VOA慢速英语听力：亚非国家加入亚马逊会议保护雨林 Asian, African Nations Join Amazon Meeting to Preserve Rainforests

VOA慢速英语听力：亚非国家加入亚马逊会议保护雨林 Asian, African Nations Join Amazon Meeting to Preserve Rainforests.

Representatives of nations with rainforests in Asia and Africa joined leaders from eight Amazon-area countries for a meeting in Brazil on Wednesday.
亚洲和非洲的雨林国家代表于周三与来自八个亚马逊地区国家的领导人在巴西举行了会议。

The nations will produce a statement called “United for our Forests” to be presented at COP 28 in November. COP 28 is the United Nations climate change conference and it will be held in the Middle Eastern city of Dubai.
这些国家将发布一份名为“团结保护我们的森林”的声明，将在11月份的第28届联合国气候变化大会（COP28）上进行展示。COP28将在中东城市迪拜举行。

The eight South American countries, known as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), opened the meeting on Tuesday.
被称为亚马逊合作条约组织（ACTO）的八个南美国家于周二开幕了会议。

The ACTO includes Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The nations agreed to work on developing their economies without harming the rainforest to a “point of no return.”
ACTO包括巴西、玻利维亚、哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、圭亚那、秘鲁、苏里南和委内瑞拉。这些国家同意在发展经济的同时不会危害雨林，以避免“不可逆转的程度”。

Representatives also came from the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and the French territory of Guiana. The president of Norway, a contributor to the Amazon fund for sustainable development, also joined.
刚果共和国、刚果民主共和国、印度尼西亚以及法属圭亚那的代表也出席了会议。挪威总统，亚马逊可持续发展基金的捐助者，也加入了会议。

Scientists say when 20 to 25 percent of the Amazon rainforest is destroyed, it will reduce rainfall and change the environment. The land will get drier and many kinds of plants and animals will die out.
科学家表示，当亚马逊雨林被破坏了20%至25%时，将会减少降雨并改变环境。土地会变得更加干燥，许多植物和动物将会灭绝。

Some environmental activists, however, criticized Tuesday’s event, saying the countries did not create a plan with clear goals and deadlines.
然而，一些环保活动人士批评了周二的活动，称这些国家没有制定明确目标和截止日期的计划。

Brazil’s president is Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva. In his third term as leader, he is working to save the Amazon. A study last month showed his efforts caused a 42 percent drop in deforestation in only seven months.
巴西总统是路易斯·伊纳西奥·达·席尔瓦，他正在他的第三个领导任期中努力拯救亚马逊雨林。上个月的一项研究显示，他的努力在仅仅七个月内导致了42%的森林砍伐减少。

The Amazon stretches across an area twice the size of India. Two-thirds of it lies in Brazil, with seven other countries and French Guiana sharing the remaining third.
亚马逊雨林横跨的面积是印度的两倍。其中三分之二位于巴西境内，而其他七个国家和法属圭亚那共同分享其余的三分之一。

Until recently, critics say South American governments saw the rainforest as a resource for materials they could use to grow their economies. Trees were cleared for cattle, companies drilled for oil and mined the land for minerals and metals, and cities and roads were built through the forest. Indigenous people lost their land and plants and animals became endangered.
直到最近，批评人士称南美国家政府将雨林视为他们可以用来发展经济的资源。树木被清理以放牧，公司进行石油钻探和矿产开采，城市和道路穿过了森林。土著人失去了他们的土地，植物和动物变得濒危。

All the Amazon nations signed the 2015 Paris climate agreement to reduce pollution. But experts say the countries have had problems working together. They say the latest agreement should require all nations to end deforestation by 2030. So far, only Brazil and Colombia agreed on that deadline.
所有亚马逊国家都签署了2015年的巴黎气候协议以减少污染。但专家们表示，这些国家在合作方面存在问题。他们表示，最新的协议应该要求所有国家在2030年前停止森林砍伐。目前，只有巴西和哥伦比亚同意了这一截止日期。

The nations are also divided on oil drilling in the Amazon. Colombian leader Gustavo Petro called for an end to oil exploration but other nations are not sure they want to follow.
各国在亚马逊地区的石油钻探问题上存在分歧。哥伦比亚领导人古斯塔沃·佩特罗呼吁终止石油勘探，但其他国家并不确定是否愿意遵循此举。

The ACTO meeting, however, did receive support from one Indigenous leader, Fany Kuiru of Colombia. Kuiru praised the group for recognizing the rights of native people to traditional lands and opening a way for indigenous people to participate.
然而，亚马逊合作条约组织（ACTO）会议得到了哥伦比亚土著领导人范尼·奎鲁的支持。奎鲁赞扬该组织认可土著人民对传统土地的权利，并为土著人民参与提供了途径。

In a discussion on Tuesday, da Silva said the Amazon is a “passport to a new relationship with the world” where its resources can be “valued and put in the service of everyone.”
在周二的讨论中，达·席尔瓦表示，亚马逊是与世界建立新关系的“护照”，在这里，它的资源可以“受到重视并用于为每个人提供服务”。

我是丹·弗里德尔。

Words in This Story

sustainable –adj. able to continue for a long time without harming the environment

deadline –n. a time that a project must be completed by

deforestation –n. the act of removing trees for a forest so the land can be used for something else, or the trees can be used for lumber

indigenous –n. people who originally lived in a land

endangered –adj. at risk of dying out