2007年VOA标准英语-Southeast Asian Nations Agree to Strengthen Fig

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
24 May 2007

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Tiger and leopard skins for sale ( 2005 file photo)

Southeast Asian nations have announced increased cooperation to reduce the thriving cross-border trade in smuggled² animals and plants. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins reports from Jakarta.

Officials from the 10 nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, have agreed to set up regional interagency task forces to combat the multi-million dollar trade in smuggled wildlife.

The announcement came Thursday at the close of a four-day conference of ASEAN's Wildlife Enforcement Network, held in the Indonesian city of Bogor.

Participants say the conference established a framework for political and operational cooperation among the ten ASEAN countries. Officials agreed to focus on training law enforcement officials and the judicial³ sector⁴, and raising general awareness⁵ about wildlife trafficking.

The meeting was also attended by officers from Interpol and officials of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

ASEAN'S Wildlife Enforcement Network aims to protect Asia's plants and animals through exchanges of intelligence among regional police, customs, and environmental agencies. This was the second meeting of the network, which was set up in December 2005.

James Compton is Southeast Asia regional director of Traffic, a private group that monitors the international trade in wildlife. He says the task requires closer cooperation than before, what he calls a "holistic⁶ approach" among the region's law enforcement agencies.

"What we're looking at here is the use of accurate and timely intelligence to try to disrupt these middlemen, trades that are involved in smuggling⁷ wildlife from the forests, from the reefs, and from the various environments, to their ultimate market destination. So I think it has to be a holistic approach," said Compton. 

Smugglers trade in a wide range of animals, from bears and snakes, to endangered species as orangutans, cockatoos, elephants and tigers. The trade is driven in large part by the demand for animal parts used in traditional medicines.

Conservation groups say wildlife smuggling is increasing in Southeast Asia, and urgent action is needed to stop it.

1 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

2 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

3 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

7 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。