英国剑桥公爵威廉王子访问中科院版纳植物园发表演讲
附:威廉王子演讲稿(由英国驻重庆总领事馆提供)
Professor Hughes, Madam Dao Linyin. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you. It is a pleasure to be here, at the end of my first visit to China.
Hughes教授、刀林荫主任,女士们先生们大家好。感谢各位参加。非常高兴能够在中国的最后一站到此参加今天的会议。
I have formed many lasting and positive impressions of the people I have met, of China’s extraordinary economic dynamism, its ancient culture, and its remarkable natural heritage.
此次中国之行沿路上碰到人们、飞速发展的经济以及这个国家古老的文化,都给我留下了美好印象,这些记忆将长久伴随我。
It has been an honour to visit the Botanic Gardens I first heard about from my grandfather, to experience the diversity of Yunnan Province, crossed by three of Asia’s mightiest rivers, and to visit Elephant Valley.
第一次听说西双版纳热带植物园还是从我祖父的口中。此次很有幸能到云南,在这片包纳了亚洲三大河流的土地上,亲身体验这里的生物多样性,并且到野象谷看亚洲象。
Many a book has been written about the ‘English Garden’. Yet as much as half of the plants we think of as British were introduced from China in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Truly, our histories are inter-twined: nature transcends geography and is a bridge between us.
书中常写“英国花园”- 然而多半在我们印象中被认作是英国的植物,其实是在18、19世纪从中国引进的。中英两国的历史早已有着千丝万缕的联系-自然超越了地理的阻隔,架起我们之间的桥梁。
Here in Yunnan, it is easy to see why men and women have found inspiration in nature throughout the ages. Chinese artists and writers have made a vast contribution, over hundreds of years, to the ideal of man’s kinship with nature and all living creatures.
当你身处云南,就不难发现为什么这里的男女老少都能从自然中获得灵感了。中国的艺术家和作家在历史的长河中,为我们留下大量宝贵的文化遗产,书写了人与自然万物亲近和谐的美好愿望。
But protecting our environment is not just an ideal. As the poet Wang Taiyue wrote over a century ago, “if humans take all there is, if they show no restraint, their force is enough to wear out both Heaven and Earth”.
然而,对于环境的保护,则并非愿景那般简单。正如清朝诗人王太岳写道:“尽取不知节,力足疲乾坤”。
We have to conserve our planet - to provide security and prosperity for all people, and indeed to sustain humanity.
我们需要保护自己所在的星球 - 这是让大家得以享有安全与繁荣,更是为了保持人类本身的存续。
This creates challenges for all of us.
挑战是对于我们所有人而言的。
All countries experience the tension between the need to develop resources for the good of all, and the responsibility to preserve nature – and I understand very well that this is a difficult balance.
全球的国家都在经历同样的两难局面,是选择为了整体发展而开发资源的需求,还是选择保护自然的责任 - 我非常理解,这一种困难的平衡。
Too often in the past this has been presented as a choice between benefiting mankind or protecting nature.
过去,我们常常以为自己是在为人类谋福利和保护自然环境当中做抉择。
But in fact, the two cannot be separated. Long-term economic stability requires sustainable development and green growth - what Chinese leaders have termed ‘eco-civilisation’.
其实二者本不能分开。长期的经济稳定需要可持续的发展和绿色增长方式来支持 - 中国的领导人则称之为“生态文明”。
There is much we can learn from each other across continents. The challenges the Dai villagers I met today told me about, for example, are very similar to those faced by people living among elephants in rural Africa.
虽远隔重洋,世界各国之间却有许多可以互相学习借鉴的地方。例如,刚刚在傣族村寨里听到村民们所讲的挑战,其实就跟远在非洲农村毗邻大象聚居区的人们所遇到的问题非常类似。
And the insurance system you have created here, to protect livelihoods when crops are damaged, may well hold valuable lessons for other countries.
在这里实行的补偿居民农作物被野生动物破坏的保险体系,或许就可为其它有类似问题的国家提供有益借鉴。
But as well as these important local issues, we face global challenges that recognise no borders: from pollution and climate change to the main subject of my speech today, the illegal trade in wildlife.
除了本地的这些重要问题,我们正在面临全球性的挑战,而这些挑战,是没有国界可言的:从污染到气候变化,到今天我演讲的重点 - 野生动物非法交易。
Because, of course, the greatest threat to elephants worldwide today is not local farmers protecting their livelihoods, it is ruthless and organised poaching and trafficking.
因为,对于全球的大象而言,当前最大的威胁并非来自当地保护自己庄稼的农民,而是残忍地有组织地偷猎和走私。
It is appalling that elephants – and many others – may be extinct in the wild in our lifetimes, and that we seem to be hurtling towards that tragic outcome. The extinction of animals such as elephants and rhinos would be an immeasurable loss to the whole of humanity.
一个惊人的事实是,野生大象,还有许多其他的物种,将可能在我们的有生之年内灭绝,而现在我们似乎正在向着这个悲剧性的结果疾速靠近。野生动物,例如大象的绝迹对全人类而言将是一个无可估量的损失。
The illegal wildlife trade is therefore our common enemy. It is a vicious form of criminality: plundering the natural resources of fragile countries, taking innocent lives, hindering development and spreading
corruption. It erodes the rule of law, fuels conflict, and may even help fund terrorism.
可见,非法野生动物交易是我们共同的敌人。这是一种恶性的犯罪:穷尽了贫弱国家的自然资源,夺走无辜的生命,阻碍发展且滋长腐败。它侵蚀法治,催生冲突,甚至可能被用于资助恐怖主义。
Traffickers think nothing of violating laws and sovereignty anywhere they can exploit a loophole or turn a profit. And international cooperation is our strongest defence against them.
走私者们只会到处寻找可以攫取利益的漏洞,不会考虑对于法律和国家主权的侵犯。国际间的合作才是我们最强的防线!
With that in mind, we must join forces on three critical battlegrounds:
考虑到这些,我们必须在三条关键战线上协同作战:
First, to help countries protect their vulnerable species, for example through the Elephant Protection Initiative.
首先,通过类似“大象保护计划”这样的行动,来保护这些国家的珍稀物种。
I commend China for its contribution to the protection of wildlife in Africa as a state party to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. I also warmly welcome China’s participation in the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade a year ago, and I look forward to the follow-on conference in Botswana. There is however so much more to do.
中国作为濒危野生动植物国际公约(CITES)的成员国,对非洲对野生动物保护做出了贡献。对此,我深表赞赏。对于中国参加去年举行的“野生动物非法贸易伦敦会议”,我也非常欢迎。希望中国能参加在博茨瓦纳举行的下次大会。而其实可以做的事情还有很多。
The second battleground is the need to crack down on the illegal trade itself. United for Wildlife has set up a taskforce of experts and representatives of the transport industry to recommend ways to prevent criminals smuggling wildlife by air, sea or land, since all countries are vulnerable to this abuse of legitimate trade networks.
第二是消灭非法贸易。野生动物联盟成立了由交通行业专家和代表组成的特别工作组,对如何防止利用合法的航空、海运以及陆地运输渠道走私野生动物提出建议。这是所有国家都面临的难题。
And third, a powerful blow we can strike against traffickers is to reduce the demand for their products. Demand provides traffickers with their incentive. It fuels their greed, and generates their vast profits. If demand falls away so too will much of the motivating factor to kill, capture or maim irreplaceable wildlife.
第三,减少市场需求将是对走私者沉重的一击。市场需求是走私者的动机所在。这给他们带巨额到利润,滋长他们的贪婪。如果市场需求减少,捕猎、杀害和伤害野生动物的动机也会大大减少。
I welcome the steps that China has already taken to counter this pernicious trade. This includes last week’s announcement to tighten
regulations governing the legal trade to help ensure it cannot be used as a front to launder illegal products.
我也赞赏中国已经采取的针对打击这类交易的措施。其中就包括上周宣布的,加强规范合法贸易的做法。这有助于避免合法贸易成为非法产品的幌子。
China’s decision to ban shark fin, bird nests and wild animal products at official dinners has been warmly received around the world for the impact it has had on consumption.
中国政府禁止公务宴请使用鱼翅、燕窝以及野生动物。这一举措的积极影响得到了全世界的赞同。
The President I whom I met during my visit told me of the steps China is taking and of the ambition to do more. China can be a global leader in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. I welcome that. I greatly hope that the United Kingdom and China can partner with one another in this endeavour.
在访华期间,习近平主席告诉了我中国在这一领域正取得的进展,以及要有更多作为的想法。我对此举表示欢迎。中国有能力成为打击非法野生动物交易的领导者。而我非常希望,英国和中国能在这样一场战役中成为合作伙伴。
If I may add one final, heartfelt message, it is that ultimately, ending demand for ivory is down to citizens across the world. No tradition or fashion is worth the extinction of an entire species, and no criminal gang should be allowed to destroy any part of nature.
最后,我还想衷心地说一句,停止象牙消费,最终要靠全世界每一个人。任何习俗或时尚,都不能成为灭绝一个地球物种的理由。我们不能容许任何伤害自然的任一部分的恶行。
I am sure that there are millions of people who share this conviction. If we can unite on this principle across cultures and continents, ours can be the generation that chooses to maintain the beauty of nature in the wild; that changes global attitudes towards ivory irrevocably; and that stands between endangered species and extinction.
我相信,许多人都有同样的信念。如果我们能秉承此信念,跨越文化和地域,团结起来,共同行动,那我们这一代就会成为成就荒野自然之美的一代。这会彻底改变人们对象牙的认识;这是防止濒危变成灭绝的关键。
By taking action now to stop the illegal wildlife trade we will help confront organised crime and corruption, strengthen our societies and contribute to international peace and security. And above all, we will do the right thing by the next generation.
采取措施制止非法野生动物贸易将有助于打击有组织犯罪和腐败,稳固社会,有助于维护国际和平与安全。一言蔽之,我们这一代将做正确的事情。
This afternoon I planted a tree in these botanic gardens, in the shelter of a Wang Tian tree my grandfather planted 29 years ago.
刚刚在植物园,在我祖父29年前种下的那棵望天树下,我种下了另一棵树。
When we plant a tree we do so knowing that although it will take years to grow, it will yield great benefits for future generations.
当我们种下这棵树的时候就知道,虽然它需要很多年才能成材,但它将为后代造福。
The same is true of the decisions we make today to protect wildlife. As I believe you say in China, “one generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests”.
就像我们今天决定采取行动保护野生动物,正如中国俗话说的, 是“前人栽树、后人乘凉”。
Thank you very much.
非常感谢。