国家地理 露丝·梅泽尔拯救生态系统的秘密武器（在线收听）

Ruth Metzel may have figured out a way to save a critically endangered ecosystem: build relationships with the people who live there. For a decade the ecologist has studied tropical dry forests in Panama's rural Los Santos Province. There, intensive cattle farming reflects the threat to the forests countrywide. Many farmers, proud of their traditions yet aware that land-use techniques need to change, are eager to do something about it.

露丝·梅泽尔可能已经找到了一个拯救极度濒危生态系统的方法：与住在那里的人建立关系。10年来，这位生态学家一直在研究巴拿马洛斯桑托斯省的热带干燥林。在那里，集约化的养牛业反映了巴拿马全国范围内森林所面临的威胁。许多农民为自己的传统感到自豪，但也意识到土地利用技术需要改变，因此他们迫切希望能采取些行动。

Metzel co-founded Azuero Earth Project as a way to guide those who lean most heavily on the forest ecosystem toward living more harmoniously with it. "The key," she says, "is to reach people where they're at." Azuero works with cattle ranchers to identify exactly which trees -- native and fruit -- to plant on their land and where. The new growth helps form a corridor that replenishes the forest and restores habitat for wildlife, especially the critically endangered Azuero spider monkey. With over 5,000 trees planted since 2017, Metzel has high hopes for this approach.

梅泽尔与他人共同创立的阿祖罗地球项目，旨在引导那些严重依赖森林生态系统的人们能够与其更和谐地生活。她说道：“关键是要和当地的人们建立联系。”阿祖罗与牧场主合作，以此来准确识别哪些树木--原生树木以及果树--可以在他们的土地上种植。这一新型种植方式有助于形成一个走廊，补充森林和恢复野生动物的栖息地，尤其是极度濒危的阿祖罗蜘蛛猴。自2017年以来，梅泽尔已经种植了5000多棵树，他对这种方法抱有很高的期望。

To support Azuero's mission, Metzel was awarded a National Geographic Society grant to teach Panamanian artisans how to responsibly source the grasses, seeds, and other native materials they use to make crafts. The end goal, says Metzel, is preventing this endangered ecosystem from being degraded any further -- and growing it.

为了支持阿祖罗的任务，梅泽尔获得了国家地理学会的资助，来教导巴拿马工匠们如何负责任地获取草料、种子以及他们用来制作工艺品的其它天然材料。梅泽尔表示，最终的目标是防止这个濒危的生态系统进一步退化--并且使其茁壮成长。