Indonesia overtakes Brazil in forest losses despite moratorium 儘管暫時禁伐，印尼森林消失面積仍凌駕巴西

Indonesia overtakes Brazil in forest losses despite moratorium
儘管暫時禁伐，印尼森林消失面積仍凌駕巴西
2014-07-09◎魏國金

Indonesia has for the first time surpassed Brazil in clearing tropical forests and losses are accelerating despite a 2011 moratorium meant to protect wildlife and combat climate change, scientists said.

印尼在除伐熱帶雨林的面積上首度超越巴西，而且林地消失的速度加快，儘管2011年其為保護野生動物及對抗氣候變遷，曾暫時禁伐，科學家指出。

Indonesia’s losses of virgin forests totaled 60,000 sq kms - an area almost as big as Ireland - from 2000-12, partly to make way for palm oil plantations and other farms, a study said. And the pace of losses has increased.

印尼從2000年至2012年消失的原始森林，共達6萬平方公里，幾乎是一個愛爾蘭大，部分原因是為了開闢棕櫚油莊園及其他農場，研究指出。而且消失的速度加劇。

"By 2012, annual primary forest loss in Indonesia was estimated to be higher than in Brazil," where clearance of the Amazon basin has usually accounted for the biggest losses, the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change.

「到2012年，印尼每年消失的原生林估計將超過巴西。」巴西亞馬遜盆地的除伐常導致（全球）最大的森林消失，科學家在「自然氣候變遷」期刊上寫道。

Deforestation in Indonesia in 2012 alone was 8,400 sq kms versus 4,600 sq kms in Brazil, which has managed to reduce losses in recent years, it said.

印尼的森林除伐光是2012年就達8400平方公里，相較之下，巴西為4600平方公里，近幾年來，巴西成功縮減森林消失，該文指出。

Indonesia imposed a moratorium on forest clearance in 2011, partly to slow losses that are ruining habitats of orangutans, Sumatran tigers and other wildlife. "It seems that the moratorium has not had its intended effect," the scientists wrote.

印尼曾在2011年實施暫時禁伐令，部分原因是為了減緩森林消失，以免紅毛猩猩、蘇門答臘虎以及其他野生動物的棲地遭摧毀。「暫時禁伐似乎並未達到預期效果」，科學家寫道。

Trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for causing global warming, as they grow and release it when they are burnt or rot. By U.N. estimates, deforestation may accounts for 17 percent of all man-made greenhouse gases. （Reuters）

樹木生長時會吸收二氧化碳，在焚燒或腐朽時釋出二氧化碳，該氣體是造成全球暖化的主要溫室氣體。聯合國估計，森林除伐可能佔所有人為溫室氣體排放的17%。（路透）

新聞辭典

surpass：動詞，超越、優於、勝過。例句：Her behavior surpasses understanding.（她的行為令人難以理解。）

moratorium：名詞，暫停、中止。例句：Let’s call a moratorium on this matter.（讓我們暫時擱置這件事吧。）

make way for：片語，為…鋪路、退讓。例句：Some old buildings have been torn down to make way for an ugly parking garage.（一些老建物被拆除，以便蓋一座醜陋的停車庫。）