This year’s observance of the International Day for Biodiversity falls during the 2011 International Year of Forests, declared by the United Nations General Assembly to educate the global community about the value of forests and the extreme social, economic and environmental costs of losing them.
在今年舉辦生物多樣性國際日紀念活動，適逢今年是2011國際森林年。聯合國大會宣布今年為2011國際森林年，是為了讓全球社會了解森林的價值以及失去森林將產生的極端社會、經濟和環境成本。

The benefits of forests are far-reaching. Forests catch and store water, stabilize soils, harbour biodiversity and make an important contribution to regulating climate and the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. They generate profits for international businesses and provide essential income and resources for hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people. Yet, despite our growing understanding and appreciation of just how much we reap from forests, they are still disappearing at an alarming rate. This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity is devoted to highlighting the need for urgent action.
森林的益處久遠綿長。森林聚水蓄水，穩定土壤，涵養多種生物，并對調節氣候以及造成氣候變化的溫室氣體做出重要貢獻。森林為國際生意創造利潤，為全世界數以億計最貧窮的人民提供必不可少的收入和資源。我們取之于森林者可謂多矣。然而，盡管我們對這一點的理解和重視日益增加，森林仍然在以驚人的速度消失。今年的生物多樣性國際日則專門強調采取緊急行動的必要性。

Last year, governments agreed on a new strategic plan for biodiversity at the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in Aichi, Japan. The Aichi targets call for a significant reduction in the rate of loss, degradation and fragmentation of all natural habitats, including forests, by 2020. One of the important tools agreed in Japan is the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. Forests contain a vast – and barely catalogued – store of biodiversity. The early ratification and implementation of this Protocol can support forest protection and the sustainable use of biodiversity. This, in turn, can contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable national development.
去年，各國政府在日本愛知縣舉行的名古屋生物多樣性首腦會議上商定了一項新的生物多樣性戰略計劃。愛知目標要求到2020年大幅度降低包括森林在內的所有自然生境的喪失、退化和條塊分割速度。在日本商定的重要工具之一是《遺傳資源獲取以及利用遺傳資源所產生惠益公平公正分享問題名古屋議定書》。森林中蘊藏的生物品類繁盛，但卻幾乎沒有進行過分類登記。早日批準和實施該議定書可以支持森林保護和生物多樣性的可持續利用。而這又可以促進減貧和可持續的國家發展。

As the ongoing climate change negotiations demonstrate, awareness is growing that reducing deforestation and forest degradation can play a large part in our response to the combined threat of climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. I commend this renewed emphasis on the importance of forests to sustainable development.
目前仍在繼續的氣候變化談判表明，人們越來越清醒地認識到，減少森林的砍伐和退化，在我們應對氣候變化、生物多樣性喪失和土地退化等問題的共同威脅方面可以發揮重大作用。我贊揚這種一再強調森林對可持續發展的重要性的做法。

Nearly two decades ago, world leaders included the Rio Forest Principles as a major outcome of the Earth Summit, which also saw the birth of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Next year, governments will reconvene in Rio for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20). As we look forward to this landmark conference, I urge all sectors of society to re-commit to the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for our collective future.
將近20年以前，在地球問題首腦會議上，世界各國的領導人把《里約森林原則》作為首腦會議的重大成果列入成果文件，《生物多樣性公約》也由此誕生。明年，各國政府將在里約再次聚首，召開聯合國可持續發展大會(里約+20)。在我們期待這次里程碑式大會之時，我敦促社會各界再做承諾，對所有各類森林加以管理、養護和可持續的開發，以造福我們共同的未來。