於我們 維生系統的最基礎層。

We can't lose these insects.

我們不能失去這些昆蟲。

Biodiversity all over the globe is in a vast decline.

全球各地的生物多樣性 都在大幅下降。

Habitat loss, pesticides, herbicides and impacts of climate change.

棲息地被破壞、害蟲、除草劑，

以及氣候變遷的衝擊。

Habitat loss is very serious,

棲息地被破壞的情況很嚴重，

and that's where we really have to get developing better,

我們真的得要把開發做得更好，

more mindfully.

更小心謹慎。

It's the worst of times,

現在是最糟的時代， 我們的問題負荷已經超載。

we are kind of overloaded with our problems.

It's also the best of times -- there's incredibly good news.

現在也是最好的時代—— 這是極佳的消息。

We have exactly what we need.

我們所需要的已經在手上了。

We have exactly the platform to save nature.

我們已經擁有拯救 大自然所需要的平台。

It's called citizen science.

它叫做公民科學。

So citizen science is generally a term used to mean people without a PhD

一般來說，公民科學這個詞 指的是沒有博士學位的人

contributing to scientific research.

對科學研究做出貢獻。

Sometimes, it's called community science,

有時，它也被稱為社群科學，

which gets at the communal purpose of citizen science,

強調公民科學的公眾目的，

which is to do something for our commons together.

也就是一起為我們的 共有資源做點什麼。

It's amateur science.

它是業餘的科學。

It's being turbocharged today by vast computing power,

現今強大的計算能力、統計分析，

statistical analysis and the smartphone,

以及智慧手機給了它超強的動力，

but it's an ancient practice that people have always practiced.

但自古以來人類就一直 在使用這種做法了。

It's amateur science.

它是業餘科學。

Professional science has its roots in amateur science.

專業科學立基在業餘科學上。

Charles Darwin was a citizen scientist.

達爾文就是公民科學家。

He had no advanced degree, and he worked only for himself.

他沒有高等學位，且只為自己工作。

So someone showed Darwin this Madagascar star orchid,

有人跟達爾文提到了 馬達加斯加的這種大慧星風蘭，

which as a spur that's 12 inches long,

它的「距」有十二英吋長，

and the spur is the part of a flower that the nectar is in.

距是花的一部分， 也是花蜜的所在。

So this person showed this to Darwin and said,

這個人給達爾文看了 這種蘭花之後，說：

"This proves that evolution does not come about in a natural way.

「這證明了演化 不會以自然的方式發生。」

This flower proves that only God can make these incredibly bizarre

這種花證明只有神才能創造出地球上

這些外形非常怪異且難搞的生物，

and tricky-looking creatures on the earth,

because no insect could possibly pollinate this.

因為不可能有昆蟲 能為這種花授粉。

God must reproduce it."

一定是神繁殖的。」

And Darwin said, "No, I'm sure that there is an insect somewhere

達爾文說：「不，我很確定 在某處一定有一種昆蟲

with a proboscis long enough to pollinate that star orchid."

有夠長的口器 可以為大彗星風蘭授粉。」

And he was right.

他是對的。

This is a map of the monarch butterfly.

這是帝王斑蝶的分佈地圖。

So, the monarch butterfly has a different story

帝王斑蝶的故事和那種蛾不同，

than that particular moth,

but reflects the same kind of fundamental idea that Darwin had

但也反映出同樣的根本想法，

達爾文稱之為「共同演化」，

called coevolution,

and coevolution is at the heart of how nature works,

共同演化是大自然運作方式的核心，

and it's also at the heart of what's going wrong with nature today.

亦是現今大自然出問題的核心。

So over time, as the moth developed a longer proboscis,

這種蛾隨著時間發展出更長的口器，

so the plant developed a longer spur.

這種植物也發展出更長的距。

Over millions of years,

數百年間，

the plant and the moth developed a relationship

這種植物和這種蛾 發展出了一種關係，

whereby they both make each other's chances of existence better.

透過這種關係 讓彼此的生存機會提升。

The monarch butterfly has a different kind of coevolutionary relationship,

帝王斑蝶則有另一種共同演化關係，

and today, it is at the heart of what's going wrong

現今，這種關係正是 帝王斑蝶問題的核心。

for the monarch butterfly.

So this is a map of the monarch butterfly migration.

這是帝王斑蝶的遷移地圖。

The monarch does this amazing thing,

帝王斑蝶的遷移很了不起，

and over the course of a year,

在一年的時間中，

it goes over the entirety of North America.

牠們能夠分佈到整個北美。

It does this in four or five generations.

要花四、五個世代才能完成。

The first generations only live a couple of weeks.

第一代只能活幾週。

They mate, they lay eggs and they die.

牠們會交配、產卵，然後死亡。

The next generation emerges as butterflies and takes the next leg of the journey.

下一代的蝴蝶出現， 接著繼續這趟旅程。

Nobody knows how they do it.

沒人知道牠們怎麼辦到的。

By the time the fifth generation comes back around -- and that one lives longer,

等到第五代回來時—— 也是活得比較久的一代，

they overwinter in Mexico and California --

牠們在墨西哥和加州過冬——

by the time it gets there,

牠們到達那裡時，

those butterflies are going back to where their ancestors came from,

這些蝴蝶就返回了 牠們祖先當初的所在，

but they've never been there before,

但牠們從來沒有到過那裡，

and nobody that they're immediately related to has been there before either.

牠們的直系親屬也未曾到過那裡。

We don't know how they do it.

我們不知道牠們怎麼辦到的。

The reason we know they do this kind of migration --

我們之所以能夠知道 牠們會進行這種遷移——

and we still have a lot of unanswered questions

關於帝王斑蝶的遷移， 仍然有許多未解答的問題——

about the monarch migration --

是因為公民科學。

is because of citizen science.

So for decades, people have made observations

數十年來一直有人在觀察帝王斑蝶，

about monarch butterflies, where and when they see them,

記錄觀察到牠們的時間、地點，

and they've contributed these observations to platforms like Journey North.

他們把這些觀察記錄貢獻到

「Journey North」這類平台上。

This is a map of some observations of butterflies given to Journey North.

這是 Journey North 的蝴蝶觀察地圖。

And if you can see the dots are coded

各位可以看見，每個點

by what time of year those observations were made.

都註記著觀察值的年份。

So these massive amounts of data come into a place like Journey North,

這麼大量的資料來到像 Journey North 這樣的地方，

and they can create a map of this time of over a course of a year

他們就能在地圖標示出

一年期間帝王斑蝶去過哪些地方。

of where monarchs go.

Also because of citizen science,

也因為公民科學，

we understand that monarch butterfly numbers are going down, down, down.

我們才得知帝王斑蝶的數量 一直不斷地在下降。

So in the 1980s, the overwintering butterflies here in California,

根據計算，在 1980 年代，

有四百萬隻蝴蝶在加州這裡過冬。

there were four million counted.

Last year, 30,000.

去年只有三萬隻。

(Audience gasps)

（觀眾驚嘆聲）

Four million to 30,000 since the 1980s.

從 1980 年代的四百萬到只剩三萬。

The monarchs on the east coast are doing a little better,

東岸的帝王斑蝶狀況好一些， 但數目也在下降。

but they're also going down.

OK, so what are we going to do about it?

好，所以我們該怎麼做？

Well, very organically, nobody really asking anybody to do it,

沒有人要求任何人做什麼， 但全大陸各地的人

people all over the continent are supporting monarch butterflies.

很有組織地一起支持帝王斑蝶。

The heart of the problem for monarchs is milkweed.

帝王斑蝶問題的核心是乳草。

It's another coevolutionary relationship, and here's the story.

那是另一種共同演化關係， 它的故事是這樣的。

Milkweed is toxic.

乳草有毒。

It has a poison in it that it evolved to deter other insects from eating it,

它含有一種毒素，為了讓其他昆蟲 不敢吃它而演化出這種毒素，

but the monarch developed a different kind of relationship,

但帝王斑蝶發展出了 一種不同的關係，

a different strategy with the milkweed.

對乳草採用一種不同的策略。

Not only does it tolerate the toxin,

帝王斑蝶不僅能承受這種毒素，

the monarch actually sequesters the toxin in its body,

還能在體內把毒素隔離開來，

thus becoming poisonous to its predators.

會讓吃牠們的獵食者中毒。

Monarch butterflies will only lay their eggs on milkweed,

帝王斑蝶只會在乳草上產卵，

and monarch caterpillars will only eat milkweed,

而帝王斑蝶的幼蟲只會吃乳草，

because they need that toxin to actually create what they are as a species.

因為有那種毒素 才創造出牠們這種物種。

So people are planting milkweed all over the country

於是大家在全國各地重新種植乳草，

where we have lost milkweed due to habitat destruction,

種植在因為棲息地被破壞、 使用殺蟲劑、使用除草劑，

pesticide use, herbicide use and climate change impacts.

以及氣候變遷影響 而失去乳草的地方。

You can create a lot of butterfly habitat and pollinator habitat on a windowsill.

在一個窗台上就可以創造出許多 蝴蝶棲息地和傳粉昆蟲棲息地。

You go to a native nursery in your area

你只需要去你居住地區的本地苗圃

and find out what's native to where you live,

找找看有什麼本地生植物，

and you will bring beautiful things to yourself.

你就會把美麗的事物帶到你身邊。

Now, citizen science can do even more than rescue monarch butterflies.

公民科學不只能拯救帝王斑蝶，

It has the capacity to scale

也能擴大到我們機動拯救大自然

to the level necessary that we need to mobilize to save nature.

所需的規模。

And this is an example.

讓我舉個例子。

It's called City Nature Challenge,

這是「城市自然挑戰賽」，

and City Nature Challenge is a project of the California Academy of Sciences

城市自然挑戰賽是加州科學院

與洛杉磯自然歷史博物館 合作的一項計畫。

and the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History.

So for four years, City Nature Challenge has enjoined cities all over the globe

四年來，

有來自全球各地的城市 參與城市自然挑戰賽，

to participate in counting up biodiversity in their cities.

計算出其城市中的生物多樣性。

We're up to, like, a million observations of biodiversity

去年四月，我們從全球大眾 收集到一百萬筆

生物多樣性的觀察資料。

collected by people around the globe this past April.

The winner this year was South Africa, much to the chagrin of San Francisco.

今年的贏家是南非，

讓舊金山很失望。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Look at them, they have more biodiversity than we do.

看看他們，他們的生物 多樣性比我們還高。

It's kind of an interesting thing, what is revealed when you start seeing

蠻有意思的，當你開始 用心看時會發現什麼，

what are the natural resources where you live,

在你所住的地區有哪些天然資源，

because as we go forward, you want to live where there's more biodiversity.

因為我們向前進時， 會想住在生物更多樣的地方。

And by the way, citizen science is a very good tool for social justice

順道一提，如果要達成 社會正義和環境正義的目標，

公民科學是非常好的協助工具。

and environmental justice goals, for helping reach them.

You need to have data and you need to show a picture,

你必須要有資料，用圖來呈現，

you need to point to a cause

要指出成因，

and then you need to have the surgical strike

接著要迅速準確地攻擊，

to help support whatever that problem is.

來協助支持解決問題。

So City Nature Challenge, I think, should get a commendation from the UN.

所以我認為，聯合國應該 要表揚城市自然挑戰賽。

Has there ever been a global effort on behalf of nature

來自全球的人像這樣

同心協力代表大自然共同努力，

undertaken in this coordinated manner?

史上還有其他例子嗎？

It's amazing, it's fantastic

這很了不起，很不可思議，

and it's really a pretty grassroots thing,

且這是非常草根的合作，

and we get very interesting information about butterflies and other creatures

當我們進行這類生態多樣性普查，

我們就能得到和蝴蝶 及其他生物有關的有趣資訊。

when we do these bioblitzes.

City Nature Challenge basically works with a tool called iNaturalist,

城市自然挑戰賽基本上會使用 一個叫做 iNaturalist 的工具，

and iNaturalist is your entry drug to citizen science. (Laughs)

iNaturalist 是你進入 公民科學的入門工具。

I suggest signing up for it on a laptop or on a desktop,

我建議用筆記型或桌上型電腦 來申請這個工具的帳號，

and then you put the app on your phone.

接著在手機上安裝應用程式。

With iNaturalist, you take a picture of a bird, a bug, a snake, anything,

有了 iNaturalist 之後，你可以拍攝 鳥、蟲、蛇，或任何動物的照片，

and an artificial intelligence function and an expert vetting system

接著會有人工智慧功能 和專家審查系統

works to verify that observation.

來驗證你的觀察資料。

The app gives the observation the date, the time, the latitude and the longitude,

應用程式會將觀察資料的日期、

時間、經緯度、 地理位置都標記上去。

geolocates that observation.

That's the data, that's the science of citizen science.

那就是資料，那就是 公民科學中的科學。

And then that data is shared,

接著，資料會被分享出去，

and that sharing, that is the soul of citizen science.

分享正是公民科學的靈魂。

When we share data,

分享資料

we can see much bigger pictures of what's going on.

讓我們能從更廣的角度 去看發生的狀況。

There's no way to see that whole monarch migration

我們之所以能夠看到 帝王斑蝶的整個遷移活動，

without sharing data that's been collected over decades,

正是因為數十年來 收集的資料能被分享，

seeing the heart and soul of how nature works

才能透過公民科學看見

大自然運作方式的核心和靈魂，

through citizen science.

This is a Xerces blue butterfly,

這是加利福尼亞甜灰蝶，

which went extinct when it lost its habitat in Golden Gate Park.

在金門公園的棲息地 被破壞之後便絕種了。

It had a coevolutionary relationship with an ant, and that's another story.

牠們和一種螞蟻有共同演化的關係，

那又是另一個故事了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I'll end by asking you,

最後，我想拜託大家，

please participate in citizen science in some way, shape or form.

請用某種方法、方式、形式 來參與公民科學。

It is an amazingly positive thing.

參與公民科學是非常正面的事。

It takes an army of people to make it really work.

需要一大票人才能 讓公民科學真正成功。

And I'll just add that I think butterflies

我再補充一點，我認為蝴蝶

probably really do have enough on their plate

不用運載人類的靈魂，

without carrying around human souls.

牠們自己已有太多事要做了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But there's a lot we don't know, right?

但，我們不知道的還很多。

And what about all those stories? What are those stories telling us?

那所有這些故事呢？ 我們從中學到什麼？

Maybe we coevolved our souls with butterflies?

也許我們的靈魂和蝴蝶共同演化？

Certainly, we are connected to butterflies in deeper ways than we currently know,

可以肯定，我們與蝴蝶的連結 比我們目前所知道的還要深，

and the mystery of the butterfly will never be revealed

且，如果我們不拯救蝴蝶， 蝴蝶之謎將永遠無法解開。

if we don't save them.

So, please join me in helping to save nature now.

所以，

請現在就加入我，協助拯救大自然。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）