EXPLORATIONS - Exploring Africa

EXPLORATIONS - Exploring Africa
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Wednesday, November 17, 2004

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we visit Africa with a well known biologist and explorer.

(MUSIC)

 
J. Michael Fay, Explorer. (Picture - PBS)
VOICE ONE:

On World Environment Day last June, explorer J. Michael Fay began exploring Africa from the air. Mister Fay is flying over one hundred sixty thousand kilometers of the continent's wildest forests and most densely¹ populated areas. He and his pilot, Peter Ragg of Austria, are making photographic records of fifty of the fifty-four countries of Africa.

The two also are meeting with African environmental activists² and government officials. Mister Fay wants to find places that could be officially declared areas of conservation where wildlife can be protected. And he also wants a closer look at the populated areas.

VOICE TWO:

Many people believe that Africa has endless undeveloped land. Michael Fay does not think so. He says humans are changing some of the world's last totally wild areas. And he believes it is important to save parts of Africa in their natural form.

Michael Fay was born and educated in the United States. He earned a doctorate³ degree in anthropology⁴ from Washington University in Saint⁵ Louis, Missouri. He went to Africa as an unpaid⁶ worker with the Peace Corps⁷ in nineteen seventy-eight. That is when he discovered the place that would guide his life's work.

For more than twenty years, he has lived in central Africa. The continent is now his home. It is also the heart of his work. Mister Fay is an expert about plants and animals. He is also an expert photographer. In his forty-five years, he has explored thousands of kilometers of land. Michael Fay has survived many dangers. One very bad day, he was attacked and injured by an angry elephant.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Fay is now flying over Africa in a forty-year-old, single-engine airplane. The pilot, Peter Ragg, owns the plane. He painted it bright red. The National Geographic⁸ Society and the Wildlife Conservation Society are paying for the trip. Both groups have headquarters in the United States. The trip is called the Africa MegaFlyover. It is expected to end next August. It is the most far-reaching study by air of the people, animals and plants of Africa.

VOICE TWO:

Michael Fay's flying conservation project began June fifth with great ceremony at the Swartkop Air Force Base in South Africa. One hundred eighty-two people celebrated⁹ the launch of the MegaFlyover. The United States ambassador¹⁰ to South Africa, Cameron Hume, was among the guests. So was Virginia Rathebe (Rah TEH bay), a traditional tribal¹¹ healer. She offered good wishes for the exploration.

Other aircraft also lifted off with Mister Fay's plane. They included members of the Bataleurs, a team of South African pilots. This group is named for a bird. Its members fly over Africa for environmental causes. The Bateleurs are supporting Mister Fay's project in a number of ways.

A South African Air Force helicopter also started with the MegaFlyover team. The helicopter carried twelve photographers. They recorded the beginning of the air travels of Michael Fay and Peter Ragg.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

J. Michael Fay has made many extended and difficult trips. In nineteen ninety-nine and two thousand, for example, he walked three thousand two-hundred kilometers across Africa. This project was called the Megatransect. His goal was to record every kind of plant and animal he found on his walk. A team of Africans walked with him. At times, National Geographic magazine photographer Michael Nichols joined the group.

Their explorations took them through the Central African Republic, Congo and Cameroon. The walk took fifteen months and ended in Gabon. Mister Fay chose areas to explore where few or no people lived. He called these places the Last of the Wild, or the Wildest of the Wild.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Fay's travels showed the world that Gabon had areas that needed to be protected. After his visit, Gabon's President Omar Bongo officially opened thirteen national parks in the nation. Mister Fay's Megatransect walk raised more than one hundred million dollars. The money is aiding six central African nations to protect their wild areas.

He said the results of his walking travels caused him to start his current flying trip. He said he wanted to do for all of Africa what he had done for Gabon.

VOICE ONE:

As you might think, Mister Fay's Megatransect walk was not easy. His team had to cross rivers and jungles. They had to deal with wild animals, snakes and insects. Gorillas¹² and elephants visited the explorers. They watched the group before retreating back into the thick green jungle. Some of the members of the team suffered diseases including malaria¹³, hepatitis and pneumonia¹⁴.

VOICE TWO:

An unusual map helped make possible both Mister Fay's walking trip and his current air travels. He was able to use such a map because the world changed dramatically during the nineteen nineties. Many years of tensions ended between western nations and the former Soviet¹⁵ Union.After that, the American government released some satellite images. Civilians¹⁶ now can map the whole world much better than before.

VOICE ONE:

The new information helped scientists in New York City make an extremely useful map. Workers at the Wildlife Conservation Society and New York University created this Human Footprint Map. The map got its name because it recognizes areas of human activity.

It also shows land cover, roads, rivers and coastlines. It shows different areas like deserts and wet lands. It shows electrical power use at night. From this information, it has become clear that people have used and changed most of the livable surface of the planet.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Michael Fay and Peter Ragg are following the Human Footprint Map from their plane. They also are adding to it. They are taking photographs with a digital camera every sixteen seconds. The images show uses of land and kinds of soil. When these images are combined, they should make a complete picture of the Wildest of the Wild.

Mister Fay hopes to propose detailed¹⁷ conservation projects in Africa from the observations. He will present these plans to the United States and other governments and organizations. His goal, as always, is to help save the wild areas for the future of humanity¹⁸.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Fay's observations about Africa do not stop with conservation efforts. He observes crowded areas near national borders. Then he notes nearby unpopulated land.

The explorer says people without land traditionally move into empty land. For example, he says central Africans are moving west even though they may cross political borders. He believes that border crossings are causing conflicts in the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Sudan.

Mister Fay says observations made possible by the Human Footprint Map have created a whole new science. He says this science can tell what group will attack another --- and when this could happen.

The results of people moving to get natural resources may be political, Mister Fay reasons. But he says the conflict is really not about politics. Instead, he says it involves use or misuse¹⁹ of the resources. For example, he charges that most of the wood cut in central Africa is burned or wasted.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Some of the most dramatic problems of Michael Fay's MegaFlyover took place during its early months. That is when the little red plane passed over wildlife protection areas, national animal parks and totally unpopulated areas in South Africa. By the time the team left South Africa for Namibia, it had equaled the distance between Paris, France and Bangkok, Thailand.

Their plane has given the explorers some bad moments. For example, on an extremely windy day, the pilot was trying to land the plane. Mister Fay reported to the Bateleurs that the speed of the plane jumped from fifty to one hundred fifty knots. Then it slowed again. He compared the flight to a rollercoaster ride at an amusement park.

VOICE ONE:

But the plane landed safely. If they continue to have good luck, the flying environmental explorers will finish their work in about nine months. By that time, Michael Fay should have a very good idea of where to protect African land that is the Wildest of the Wild.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

4 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

5 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

6 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

7 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

10 ambassador   

n.大使，特使，（派驻国际组织的）代表

参考例句：

• He took up office as an ambassador for ten years continuously.他连任十年大使。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

11 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

12 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

14 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

15 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

16 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

17 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

18 humanity   

n.人类，[总称]人(性)，人道[pl.]人文学科

参考例句：

• Such an act is a disgrace to humanity.这种行为是人类的耻辱。
• We should treat animals with humanity.我们应该以仁慈之心对待动物。

19 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。