Africa's Great Green Wall 非洲的“绿色长城”

本集内容

学习要点

有关“The environment 环境”的词汇

边看边答

Which kind of trees are drought-resistant?

文字稿

Africa is building a giant wall - of trees. It stretches across the entire continent, in a bid to help fight the effects of climate change. It’s called the Great Green Wall - but can it work?

The wall spans 11 countries - measuring 8,000 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide. So far, Senegal has made the best progress by planting 11 million trees.

This village chief says the Green Wall is reversing desertification.

Absaman Moudouba - Village Chief
When there were no trees, the wind used to dig up and erode the soil but it is more protected now. The leaves provide compost and the canopy increases the humidity of the environment and offers some shade so there is less need for a lot of watering.

The project is planting drought-resistant acacia trees. The tree roots hold the water in the soil so formerly dry wells have filled up again.

Absaman Moudouba - Village Chief
Before, there was widespread drought and hunger here. Then the tree planting took place and then a garden for the women to grow crops. Before people used to migrate but nowadays they just follow the line of the Great Green Wall for jobs. They no longer leave.

The project, which began in 2007, is expected to cost a total of eight billion dollars. The Green Wall is still years from completion, but the World Bank, the United Nations, the African Union and the UK Botanical Gardens have all pledged money to continue planting.

非洲正在建造一面巨大的“树墙”。它将横跨整个非洲大陆，试图对抗气候变化带来的影响。这面“树墙”被称为“非洲的绿色长城”，但是这座“长城”会如人们所预期的，抵御气候变化吗？

这座“长城”跨越11个国家，长达8000公里，宽为15公里。到目前为止，塞内加尔已经种植了1100万棵树，成果颇丰。

这位村长说，“绿墙”正在扭转荒漠化。

阿布萨曼 · 穆都巴（ Absaman Moudouba ） – 村长

“以前没有树木的时候，风会刮起地表的泥土，并且侵蚀土壤，但现在有了植被，地表就被保护得更好了。落叶可以提供混合肥料，树冠能增加环境的湿度，并为大地遮荫，所以比起以往，大量浇水的需求也有所减少。”

这个项目正在种植抗旱植被——金合欢树。这种植物的根会帮助土壤保持水分，因此那些过去已经干枯的井得以再次填满。

阿布萨曼 · 穆都巴（ Absaman Moudouba）– 村长

“以前，这里遍布着干旱和饥饿。随着我们开始植树，这里渐渐变成了一个妇女们可以种植庄稼的园子。人们过去常常迁移，但现在他们只需要跟着“绿色长城”的路线就能找到工作。他们不再离开故土。”

“绿色长城”项目于2007年启动，预计共将花费八十亿美元。这项工程尚需很长一段时间才能完工，但是世界银行、联合国、非洲联盟以及英国植物园都承诺将继续为种植这道“绿色的壁垒”注入资金。

词汇

desertification
沙漠化，荒漠化

erode
侵蚀

humidity
湿度

drought-resistant
抗旱的，耐旱的

planting
种植，栽种

你知道吗？

Acacias are shrubs and trees found in warm and tropical regions. Belonging to the pea family, acacias have pods, and acacia beans are on the menu in Mexico.

金合欢是生长于温暖地带及热带地区的一种灌木和树木。金合欢属于豆科家族，其荚果有使用价值，它的豆荚也可食用，常见于墨西哥菜单中。