An American entrepreneur says there is a link between conservation and human rights. Gregory Carr says that’s why he pledged $40 million to rebuild Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park.

一位美国企业家表示保护和人权之间联系紧密。格利戈里?卡尔称这就是为什么他捐赠了4000万美元重建莫桑比克的戈龙戈萨国家公园。

About eight years ago, Mozambique’s ambassador to the United Nations invited Carr to visit his country. He knew the American was a philanthropist and hoped he could do some good in Mozambique. Carr says he was both honored and enthusiastic about the offer.

大约在8年前,莫桑比克驻联合国大使邀请卡尔拜访他的国家。他知道这个美国人是一位慈善家,希望他能做一些对于莫桑比克有益的事情。卡尔对这项邀请表示尊敬和热忱。

“I asked myself what Mozambique can do to advance its human development. Where can it build its economy? And I thought, well, what about safari tourism? A lot of African nations have a multi-billion dollar safari tourism industry and Mozambique’s was very small,” he said.

“我问自己莫桑比克可以做什么来提高人的发展。它在哪里可以开展自己的经济?而且我想,噢,那狩猎旅游如何呢?很多非洲国家有数十亿美元的狩猎之旅旅游产业而莫桑比克在这方面还非常薄弱。”他说道。

He says that’s when he was told about Gorongosa.

他称在那时他被告知戈龙戈萨这件事情。

“I thought what if I worked with the government and we restored this park we could create an enormous tourism industry, which would create jobs, but also we get to save and restore conservation,” said Carr.

“我认为如果我与政府合作，我们恢复这个公园,就可以创造一个巨大的旅游产业,随之而来的是就业机会,而且我们也是在进行拯救和恢复保护。”卡尔说道。

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique 

Gorongosa National Park spreads across nearly 3,800 square kilometers in central Mozambique. In 1983, the park closed because of civil war and became the site of a number of battles. Many elephants were killed for their ivory and other wildlife were slaughtered for bushmeat and for sport. Literally a handful of animals were left by the time fighting finally ended in 1994.

戈龙戈萨国家公园在中央莫桑比克绵延近3800平方公里。在1983年,公园由于内战而被迫关闭,这里成为屠杀的战场。人们为了象牙杀害许多的大象而其他野生动物由于丛林的运动被宰杀。直到1994年战争结束动物们才残存下来。

In 2004, the Mozambique government and the Gregory C. Carr Foundation reached agreement on the Gorongosa Restoration Project. Carr later pledged $40 million over 30 years. He says conservation is vital for the health of the planet.

2004年,莫桑比克政府和格利戈里?C?卡尔就戈龙戈萨恢复工程达成协议。卡尔在随后的30年间共捐赠4000万美元。他称保护这对于星球至关重要。

Species in peril

“We are at risk of losing a third of our species to a variety of reasons, including habitat loss, pollution, climate change and so forth. Africa has one third of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. And a lot of that biodiversity is located in hundreds of wonderful national parks that Africa has. And if all those parks succeed then we can save a lot of biodiversity that might otherwise be lost,” he said.

“我们很可能冒着因为种种原因面临三分之一的物种消失的风险,包括栖息地的丧失、污染、气候变化等。非洲有地球陆地三分之一的生物多样性。非洲国家公园就有数以百计美妙的生物多样性。如果所有这些公园成功,我们就可以拯救大量的生物多样性,否则动物们可能一去不复返。”他说道。

There is a big connection, said Carr, between the environment and human rights.

卡尔称环境和人权之间有一种十分紧密的联系。

“The most vulnerable people, the poorest people are the ones who suffer when there are environmental problems, when there are floods, when there’s deforestation and they lose their farmlands, when they don’t have land rights. Then people can’t protect their land. Every national park in Africa is located in a remote area, which means it’s located near some of the poorest people in the world,” he said.

“最脆弱的人,最穷的人承受着环境问题,当有洪水,有森林砍伐时他们失去了自己的土地,而他们没有土地权利。人们不能保护他们的土地。在非洲的每一个国家公园都位于偏远地区,这意味着它的身旁是一些世界上最穷的人。”他说道。

The Gorongosa Restoration Project not only aims to improve the environment, but the livelihoods of people as well.

戈龙戈萨恢复工程的目的不仅仅在于改善环境,也着眼于人们的生计。

Carr said, “We insist that this national park helps the people that live around it. We help them with their farming. We help them with health care. We do provide them employment. We engage with them and we help them get their land rights. You can think of conservation and human development as separated. You have to approach projects and combine those objectives.”

卡尔说道:“我们坚持认为这个国家公园能够帮助人们生活。我们帮助他们的农业。我们帮他们的卫生保健。我们为他们谋求工作。我们融入他们,我们帮助他们找到他们的土地权利。你能想到的保护和人类发展已经分离。你已经接近项目并且相结合。”

How to help

Carr said many people say they want to protect Planet Earth. But he says they must then ask themselves how.

卡尔表示,很多人都说自己想要保护地球。但是他也指出,这些人必须然问问自己如何保护。

“You can visit Africa as a tourist. When you do that you support ecotourism. Then you’re helping these parks pay for themselves. There are places where you can donate. You can volunteer. Anyone listening to this program has an opportunity to help by actually getting involved,” he said.

“你可以作为一个游客来非洲游玩。当你做到这一点,你就支持生态旅游。那么你就是帮助这些公园养活自己。有些地方你可以捐赠。你可以做志愿者。任何听到这个项目的人都有机会实际参与进来。”他说道。

He also praised the U.S. and Portuguese governments for their support. He called on members of congress not to reduce foreign aid, which he described as a tiny portion of the U.S. budget. Carr made his remarks during a recent visit to the VOA.

他也赞扬了美国和葡萄牙政府,感谢他们的支持。他呼吁国会成员不减少外国援助,他说这是一小部分的美国预算。在卡尔发表这番讲话时正在访问美国之音。