VOA常速英语2007年-Indonesia Plants 79 Million Trees Ahead of UN C

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
28 November 2007

The Indonesian government says it has planted 79 million trees in a single day across the sprawling¹ archipelago as part of a global campaign to plant one billion trees. As VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports from Jakarta, the effort comes just days ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Bali.

Indonesia began its tree-planting drive to show the government is serious about protecting the country's deteriorating² environment.

Environmental experts say Indonesia is losing its forests at a faster rate than any another country because of illegal logging and the creation of new palm oil plantations³.

The draining and burning of carbon-rich peat lands to make way for palm oil plantations also help make the nation the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Many scientists think those gases contribute to global warming, while deforestation robs the planet of trees that can absorb some greenhouse gases, and help cool the land.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who kicked off Wednesday's event by planting saplings along with members of his government, declared illegal logging the country's "biggest enemy."

Farah Sofa, the deputy director of the Indonesian environmental group WALHI, says tree planting alone will not be enough to stop rapid deforestation.

"It has to be appreciated, the initiative," she said. " I mean, this could be like one of those good initiatives but certainly it's not enough for addressing the environmental issues related to deforestation in Indonesia."

Farah, along with many national and international environmental groups, wants the government to declare a moratorium⁴ on palm oil plantations and all forms of logging.

"The illegal logging's happening because there is always a market, there's always a demand for Indonesian timber domestically and globally," she said. "So if the government declares that they put a moratorium [on] logging in place, then any kind of timber coming out of Indonesia must be illegal, yeah?"

Indonesia will host a United Nations conference on climate change beginning Monday on the island of Bali.

Representatives from 180 countries will attend the 11-day conference, and they will try to develop a replacement⁵ for the Kyoto Protocol⁶ on reducing greenhouse gas emissions⁷, which expires in 2012. The delegates, however, will face pressure to make sure that any new agreement does not harm economic growth, particularly for developing nations such as Indonesia.

1 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

2 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

4 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

5 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

6 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。