VOA慢速英语2021--拯救墨西哥红树林

As leaders meet in Scotland for the United Nations conference on climate change, a real time battle to defend Mexican forestland continues.

There, on the Yucatan Peninsula, people are working to protect and expand mangrove¹ forests. The low trees grow in watery² areas near ocean coasts. They provide a defensive³ shelter from dangers like big storms. They also capture carbon dioxide, the main waste gas that drives Earth's rising temperature.

Years ago, mangroves were all along the Yucatan shores. Today, there are few.

A team of villagers from the area is trying to renew the forests. Scientists and donations support the effort. The Mexican government helps pay training costs of the team.

The villagers joined the renewal⁴ effort more than 10 years ago with scientist Jorge Alfredo Herrera, of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the Mexican Polytechnic⁵ Institute in Yucatan. He told them the mangroves needed a network of connected canals where fresh and salt water could mix.

The dig was going to be hard work and the pay was only four dollars a day. A group of women from Chelem, a fishing village, took the jobs, believing they could make substantial⁶ gains with little money.

Recently, after a heavy rainy season, the workers finished the second part of the process: planting young mangroves near the city.

They placed 20-inch mangrove seeds into small hills of mud, creating islands about a meter square in size.

"The happiest day is when our plants take," said 41-year-old Keila Vázquez. "They are like our children."

Global threat to mangroves

This mangrove renewal effort is similar to others around the world. Scientists and community groups are increasingly recognizing the need to protect and bring back the forests.

"Mangroves represent a very important ecosystem⁷ to fight climate change," said Octavio Aburto. He is a marine⁸ biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California.

While the tropical trees only grow on less than 1 percent of the Earth's land, he said, "They can bury around five times more carbon in the sediment⁹ than a tropical rain forest."

Yet, around the world, mangroves are being destroyed. From 1980 to 2005, as much as 35 percent of the world's mangroves disappeared, says the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

In Mexico, as in much of the world, development is the main threat to mangrove existence. The area of Cancun, a popular vacation place, lost most of its mangroves to roads and hotels starting in the 1980s. Mangroves on the country's southern Pacific Ocean coast also have been cleared to make room for fish farms. Oil industry operations in waters off the Gulf¹⁰ of Mexico threaten mangroves there too, said Aburto.

Mexico started to protect its mangroves in the 1980s. Mexico took steps to create a climate action plan in 1998 and was one of the first developing countries to sign on to the Paris Climate Accord¹¹. But Julia Carabias of the National Autonomous¹² University of Mexico says the country's government has been reducing its support recently. Carabias says resources for environmental protection were cut by 60 percent in the past six years.

Efforts to save mangroves

There have been restoration efforts around the world to protect mangroves.

In 2020, the Indonesian government set a target of planting mangroves on more than 600 hectares of coastline by 2024. Government agencies are involved in renewal efforts that include community outreach and education.

But there have been some problems. Data on mangroves is hard to gather and exact maps are few. Also, powerful waves have pulled some newly planted mangroves out to sea. And COVID-19 has slowed community outreach and education efforts.

In Mexico, the successes have arrived slowly.

Manuel González is a 57-year-old fisherman. He helped regrow many mangroves in the community of Dzilam de Bravo, about 97 kilometers east of Progreso. Some trees are already 9 meters tall.

A powerful storm destroyed much of the area in 2002. Now, after 10 years of work, 120 hectares of mangroves are renewed. González says the storms do not cause as much damage to the community as a result. And, he adds, the fish and wildlife have returned.

But the mangroves face a new threat.

"In 10 years, you have a very nice mangrove for someone with a chainsaw to come and take it," González said. "That's something that hurts me a lot."

Words in This Story

canal — n. a long narrow place that is filled with water and was created by people so that boats could pass through it or to supply fields, crops, etc., with water

tropical — adj. of, relating to, occurring in, or used in the tropics¹³

sediment — n. material that sinks to the bottom of a liquid

chainsaw — n. a tool that cuts wood with a circular chain that is driven by a motor and made up of many connected sharp metal teeth

1 mangrove   

n.(植物)红树，红树林

参考例句：

• It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
• Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。

2 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

3 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

4 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

5 polytechnic   

adj.各种工艺的，综合技术的；n.工艺(专科)学校；理工(专科)学校

参考例句：

• She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读，准备毕业后做老师。
• When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时，爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院，学习数学和物理学。

6 substantial   

adj.大的，相当可观的，大体上的

参考例句：

• She is preparing a substantial meal against his return.她正在准备一顿丰盛的饭菜为他接风。
• The country bought a substantial number of weapons.这个国家购买了大量武器。

7 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

8 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

10 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

11 accord   

vt.给予（欢迎、称颂等） vi./n.符合，一致

参考例句：

• Most people are in accord with their desire for peace.在渴望和平这一点上，大多数人都是一致的。
• The hearts of our people accord with those of yours.我们两国人民心心相印。

12 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

13 tropics   

(名)热带

参考例句：

• The disease is thought to have originated in the tropics. 这种疾病据说起源于热带地区。
• I went to the tropics for the first time last year. 我去年第一次去了热带地区。