VOA标准英语2010年-Saving Asia's Orangutans May Also Help

Indonesia and Malaysia have stepped up efforts to protect Asia's great ape, the orangutan. Saving the endangered "man of the forest" may also help fight global warming.

Under a canopy¹ of green in Malaysia's Sabah state, tourists watch as orangutans are fed.

Tourist attraction

 
VOA – R. Corben
A young male orangutan in Sepilok Rehabilitation² Center in Sandakan, Malaysia
 

The Sepilok rehabilitation center allows tourists to observe the orangutans – "the man of the forest" – from a viewing platform in the jungle.

"It is wonderful to see a wild animal so near. It is a big emotion," said Loula Patmora, who is from Italy. "It is very, very incredible to watch them. It's a big project, the rehabilitation center, because it is a very important thing to preserve this wild animal."

Center spokeswoman Jennifer Pitt says tourism spreads the word about efforts to protect these apes.

"The main message is just generally creating awareness³ for the plight⁴ of the orangutan," Pitt said. "They are incredibly endangered species and it's an issue which we all need to look at."

Veterinarian Jason Parker says most of the 200 young apes here were abandoned and rescued from palm oil plantations⁵.

"The usual scenario⁶ is that a young orangutan – one to two years old – is separated from its mother for whatever reason – in floods, where the mother had been shot or sometimes the baby is literally⁷ found wandering around on its own," said Parker.

Forest conservation

The center helps the apes learn to live in the forest. When they are older, they are relocated to more isolated⁸ reserves, where they monitored to ensure they adjust to their new surroundings.

Orangutans are native to Borneo, which is divided among Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, and on Indonesia's Sumatra island. The apes can weigh over 100 kilograms, and they live in the jungles, climbing from tree to tree to find food.

Conservationists estimate about 62,000 orangutans live in the wild. But the numbers have been falling for more than a century. First because of hunting by indigenous⁹ tribes and European colonialists, and now because jungles are being cut down for timber and to grow palm oil – used in foods, cosmetics¹⁰ and some fuels.

 
VOA – R. Corben
Amy de Boer, Australian Volunteer at Sepilok Rehabilitation Center in Malaysia
 

Amy de Boer, an Australian volunteer at the center, says deforestation in Sabah is a chief concern in saving the orangutans.

"Basically the palm oil and also logging, the illegal logging of the rain forest is a major thing," said de Boer. "We were looking at a map of Sabah and just the areas of protected rain forest and it's really small. All the animals in that forest at the moment are competing for space and fruit and food, so it's a really big issue."

Conservationists say for years, laws to limit forest clearing were weak and poorly enforced.

But new efforts are being made to protect the jungle, and the orangutans, who may benefit from the effort to limit global warming.

Cutting jungles releases greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. Climate experts say those gases add to global warming, so leaving forests intact reduces emissions¹¹.

Among other efforts to reduce emissions, Indonesia has imposed a two-year moratorium¹² on new projects to turn forests and peat lands into plantations. In Malaysia, the orangutan center staff says recent laws to protect the forests are being enforced and appear to be helping¹³. And there is a new United Nations plan to pay countries to preserve their forests, which can help communities build their economies without cutting trees.

Protecting the endangered

 
VOA – R. Corben
A young male orangutan
 

But Damayanti Buchori, a conservation director with The Nature Conservancy in Indonesia, says concerns remain. She says Indonesia's moratorium on plantations, which begins in January, is a stop-gap measure.

"We are still concerned that between now and the end of the year – there can still be loss of habitat at quite an alarming rate because people are trying to finish with whatever time they have left," Buchori said. "And also what happens after two years after the moratorium is finished?"

The effort to save the orangutan has become central to debates about economic development and climate change.

Here at the Sepilok rehabilitation center, those working to save young apes say Indonesian and Malaysian officials are taking action to reduce global carbon emissions, and to save one Asia's most endangered species, the orangutan.
 

1 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

2 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

5 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

9 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

10 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

11 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

12 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。