非洲的綠色長(zhǎng)城能否應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化和大規(guī)模移民?

非洲的綠色長(zhǎng)城能否應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化和大規(guī)模移民?

The Great Green Wall may be the most aptly named thing ever. It's great, stretching nearly 5,000 miles across the continent of Africa. It's green, consisting of millions of trees. And it's a wall — not a solid wall, but a wall of trees meant to keep the Sahara from encroaching further into communities as a result of climate change and desertification.

綠色長(zhǎng)城可能是史上最貼切的名字了。它非常棒，橫跨非洲大陸，綿延近5000英里。它是綠色的，由數(shù)百萬(wàn)棵樹(shù)組成。這是一堵墻——不是堅(jiān)硬的墻，而是一堵樹(shù)墻，這堵墻是為了防止撒哈拉沙漠由于氣候變化和沙漠化進(jìn)一步侵入社區(qū)。

It has been under construction for a decade and is about 15 percent done. Once completed, it will be the largest living structure on the planet at three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef.

它已經(jīng)建設(shè)了10年，大約完成了15%。一旦完工，它將成為地球上最大的生物結(jié)構(gòu)，面積是大堡礁的三倍。

The Wall's ultimate ambition

綠色長(zhǎng)城的終極目標(biāo)

The Great Green Wall is rooted in Africa's Sahel region, which is the southern border of the Sahara. (Photo: Great Green Wall)

Millions of residents in these nations are hard-hit by the effects of climate change, such as droughts, famine and conflict over natural resources, which has led to mass migrations overseas.

這些國(guó)家數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的居民深受氣候變化的影響，比如干旱、饑荒和自然資源沖突，這些因素導(dǎo)致了大規(guī)模的海外移民。

Some of those migrants die in overcrowded boats attempting to cross into Europe. Others arrive but are immediately arrested and jailed. The hope is that the Great Green Wall will boost food production, limit conflicts over natural resources, and improve job prospects so that people will stay. By 2030, the Wall hopes to restore 100 million hectares (or 247 million acres) of degraded land and create 10 million jobs.

其中一些移民死于試圖越境進(jìn)入歐洲的擁擠船只上。其他人到達(dá)后，立即被逮捕和監(jiān)禁。人們希望“綠色長(zhǎng)城”能夠促進(jìn)糧食生產(chǎn)，減少自然資源沖突，改善就業(yè)前景，讓人們留下來(lái)。到2030年，綠色長(zhǎng)城有望恢復(fù)1億公頃(2.47億英畝)的退化土地，并創(chuàng)造1000萬(wàn)個(gè)就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。

The hope is that the Great Green Wall will boost food production and improve job prospects so that people will stay in Africa. (Photo: Great Green Wall)

Because the Wall touches so many nations, it can be tricky to proceed in a unified way. Different nations have adopted their own initiatives to combat desertification and have committed to the Wall in varying degrees. The project now "consists of a mosaic of projects implemented by over 20 countries in the region," according to the International Tree Foundation (ITF).

因?yàn)檫@堵墻涉及如此多的國(guó)家，以統(tǒng)一的方式推進(jìn)可能會(huì)很棘手。不同的國(guó)家都采取了自己的防沙治沙倡議，并在不同程度上對(duì)綠色長(zhǎng)城作出了承諾。據(jù)國(guó)際樹(shù)木基金會(huì)(ITF)稱(chēng)，該項(xiàng)目現(xiàn)在“由該地區(qū)20多個(gè)國(guó)家實(shí)施的項(xiàng)目組成”。

With more than $8 billion pledged for the Wall, according to The Telegraph, there are even more trees to come.

據(jù)《每日電訊報(bào)》報(bào)道，有超過(guò)80億美元的資金用于修建長(zhǎng)城，未來(lái)還會(huì)有更多的樹(shù)木。