VOA慢速英语2021--当地人是亚马逊地区最好的看护者

Activists¹: Native People Are Best Caretakers of the Amazon Area

Environmental activists say protecting native people and their right to ancestral lands is critical to saving the rainforest in Brazil. The activists argue that the Amazon natives are its best guardians².

The activists spoke³ Monday at a Reuters Impact conference about the future of the Amazon rainforest. They said the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is weakening the rights of natives.

"What we are seeing is an attack on indigenous⁴ people, on their rights, their lives and territories," said Leila Salazar-Lopez. She is the head of Amazon Watch, an environmental group based in Oakland, California.

Ginger⁵ Cassady is director of the Rainforest Action Network based in San Francisco. She said the actions of the Bolsonaro government have continued to increase deforestation. She said the government is decreasing environmental protections although it has promised to protect the forest.

Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon area has risen sharply since Bolsonaro took office in 2019. Early data show forest clearing decreased by 1.2 percent from January to August. But destruction remains⁶ at a level not seen in Brazil since 2008.

Bolsonaro spoke at the United Nations General Assembly last month. In his speech, he promised to increase resources for environmental enforcement by 100 percent. The environment minister said last month that hundreds of enforcement agents would be added to the fight against illegal deforestation.

But critics say the government has reduced spending on environmental efforts for years.

Both Salazar-Lopez and Cassady have urged banks and other investors⁷ to respect indigenous land rights. They want financial interests to get the permission of native communities before they start projects that influence their lands.

The activists called on private industry to stop the expansion of oil concessions⁹ in the Amazon. The rainforest around the Amazon River in South America is the world's largest. It is also considered very important to fight climate change.

Salazar-Lopez said forests were being cut down on purpose to clear land for cattle and soybean farms. She said the government's indigenous affairs agency, called Funai, has decreased under Bolsonaro. This has left indigenous areas unprotected and in danger of illegal operations to cut down trees and to mine gold.

"Indigenous people are the best protectors of the Amazon forest and of biodiversity around our planet...because they have intrinsic spiritual and cultural connections to the land," Salazar-Lopez said.

"They have the most to lose and so they will do anything to protect the land, which is everything to them," she said.

Indigenous territories make up about 30 percent of the Amazon, which are among the best protected lands in the area. Another 20 percent are protected areas under the care of the federal government.

Words in This Story

indigenous –adj. living naturally in a particular place or area

concession⁸ –n. the right to sell something or do business on property that belongs to the government or to another company or person

biodiversity –n. the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment

intrinsic –adj. belonging to the very basic nature of a thing; happening as a natural part of something

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。