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Message from Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem
教科文組織總干事奧德蕾·阿祖萊保護紅樹林生態系統國際日致辭
26 July 2021
2021年7月26日
In the plant world, mangroves are unique. Inhabiting a hostile environment, they have adapted to survive. Their roots stand in waterlogged ground, almost devoid of all oxygen. Their leaves and trunks are engineered to regulate salinity. To reproduce, they drop not seeds but seedlings – the plant equivalent of a live birth.
紅樹林在植物界獨一無二。它們生長在惡劣的環境中，為求得生存而努力適應環境。樹根浸在水中，幾乎得不到任何氧氣。樹葉和樹干經過演化，變得可以調節含鹽量。紅樹林的繁殖不是靠種子而是靠幼苗的脫落——這相當于植物界的“胎生”。
However, mangroves are much more than marvels of nature. Standing in the intertidal zone between land and sea, mangroves perform a range of services for coastal communities in tropical and sub-tropical regions. They protect biodiversity by sheltering and nurturing marine life. They function like filtration systems, absorbing nutrients and pollutants. They fight coastal erosion, acting as breakwaters to dissipate storm surges and wave energy. Above all, they play an essential role as carbon sinks, sequestering atmospheric and oceanic carbon for long periods of time.
然而，紅樹林不僅是自然界的奇觀。生長在陸地和海洋之間的潮間地帶的紅樹林可以為熱帶和亞熱帶的沿海社區提供多種服務。紅樹林庇護和滋養著海洋生物，保護著生物多樣性。它們就像是過濾系統，可以吸收營養物質和污染物。它們對抗海岸侵蝕，猶如筑起一道防波堤來消解風暴潮和波浪能。而最重要的是，紅樹林可以長期封存大氣和海洋中的碳，發揮著碳匯的重要作用。
The health of humans has always depended on the health of the planet, but in today's changing world, the importance of mangrove ecosystems is all too clear. Yet it is estimated that some countries lost more than 40% of their mangroves between 1980 and 2005, often due to coastal development. These plants currently cover a surface of just 14.8 million hectares – an area equivalent to the size of Greece.
人類的健康始終取決于地球的健康，在當今不斷變化的世界中，紅樹林生態系統的重要性不言而喻。但據估計，由于沿海地區的開發，一些國家在1980年至2005年間喪失了40%以上的紅樹林。現存紅樹林面積僅為1480萬公頃，相當于希臘國土面積。
The world is now waking up to the importance of mangroves – and other blue carbon ecosystems, including salt marshes, seagrass beds and coastal wetlands. UNESCO has long worked to conserve these essential areas in its World Heritage sites, Global Geoparks and Biosphere Reserves. The ecosystems in its marine World Heritage sites alone span 207 million hectares – 10% of all marine protected areas globally.
世界各國正在意識到紅樹林以及包括鹽沼、海草床和沿海濕地在內的其他藍碳生態系統的重要性。教科文組織長期以來致力于保護世界遺產地、世界地質公園和生物圈保護區中的這些重要區域。單是海洋世界遺產地中的生態系統就有2.07億公頃，占全球海洋保護區總面積的10%。
When it comes to protecting ecosystems like these, UNESCO's Biosphere Reserves offer a unique blueprint. In these areas, UNESCO is committed to implementing science-based solutions in coordination with local and indigenous communities, to support humanity's ability to cope with socio-ecological change. In this way, we are protecting mangrove forests across the globe – from the Ranong Biosphere Reserve in Thailand, to the Delta du Saloum Biosphere Reserve in Senegal, via the Marawah Biosphere Reserve in the United Arab Emirates.
教科文組織生物圈保護區為保護此類生態系統提供了獨特的樣板。在這些區域，教科文組織與當地和土著社區協調，努力實施科學的解決方案，增強人類應對社會生態變化的能力。我們正在通過這種方式保護世界各地的紅樹林——從泰國的拉廊生物圈保護區，到塞內加爾的薩盧姆三角洲生物圈保護區，再到阿拉伯聯合酋長國的馬拉瓦生物圈保護區。
This year, the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary – five decades of dialogue, knowledge sharing and poverty reduction, to rethink the relationship between people and nature. This year, we also celebrate the launch of the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. Through these initiatives and others, we are working to protect mangroves and to better support scientific research into these environments.
今年是教科文組織世界生物圈保護區網絡成立五十周年——回顧五十年來的對話、知識共享和減貧工作，重新思考人與自然之間的關系。今年，我們還歡慶“聯合國生態系統恢復十年”的啟動。通過以上舉措和其他倡議，我們正在努力保護紅樹林，進一步支持對這些環境開展科學研究。
However, we cannot do this alone. We also need you – to participate in scientific research, monitoring, education and awareness; to contribute to conservation efforts. Please join us, so that, together, we can put a stop to mangrove habitat destruction, and restore what we have already lost.
然而，僅憑我們的力量還不夠。我們需要大家參與科學研究、監測、教育和宣傳，并為保護工作貢獻力量。讓我們攜起手來，共同制止對紅樹林生境的破壞，并讓喪失的紅樹林得以恢復。
