VOA慢速英语20061211a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Seeing More Forest for the Trees: A Brighter Future for World's Forests?By Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: Monday, December 11, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A research team from Finland, the United States, China and Scotland is hopeful about the future of forests. Six experts in forestry² science and economics say forest growth is on the rise in some countries and the number is increasing.

Findings from the Forest Identity project appeared in the Proceedings³ of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington.

Pekka Kauppi of the University of Helsinki was the lead author of the study. Professor Kauppi says the findings suggest the world may be able to reach a turning point away from deforestation. Many experts have considered that impossible.

But the researchers say it may be possible to expand the world's forests by ten percent, or an area the size of India, by two thousand fifty.


Smoke rises from a burning Indonesian forest set afire for land-clearing, 2005

They used information released last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization. The United Nations agency reported on changes in the world's forests between nineteen ninety and two thousand five.

The new study looked just at the fifty nations with the most forest. The researchers used a new way to measure forest resources.

They considered more than just the amount of land covered by trees. They also considered forest density⁴, tree size, biomass and the amount of atmospheric⁵ carbon captured in forests. The biomass represents all plant and tree growth.

The researchers say growing stock increased in twenty-two of the fifty countries. And, in about half of the fifty, biomass and carbon storage also increased.

The researchers say forest area and biomass are still being lost in such important countries as Brazil and Indonesia. But they found gains in others, including the world's most populous⁶ nations. They say China and the United States had the greatest gains. And they say India has reached the right balance between forested and non-forested land.

In percentage terms, though, the study says forest area expanded fastest in the last fifteen years in Vietnam, Spain and China. And it shrank fastest in Nigeria and the Philippines.

Professor Kauppi says the main blocks to forest growth are fast-growing poor populations that burn wood for cooking fuel. Or sell it for quick money -- or clear forest for crops.

But a number of scientists criticized the use of information that came from governments. They say some governments do not keep good records about their forests, or may not tell the truth.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Bob Doughty⁷.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

5 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

6 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

7 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。