新奇事件簿 曼彻斯特计划种植300万棵树木（在线收听）

The city of Manchester in England has embarked on an ambitious plan to plant three million trees. The project is called the "City of Trees". Project director, Tony Hothersall, explained that the green venture had three main aims. He said: "One is to plant three million trees - a tree for every man, woman and child - over the next 25 years. Next, we are very much focused on bringing existing woodland into management because there is no point in planting new woodland if you can't manage what you've got already. Finally, we want to engage people a lot more in their natural environment - in planting trees, in managing areas, [and] in understanding more about the benefits that trees and woodlands bring to our society."

英格兰曼彻斯特着手种植300万棵树木的宏伟计划。该项目被称为“树木之城”。项目主管Tony Hothersall解释称，这项绿色事业有三个主要目标。他说：“其中一个目标是未来25年内种植300万棵树，每个男女，儿童都有一棵树。第二个目标是，集中精力管理现存林地，因为如果不能把现有林地管理好，种植新的林地没有任何意义。最后，我们希望人们更多地融入自然环境——种植树木，管理树林，更好地理解树木和林地为我们的社会带来的益处。”

Mr Hothersall further outlined the rationale behind the recently-launched environmental project. He said: "Manchester wants to be a world-class city region. We have a lot of fantastic development going on, but the natural environment needs to keep up with that." He believes the initiative will reconnect people with trees and the natural world, provide benefits to health and reduce stress. He said: "Woodlands can do great things in terms of air pollution reduction and can help to screen for noise pollution. They can also help cities and towns become more resilient to climate change both in terms of things like reducing the urban heat island effect and also reducing…flooding."

Hothersall进一步概述了最近发起的这个环境项目的根据。他说：“曼彻斯特想要成为世界级的城市。我们已经取得了许多令人惊叹的发展，但是自然环境也必须保持同步。”他相信该项目可以使人们与树木和自然界重新联结，给健康带来益处，缓解压力。他说：“林地对于减少环境污染非常重要，还能帮助屏蔽噪声污染。林地还能帮助城镇更适应环境变化，减少城市热岛效应和洪水。”