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

譯者: Greg Hsiao 審譯者: 杏儀 歐陽

(Rainforest noises)

（雨林的聲音）

In the summer of 2011, as a tourist,

2011年夏天， 我以旅行者的身份，

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

第一次拜訪婆羅洲的雨林。

and as you might imagine,

你也許猜想到，

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

我印象最深刻的， 是鋪天蓋地的雨林之聲。

There's this constant cacophony of noise.

有一個持續不斷的雜音。

Some things actually do stick out.

有一些聲音確實與眾不同。

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

例如，這有一隻大鳥， 是一隻犀鳥

This buzzing is a cicada.

這是蟬的鳴叫聲；

This is a family of gibbons.

這是一個長臂猿家族，

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

牠正向遠處的家人歌唱。

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

據記載，這地方 是一個長臂猿的保護區，

which is why you can hear so many of them,

因此可以聽到那麼多猿聲，

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

但那時森林中最重要的聲音

was one that I didn't notice,

卻是我當時沒注意的聲音，

and in fact nobody there had actually noticed it.

事實上那裡沒有人 真的注意到那個聲音。

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

如我所說，這是長臂猿保護區。

They spend most of their time rehabilitating gibbons,

他們花了大部份時間復育長臂猿，

but they also have to spend a lot of their time

也花了大量時間

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

保護長臂猿的生長區域 不受邊境非法盜木所影響。

And so if we take the sound of the forest

如果我們收集森林的聲音，

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

調降長臂猿、昆蟲 以及其他動物的聲音，

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

你可以在整段時間聽到背景中

was the sound of a chainsaw at great distance.

來自遠處的電鋸聲。

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

當地有三位全職警衛 戍守這個避護所，

whose job was in fact to guard against illegal logging,

面對面抵抗非法伐木。

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

而某天， 我們再次以旅者的身份走入雨林，

and within five minutes' walk,

5分鐘後，

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

我們看見了 有人剛剛把一顆樹鋸下來。

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

就在5分鐘路程內， 離警衛駐點數百公尺之外。

They hadn't been able to hear the chainsaws,

他們從未聽到電鋸聲，

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

因為如你所聽， 森林聲音非常、非常大。

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

這令我十分不解，在現代，

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

僅離警衛駐點數百公尺，

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

竟然無人聽到有人在使用電鋸。

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

這聽來不可思議， 但事實上，這是十分真確的。

So how do we stop illegal logging?

那麼，我們如何停止非法伐木？

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

這真令人技癢， 工程師總想要高科技，

想出超瘋狂高科技解決方案，

super-crazy high-tech solution,

but in fact, you're in the rainforest.

但事實上，你身處雨林，

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

這個方法必須簡單、易操作，

and so what we also noticed while were there was that

而我們注意到

everything we needed was already there.

我們所需的都已經在那裡了。

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

我們可以構架一個系統，

using what's already there.

就地取材阻止盜伐。

Who was there? What was already in the forest?

誰在那？森林裡有什麼？

Well, we had people.

我們有人手，

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

我們有3位全職警衛，

that was dedicated to go and stop it,

其職責就是阻止盜木，

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

而他們需要的是 知道森林裡發生了什麼事。

The real surprise, this is the big one,

令人驚訝，超乎預期的是，

was that there was connectivity out in the forest.

森林裡有網路連結訊號！

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

手機服務訊號在雨林中無所不在，

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

我們談的是距道路數百公里之遙，

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

當然沒有電力， 但卻有很好的手機訊號，

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

城鎮中的人們 總是掛在Facebook，

they're surfing the web on their phones,

用他們的手機瀏覽網路，

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

而這讓我想到也許可以

to use the sounds of the forest,

利用森林裡的聲音，

pick up the sounds of chainsaws programmatically,

用程序擷取電鋸的音頻，

because people can't hear them,

因為人們無法聽到，

and send an alert.

並送出警示。

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

但必須把某個設備放在樹上；

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

如果我們可以運用某些設備 來聽取森林的聲音，

connect to the cell phone network that's there,

連結到手機的網絡，

and send an alert to people on the ground,

將警示傳送給地面上的人們；

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

或許，我們可以 為他們找到解決方案。

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

但我們先來談談拯救雨林，

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

因為那是我們聽聞已久的事情。

People in my generation have heard about saving the rainforest

與我同輩的人都聽過拯救雨林，

since we were kids,

從我們還是孩子的時候，

and it seems that the message has never changed:

而這似乎未曾改變，

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

我們要拯救雨林，這超級迫切，

this many football fields have been destroyed yesterday.

如此多足球場般大的雨林 昨日已被摧毀。

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

而今，仍有半數的雨林存在著，

and we have potentially more urgent problems like climate change.

我們已有潛在更迫切的問題， 例如氣候變遷。

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

但，有一些少為人知的事實 我當時並不知道

Deforestation accounts for more greenhouse gas

[13%運輸；17%伐木] 伐木造成的溫室氣體

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

比全世界的飛機、火車、汽車、 卡車、船運加總還要多，

It's the second highest contributor to climate change.

是造成氣候變遷的第二大起因。

Also, according to Interpol,

同時，根據國際刑警組織，

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

雨林區的伐木有高達90%

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

都是違法的， 就像我們所看到的盜伐。

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

若我們能幫助雨林的人們 執行當地的法律，

then in fact we could eat heavily into this 17 percent

我們可以減少 高達17%的溫室氣體，

and potentially have a major impact in the short term.

並可在短期產生重大影響。

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

這也許是擊退氣候變遷 最便宜、最快速的方法。

And so here's the system that we imagine.

這是我們構想的系統，

It looks super high tech.

看起來像超高端科技。

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

當電鋸的聲音在森林中被聽到，

the device picks up the sound of the chainsaw,

這個設備擷取電鋸的聲音，

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

透過現有的標準GSM網絡 發出警示

to a ranger in the field

給當地的警衛，

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

他們就可以即時出現，阻止砍伐。

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

這不需要走到外面， 才發現樹木被砍了。

It's not about seeing a tree from a satellite

也不必看區域衛星圖

in an area that's been clear cut,

看有沒有樹被砍倒，

it's about real-time intervention.

這是即時的干預。

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

如我所說， 這是最便宜、最快速的方法，

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

但事實上，如你所見， 他們無法做到，

so it may not be so cheap and fast.

所以它也許不是那麼便宜、快速。

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

但如果樹上的設備是手機的話，

it could be pretty cheap.

那可以是非常便宜的。

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

每年有數以億計的手機被丟棄，

hundreds of millions in the U.S. alone,

僅在美國就有上億部，

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

這還沒算到世界其他地區， 當然我們應該算到；

but in fact, cell phones are great.

但事實上，手機是很棒的！

They're full of sensors.

手機充滿感測器

They can listen to the sounds of the forest.

可以聽取森林的聲音；

We do have to protect them.

我們需要保護手機，

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

我們需要把手機放在盒子裡， 如你在此所見。

and we do have to power them.

我們需要替手機充電，

Powering them is one of the greater engineering challenges

替手機充電一項重大工程挑戰，

that we had to deal with,

我們必須面對，

because powering a cell phone under a tree canopy,

因為在樹蔭下替手機充電，

any sort of solar power under a tree canopy,

任何在樹蔭下的太陽能，

was an as-yet-unsolved problem,

都尚未做到；

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

而這就是獨一無二的 太陽能面板設計，

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

這是由工廠製程中 回收的副產品所組成的，

These are strips that are cut down.

這些是剩下的腳料。

So this is me putting it all together

這是我， 正將所有東西組裝在一起，

in my parents' garage, actually.

在我父母的車庫中，

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

非常感謝他們允許我這麼作。

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

如你所見， 這套設備在樹上的樣子。

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

如你所見，樹上的這些設備，

up in the tree canopy at a distance.

從遠方看起來很不顯眼。

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

那很重要，雖然它們可以聽到

up to a kilometer in the distance,

遠至一公里之外的電鋸聲，

allowing them to cover about three square kilometers,

範圍可覆蓋約3平方公里，

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

但如果有人把它拿走， 這個區域就不受保護了。

So does it actually work?

這真的行得通嗎？

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

嗯，來試試看， 我們帶著它回到印尼，

not the same place, but another place,

不是同個地方，而是另一個地方，

to another gibbon reserve

去到另一個長臂猿保護區，

that was threatened daily by illegal logging.

天天被盜伐威脅的保護區。

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

就在第二天， 它擷取到非法的電鋸聲，

We were able to get a real-time alert.

我們能夠得到一個即時的警示，

I got an email on my phone.

我在手機上收到郵件。

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

事實上，我們剛爬完樹， 大家才剛回到地面，

All these guys are smoking cigarettes,

大夥正在抽煙，

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

然後我收到郵件，他們都安靜下來，

and in fact you can hear the chainsaw

事實上你可以聽到電鋸聲，

really, really faint in the background,

在背景聲中非常非常模糊的聲音，

but no one had noticed it until that moment.

但直到警示響起時大家才注意到。

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

接著，我們動身前去阻止伐木者；

I was pretty nervous.

我十分緊張，

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

那時我們到達伐木人附近，

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

這時我也許之前的所有努力 開始感到後悔，

perhaps the entire endeavor.

這時我也許對之前所有的努力 開始感到後悔，

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

我不確定山坡另一邊的狀況。

That guy's much braver than I am.

那位老兄比我勇敢得多，

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

但他去了，所以我必須去，

and in fact, he made it over the hill,

他登上山坡，

and interrupted the loggers in the act.

中斷伐木者的行動。

For them, it was such a surprise --

對他們而言，這非常令人驚訝---

they had never, ever been interrupted before --

他們之前從來沒有被中斷過---

that it was such an impressive event for them,

這對他們來說相當印象深刻，

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

後來夥伴們告訴我們， 自此之後他們再也沒來。

They were, in fact, great guys.

他們真的是很棒的人！

They showed us how the entire operation works,

他們展示這個運作是可行的，

and what they really convinced us on the spot was that

他們當場使我們相信：

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

如果你可以即時出現、阻止伐木者，

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

那會有很足夠的嚇阻作用 讓他們不再回來。

So --

所以

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝 (掌聲)

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

這件事情廣泛流傳了， 也許是因為我們跟很多人說過了，

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

而事實上， 後來有些令人驚喜的東西開始發生。

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

世界各地的人們 開始寄郵件和手機給我們，

What we saw was that people throughout Asia,

我們看到來自亞洲、

people throughout Africa, people throughout South America,

非洲、南美洲的人們，

they told us that they could use it too,

他們告訴我們， 他們也可以運用這個方法；

and what's most important,

而最重要的是，

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

我們之前發現了不起的是

in the forest there was pretty good cell phone service.

雨林的手機服務相當不錯，

That was not exceptional, we were told,

人們告訴我們，那不是了不起，

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

特別是在森林的邊陲地帶、 最深受威脅的地區。

And then something really amazing happened,

接著真正令人驚喜的東西發生了，

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

人們開始寄給我們舊手機；

So in fact what we have now is a system

我們現在擁有一個系統，

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

我們可以運用普羅大眾、四周的居民，

who can both improve and use the existing connectivity,

他們可以同時改善、 使用現有的網絡，

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

並且我們利用 世界各地人們寄過來的舊手機，

by people from around the world

並且我們利用 世界各地人們寄過來的舊手機，

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

他們希望舊手機 可以在丟棄後發揮功效，

或許可以這麼說。

so to speak.

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

假若剩餘的手機也可以完全作回收，

我們相信 那會是全然升級改造的手機。

then we believe it's an entirely upcycled device.

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

再次重申，這個項目的成功 不是因為任何高科技解決方案，

It just came from using what's already there,

這僅是就地取材，

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

而我完全相信如果不是用手機，

that there's always going to be enough there

當地總會有足夠的東西

that you can build similar solutions

可以建構相似的解決方案，

that can be very effective in new contexts.

在新的環境中起到很好的作用。

Thank you very much.

謝謝！

(掌聲)

(Applause)