The arid valleys of southern Peru are welcoming the return of a native plant

秘鲁南部的干旱山谷正迎来一种本土植物的回归。

The south coast of Peru is a narrow, 2,000-kilometre-long strip of desert squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. It is also one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. It hardly ever rains there, and the only year-round source of water is located tens of metres below the surface.

秘鲁南海岸是一条狭窄的、长达2000公里的沙带，夹在安第斯山脉和太平洋之间。它也是地球上最脆弱的生态系统之一。那里几乎没有降雨而且全年唯一的水源位于地表以下数十米处。这就是为什么华兰戈树非常适合在那里生活:它拥有世界上最长的树根。树根向下伸展50-80米，为树木吸取水分，并将水分带入地势较高的下层士壤，为其他植物创造了水源。

This is why the huarango tree is so suited to life there: it has the longest roots of any tree in the world. They stretch down 50–80 metres and, as well as sucking up water for the tree, they bring it into the higher subsoil, creating a water source for other plant life.

剑桥大学的古植物学家大卫·贝雷斯福德·琼斯博士一直在研究秘鲁南部低伊卡山谷的华兰戈树在景观变化中的作用。他认为，华兰戈是古代人饮食的关键，由于它可以进入深水源，因此它可以使当地人民在其他农作物歉收时经受住多年的干旱。但是在过去的几个世纪中，华兰戈树逐渐被农作物取代。砍伐原生林地会导致土壤侵蚀，因为没有任何东西能够使土壤保持原状。因此，当华兰戈消失时，土地变成了沙漠。现在，伊卡谷低部地区寸草不生。

Dr David Beresford-Jones, archaeobotanist at Cambridge University, has been studying the role of the huarango tree in landscape change in the Lower Ica Valley in southern Peru. He believes the huarango was key to the ancient people's diet and, because it could reach deep water sources, it allowed local people to withstand years of drought when their other crops failed. But over the centuries huarango trees were gradually replaced with crops. Cutting down native woodland leads to erosion, as there is nothing to keep the soil in place. So when the huarangos go, the land turns into a desert. Nothing grows at all in the Lower Ica Valley now.

几个世纪以来，华兰戈树对附近的伊卡谷中部的人民也至关重要。他们在地下种植蔬菜，并食用由其豆英制成的产品。它的叶子和树皮用于制作草药，而其树枝作为木炭做饭和取暖，树干则用于建造房屋。但现在它们正在迅速消失。山谷中的大多数华兰戈森林已经被砍伐用作燃料和农业用途--最初是建设小农场，但现在已成为国际市场生产农作物的巨大农场。

For centuries the huarango tree was vital to the people of the neighbouring Middle Ica Valley too. They grew vegetables under it and ate products made from its seed pods. Its leaves and bark were used for herbal remedies, while its branches were used for charcoal for cooking and heating, and its trunk was used to build houses. But now it is disappearing rapidly. The majority of the huarango forests in the valley have already been cleared for fuel and agriculture – initially, these were smallholdings, but now they're huge farms producing crops for the international market.

伦敦基尤花园的植物学家奥利弗·怀利说:“一年前的森林，已经有99%消失了，“他与民族植物学家威廉·米利肯一起开展了一项开创性项目，以保护和恢复迅速消失的森林栖息地。为了取得成功怀利需要让当地人参与进来，这意味着要克服当地的偏见。他说:“越来越多渴望致富的社区认为，如果在家中或街道上种上食用树，就表明你很贫穷，仍然需要自己种植食物。“为了阻止伊卡谷中部和低部的发展一样，怀利鼓励当地人再次爱上华兰戈树。他说，“这是文化复苏的过程。他已经设立了华兰戈节，以恢复人们对生态遗产的自豪感，并帮助当地学童种植了数干棵树。

'Of the forests that were here 1,000 years ago, 99 per cent have already gone,' says botanist Oliver Whaley from Kew Gardens in London, who, together with ethnobotanist Dr William Milliken,is running a pioneering project to protect and restore the rapidly disappearing habitat. In order to succeed, Whaley needs to get the local people on board, and that has meant overcoming local prejudices.'Increasingly aspirational communities think that if you plant food trees in your home or street, it shows you are poor, and still need to grow your own food,' he says. In order to stop the Middle Ica Valley going the same way as the Lower Ica Valley, Whaley is encouraging locals to love the huarangos again. 'It's a process of cultural resuscitation,' he says. He has already set up a huarango festival to reinstate a sense of pride in their eco-heritage, and has helped local schoolchildren plant thousands of trees.

怀利说:“为了使人们对栖息地恢复兴趣，你需要种一棵对他们有用的树。“因此，他一直在与当地家庭合作，试图通过将华兰戈的产品变成食品来创造可持续的收入。煮沸豆子，你会得到像糖蜜一样浓稠的棕色糖浆。也可以用它来做饮料、汤或炖菜。可以将豆荚磨成面粉制成蛋糕，然后将种子烤成甜美的巧克力味“咖啡”。怀利说:“这里面充满了维生素和矿物质。

'In order to get people interested in habitat restoration, you need to plant a tree that is useful to them,' says Whaley. So, he has been working with local families to attempt to create a sustainable income from the huarangos by turning their products into foodstuffs. 'Boil up the beans and you get this thick brown syrup like molasses. You can also use it in drinks, soups or stews.' The pods can be ground into flour to make cakes, and the seeds roasted into a sweet, chocolatey 'coffee'. 'It's packed full of vitamins and minerals,' Whaley says.

一些农民已经在种植华兰戈了。阿尔贝托·贝尼维德斯是 Ica 唯一认证的有机农场的所有者，他已经种了13年树了。他生产糖浆和面粉，并在利马的有机农贸市场出售这些产品。他的农场规相对较小，目前还不足以供他生活，但他希望这种情况会有所改变。贝尼维德斯说:“秘鲁的有机食品市场发展迅速，我正为未来投资。

And some farmers are already planting huarangos. Alberto Benevides, owner of Ica Valley's only certified organic farm, which Whaley helped set up, has been planting the tree for 13 years. He produces syrup and flour, and sells these products at an organic farmers' market in Lima. His farm is relatively small and doesn't yet provide him with enough to live on, but he hopes this will change. 'The organic market is growing rapidly in Peru,' Benevides says. 'I am investing in the future.'

但是，即使怀利可以说服当地人民再次爱上华兰戈树，仍然还是会受大型农场的威胁。其中一些穿过森林，隔断了让哺乳动物、鸟类和花粉在狭窄的森林地带上下运动的通道。为了解决这个问题，他说服农民让他在他们的土地上种上森林走廊。他认为，额外的林地可以通过减少蒸发量，从而减少用水量，并为生物防治昆虫提供庇护从而使农场受益。

But even if Whaley can convince the local people to fall in love with the huarango again, there is still the threat of the larger farms. Some of these cut across the forests and break up the corridors that allow the essential movement of mammals, birds and pollen up and down the narrow forest strip. In the hope of counteracting this, he's persuading farmers to let him plant forest corridors on their land. He believes the extra woodland will also benefit the farms by reducing their water usage through a lowering of evaporation and providing a refuge for bio-control insects.

“如果我们能够记录生物多样性并了解其全部工作原理，那么我们打下了一个很好的基础，然后继续前进。沙漠栖息地可以被消灭到很少一部分怀利解释道。这里不像雨林，需要这么大的面积。这里的生活一直受限在狭长地带和岛屿上如果这个地区有华兰戈树，纳闷人口就可以快速增长，因为华兰戈树可以用来开采水。“怀利将他的的项目视作一个模型，具备在世界其他干旱地区推广的潜力。“如果我们能在地球上最脆弱的系统中做到这一点，那么这给包括非洲在内的其他地方传达了希望的讯息，因为那里极度干旱，人们等不到下雨。

'If we can record biodiversity and see how it all works, then we're in a good position to move on from there. Desert habitats can reduce down to very little,' Whaley explains. 'It's not like a rainforest that needs to have this huge expanse. Life has always been confined to corridors and islands here. If you just have a few trees left, the population can grow up quickly because it's used to exploiting water when it arrives.' He sees his project as a model that has the potential to be rolled out across other arid areas around the world. 'If we can do it here, in the most fragile system on Earth, then that's a real message of hope for lots of places, including Africa, where there is drought and they just can't afford to wait for rain.'