VOA标准英语2010-Six Grassroots Activists Win $150,000 Gol

Humberto Rios Labrada meets with local farmers at seed diversity fairs across Cuba.

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Goldman Prize

Every April, during the week-long observances surrounding Earth Day, grassroots environmental activists¹ from six regions of the world are honored with the Goldman Environmental Prize.

The privately-funded, $150,000 awards, based in the United States, recognize individuals who've shown courage and initiative in responding to environmental problems.

Farmer-led biodiversity projects

Agronomist² Humberto Rios Labrada, with the Cuban National Institute of Agriculture, has played a major role in changing agrarian³ practices in Cuba.

Like farming systems in many countries during the last half of the 20th century, Cuban agriculture had adopted a chemical-intensive, highly mechanized, mono-culture approach - big, single-crop fields. As scientists eventually learned, this posed a threat to the island nation's biodiversity and over time, reduced crop yields - putting Cuba's food security at risk, as well.

Goldman laureate Rios says his plan was to address these urgent problems one farmer at a time. "I truly believe that if farmers are the ones making innovative⁴ decisions, Cuba can overcome its food challenges."

In the late 1990s, Rios and a team of young scientists created agro-diversity learning centers for farmers. They also helped establish seed farms across Cuba to promote cultivation⁵ of a wider variety of food crops. Food production increased dramatically. 

Rios says the program that began with 25 people has expanded to include 50,000 farmers nationwide. "My dream is that one day all scientific research institutions will make seed diversity accessible and will recognize rural farmers' knowledge.  And that Cuba will definitely become an organic agricultural island."  Rios' ideas have also taken root in Mexico where he is engaged in similar farmer-led biodiversity projects.

Thuli Makama visits the grave of a villager killed by a game park ranger⁶ in Swaziland.
Defending native peoples

Environmental lawyer Thuli Makama is the Goldman laureate from the African continent. 

She has defended the right of native peoples in the southern African nation of Swaziland to live near private game reserves. Makama says these people have subsisted⁷ off the land for generations.

"While we do not condone⁸ poaching, it needs to be seen in context.  More than 69 percent of the population of Swaziland is living below the poverty level. When one gets up in the morning and they don't have any money in their pockets, they look to the environment to give them their meal for the day."

A 1997 law gave game rangers⁹ in Swaziland the right to use armed force against suspected poachers. Makama says the rangers have shot and killed more than 100 native people in the reserve who were illegally hunting for game.

"When you say to me you are killing¹⁰ poachers but you are actually killing people who are poor neighboring the park who are going in there to find things to survive on, I think that does not solve the problem. The lasting¹¹ solution would be balancing the interests of the local communities and those of the parks."

In 2009, after a five-year lawsuit¹², Makama won a landmark¹³ case. A state court ruled that the Swaziland Environment Authority must give non-governmental conservation groups, like the one she runs, a seat on its board and a voice in decision-making.

"What is key about being able to influence the decisions that are being made in that board is that it is the highest decision-making body on environmental management in the country, and we want communities to have space in the management and the benefit-sharing over natural resources," says  Makama.

 

Protest against the Via Baltica Expressway in the Rospuda Valley
Balancing Nature and human needs

The complex balance between nature and human needs is also an issue in Poland's Rospuda Valley, which winds through vast tracks of primeval forest, peat bogs¹⁴ and wetlands. 

It is one of Europe's last undisturbed wild areas. Goldman Prize winner Malgorzata Gorska has led the fight to stop a controversial highway project from cutting a swath through the wilderness¹⁵.

"The Polish government had already approved the highway so we were afraid we might not succeed," says Gorska. "However, we felt strongly that we had to try because the place was so unique and so vulnerable and because we felt that we were right."

Gorska is a conservationist with the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds. She took the case to the European Commission with hopes that Poland would be held in violation¹⁶ of the European Union's regulations on protected sites.

"When we heard that we'd won the case in European court, we were extremely happy because this meant that laws pertaining¹⁷ to nature were now considered to be as important as any other issues," she says. "It wasn't a private victory. It was a victory for everyone, not just environmental organizations, but for common citizens that simply love nature."

Other Goldman laureates this year were honored for their efforts to protect Asian elephants in Cambodia, to expose pollution from factory farms in the United States and to campaign for a ban on the international trade in shark fins¹⁸.

One hundred and thirty-nine people from 79 countries have received the Goldman Environmental Prize since it was established in 1989.
 

1 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》

2 agronomist   

n.农学家

参考例句：

• The agronomist suggested growing rice on the dried river bed.那位农学家建议在干涸的河床上种水稻。
• She has elected to become an agronomist.她决心做一个农学家。

3 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

6 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

7 subsisted   

v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Before liberation he subsisted on wild potatoes. 解放前他靠吃野薯度日。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Survivors of the air crash subsisted on wild fruits. 空难事件的幸存者以野果维持生命。 来自辞典例句

8 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

9 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

14 bogs   

n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• Whenever It'shows its true nature, real life bogs to a standstill. 无论何时，只要它显示出它的本来面目，真正的生活就陷入停滞。 来自名作英译部分
• At Jitra we went wading through bogs. 在日得拉我们步行着从泥水塘里穿过去。 来自辞典例句

15 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

16 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

17 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

18 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句