種一萬億棵樹能扭轉氣候變化的破壞嗎?

種一萬億棵樹能扭轉氣候變化的破壞嗎?

Last year there was some very encouraging research that found there is room for an extra 0.9 billion hectares of canopy cover which could store 205 gigatonnes of carbon. The researchers wrote that this wasn't "just one of our climate change solutions, it is overwhelmingly the top one."

去年有一些非常鼓舞人心的研究發(fā)現，還有9億公頃的森林覆蓋面積可以儲存2050億噸碳。研究人員寫道，這不僅僅是“我們應對氣候變化的解決方案之一，它絕對是最重要的。”

Unfortunately, within a matter of days we had to take off our party hats when the workings of that study began to fall apart. And while a lot of us want to believe that the trees will save us, restoration ecologist Karen Holl explains why planting trees alone can't mitigate the climate crisis.

不幸的是，幾天之內，當那項研究的工作開始崩潰時，我們不得不摘掉黨帽。雖然我們很多人都想相信樹木能拯救我們，但修復生態(tài)學家卡倫·霍爾解釋了為什么光種樹不能緩解氣候危機。

Holl hails from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) and penned a commentary in the journal "Science," the gist of which confirms that planting trees alone is not a fix for climate change.

霍爾來自加州大學圣克魯斯分校(UCSC)，并在《科學》雜志上發(fā)表了一篇評論文章，文章的主旨證實，僅僅植樹并不能解決氣候變化問題。

"We can't plant our way out of climate change," says Holl, a professor of environmental studies at UCSC and a leading expert in forest restoration. "It is only one piece of the puzzle."

“我們無法通過種植來擺脫氣候變化，”加州大學加州分校環(huán)境研究教授、森林恢復領域的權威專家霍爾說，“這只是所有工作的一部分。”

Holl and coauthor Pedro Brancalion, a professor in the Department of Forest Sciences at the University of São Paulo, warn that just planting trees is not a simple fix for environmental degradation.

霍爾和合著者、圣保羅大學森林科學系教授佩德羅·布蘭卡里昂警告說，僅僅植樹并不是解決環(huán)境退化的簡單方法。

That said, planting trees is obviously not without benefit; reforestation improves biodiversity, water quality, and increases shade, they point out. And it's definitely good for our spirit.

他們指出，也就是說，植樹顯然不是沒有好處的;重新造林改善了生物多樣性、水質，增加了樹蔭。這對我們的精神絕對有好處。

"Trees are deeply entrenched in the human psyche," says Holl, "It's very satisfying to go out and put a tree in the ground. It's a concrete, tangible thing to do."

“樹木深深地扎根在人類的心靈中，”霍爾說，“走出去，把一棵樹放在地上，是非常令人有成就感的。這是一件具體的、切實可行的事情。”

But depending on where and how it is done, tree planting can have the opposite of its intended effect; reforestation can be harmful to native ecosystems and species and stress the water suppl. It can also dispossess local landholders and increase social inequity.

但也要取決于植樹的地點和方式，植樹可能會產生與預期相反的效果;重新造林可能會對本地生態(tài)系統(tǒng)和物種造成危害，并對供水造成壓力。它還可能剝奪當地土地所有者的權利，增加社會不平等。

"Planting trees is not a simple solution," she says. "It's complicated, and we need to be realistic about what we can and cannot achieve. We need to be thoughtful and plan for the long term."

“植樹不是一個簡單的解決辦法，這很復雜，我們需要實事求是地看待我們能夠和不能實現的目標。我們需要深思熟慮，制定長遠計劃。”

Holl and Brancalion arrived at four principles that they recommend for those undertaking forest initiatives:

Holl和Brancalion提出了四項原則，為那些正在進行森林活動的人提供建議:

Reduce forest clearing and degradation

減少森林砍伐和退化

Protecting and maintaining intact forests is more efficient, more ecologically sound, and less costly than planting trees, or replanting.

保護和維護完整的森林比植樹或再植更有效、更生態(tài)、成本更低。

View tree planting as one part of multifaceted environmental solutions

將植樹視為多方面環(huán)境解決方案的一部分

Enhanced tree cover is one of the best options to offset a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions driven by human activities, but they represent only a small portion of the carbon reductions that are needed – and estimates vary by more than tenfold depending on variables used in modeling.

加強樹木覆蓋是抵消人類活動造成的一部分溫室氣體排放量的最佳選擇之一，但它們只代表了所需碳減排量的一小部分，而且根據建模中使用的變量，估計值相差10倍以上。

Balance ecological and social goals

平衡生態(tài)和社會目標

Acknowledge competing land uses and focus on landscapes with the potential to generate large-scale benefits, such as the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, where regional planning of tree planting initiatives can lead to three times the conservation gains at half the cost.

承認土地利用的競爭性，并關注有可能產生大規(guī)模效益的景觀，例如巴西的大西洋森林，在那里，區(qū)域性的植樹計劃可以以一半的成本，帶來三倍的保護收益。

Plan, coordinate, and monitor

計劃、協(xié)調和監(jiān)督

Work with local stakeholders to resolve conflicting land-use goals and ensure maximum effectiveness over the long term. Planting trees doesn't ensure they will survive; a review of mangrove forest restoration efforts in Sri Lanka following the 2004 tsunami showed fewer than 10 percent of trees survived in 75 percent of sites.

與當地利益相關者合作，解決土地使用目標的沖突，確保長期有效。光植樹并不能保證它們能存活下來;2004年海嘯后對斯里蘭卡紅樹林恢復工作的回顧顯示，在75%的地點，只有不到10%的樹木存活下來。