2006年VOA标准英语-Indonesian Fires Threaten Orangutans and other

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
17 October 2006
 

haze1 from burning brush fires, in Pontianak, Borneo island, Indonesia, Oct. 5, 2006." src="/upimg/allimg/070504/1132420.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> An Indonesian man rows his boat on Kapuas river amid haze from burning brush fires, in Pontianak, Borneo island, Indonesia, Oct. 5, 2006.

The endangered orangutan, elephants and other wildlife are facing the destruction of their habitats as fires - started by big companies and small farmers as a cheap way to clear land - burn out of control in Indonesia.

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The orangutan reserve in Indonesian Borneo and elephants on the island of Sumatra are under threat from fires that have sent a choking haze across much of Southeast Asia.

The fires are started each year by farmers and large companies, because they provide an easy way to clear land.  The smoke usually spreads from Indonesia to the entire region, prompting health warnings and causing flight cancellations.

Stephen Brend, program director of the Orangutan Foundation at Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, says illegal logging has contributed to making the fires difficult to control.

"It's madness that people are still lighting² fires, but they are, and they're loosing control of them because it's so dry," Brend says. "The situation has been made worse by the amount of illegal logging that's happened in the park, which has left a lot more combustible³ debris⁴ and dried out the peaty swamps so the place is more vulnerable to fire.  The impact's massive."

The orangutans at the Tanjung Puting reserve are thought to number between four thousand and six thousand.  Even at the lower number, this is one of the largest orangutan populations in the world.

Brend says the fires have reached the core of the reserve.  He says the situation threatens the survival of orangutans not just in Indonesia, but globally.

"If we are going to prevent extinction⁵, these populations have to be saved," Brend says. "The loss of one of these populations would have an impact on the overall survival chances of the species.  They're considered a critically important population."

Meanwhile, officials in Riau province on Sumatra say elephants may need to be moved out of a national park, after the fires destroyed nearly 100 hectares of land there.

Indonesia's neighbors, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, sent officials to an emergency meeting in Indonesia last week, and urged Jakarta to quickly ratify⁶ a treaty that calls for regional cooperation to stop the burning.

Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said on Monday that his country's legislators would "soon" ratify the agreement.

But the only way to stop the fires already raging, officials say, is to wait for the annual rains, which are expected to arrive within the next few weeks. 

1 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

2 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

3 combustible   

a. 易燃的,可燃的; n. 易燃物,可燃物

参考例句：

• Don't smoke near combustible materials. 别在易燃的材料附近吸烟。
• We mustn't take combustible goods aboard. 我们不可带易燃品上车。

4 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

5 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

6 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。