A:湿地是指全年或部分时间水覆盖土壤，或在土壤表面或接近土壤表面的地区。这些是复杂的生态系统，富含独特的植物和动物。但是根据世界自然基金会(WWFN)的数据，自1990年以来，世界上一半的湿地已经消失，它们被用于商业开发、排水系统以及开采矿物和泥炭而被改造或破坏。许多幸存下来的建筑已经被农业农药和化肥、工业污染物和建筑工程破坏。

A. Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil, for all or part of the year. These are complex ecosystems, rich in unique plant and animal life. But according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN), half of the world's wetlands have disappeared since 1990 – converted or destroyed for commercial development, drainage schemes and the extraction of minerals and peat*. Many of those that remain have been damaged by agricultural pesticides and fertilisers, industrial pollutants, and construction works.

B.纵观历史，人类一直聚集在湿地周围，湿地肥沃的生态系统在人类发展中发挥了重要作用。因此，它们对世界各地的许多社区具有相当大的宗教、历史和考古价值。“湿地直接支持着数百万人的生计和福祉，”国际水管理研究所(IWMI)首席研究员兼水文学家马修·麦卡特尼博士说。“在许多发展中国家，大量人口依靠湿地农业为生。”

B. Throughout history, humans have gathered around wetlands, and their fertile ecosystems have played an important part in human development. Consequently, they are of considerable religious, historical and archaeological value to many communities around the world. 'Wetlands directly support the livelihoods and well-being of millions of people,'says Dr Matthew McCartney, principal researcher and hydrologist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 'In many developing countries, large numbers of people are dependent on wetland agriculture for their livelihoods.'

C.它们还有一个重要的环保目的。“湿地是减缓全球气候变化的关键工具之一，”湿地国际组织(Wetlands International, WI)气候适应项目负责人彼得·范·艾克(Pieter van Eijk)说。他指出，湿地可以作为缓冲，保护沿海地区免受海平面上升和飓风、洪水等极端天气事件的影响。沿海湿地森林提供食物和水，以及躲避风暴的庇护所，世界自然基金会和其他机构正在努力恢复这些失去的森林。他说:“这可以很简单，比如每公顷种植几棵树来创造树荫，并大幅改变小气候。”实施气候变化项目与资金关系不大。

C. They also serve a crucial environmental purpose. 'Wetlands are one of the key tools in mitigating climate change across the planet,' says Pieter van Eijk, head of Climate Adaptation at Wetlands International (WI), pointing to their use as buffers that protect coastal areas from sea-level rise and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and flooding. Wetland coastal forests provide food and water, as well as shelter from storms, and WI and other agencies are working to restore those forests which have been lost. 'It can be as simple as planting a few trees per hectare to create shade and substantially change a microclimate,' he says.'Implementing climate change projects isn't so much about money.'

D.不幸的是，世界上的湿地是棕榈油和纸浆木等需求商品的丰富来源。泥炭地——具有浸水有机土层的湿地——是特别有针对性的。当泥炭地被抽干用于耕作时，它们就变成了净碳排放者，而不是活跃的碳储存库。根据WI气候智慧型土地利用项目负责人Marcel Silvius的说法，这种做法导致了全球6%的碳排放。清除泥炭地用于种植也增加了森林火灾的风险，从而释放出大量的二氧化碳。西尔维乌斯说:“我们看到具有极高生物多样性价值的巨大泥炭地森林在几十年的油棕收入中消失了。”

D. The world's wetlands are, unfortunately, rich sources for in-demand commodities, such as palm oil and pulpwood. Peatlands – wetlands with a waterlogged organic soil layer – are particularly targeted. When peatlands are drained for cultivation, they become net carbon emitters instead of active carbon stores, and, according to Marcel Silvius, head of Climate- smart Land-use at WI, this practice causes six per cent of all global carbon emissions. The clearance of peatlands for planting also increases the risk of forest fires, which release huge amounts of CO2. 'We're seeing huge peatland forests with extremely high biodiversity value being lost for a few decades of oil palm revenues,' says Silvius.

当伐木公司来砍伐树木时，破坏就开始了。他们挖沟渠，乘船进入泥炭沼泽，然后用同样的方式把原木漂出去。然后，这些泥炭地用来排水，以便种植玉米、油棕或纸浆树。一旦水被排干，细菌和真菌就会分解泥炭中的碳，将其转化为二氧化碳和甲烷。与此同时，泥炭中剩余的固体物质开始向下移动，这一过程被称为沉降。泥炭含有90%的水，因此这是清除泥炭地最令人担忧的后果之一。西尔维乌斯说:“在热带地区，泥炭每年下沉约4厘米，所以在半个世纪内，随着泥炭下降到水位以下，苏门答腊岛和婆罗洲的大片土地将被淹没。”这是一场正在酝酿中的巨大灾难。一些省份将失去40%的陆地面积。”

E. The damage starts when logging companies arrive to clear the trees. They dig ditches to enter the peat swamps by boat and then float the logs out the same way. These are then used to drain water out of the peatlands to allow for the planting of corn, oil palms or pulpwood trees. Once the water has drained away, bacteria and fungi then break down the carbon in the peat and turn it into CO2 and methane. Meanwhile, the remainder of the solid matter in the peat starts to move downwards, in a process known as subsidence**. Peat comprises 90 per cent water, so this is one of the most alarming consequences of peatland clearances. 'In the tropics, peat subsides at about four centimetres a year, so within half a century, very large landscapes on Sumatra and Borneo will become flooded as the peat drops below water level,' says Silvius. 'It's a huge catastrophe that's in preparation. Some provinces will lose 40 per cent of their landmass.'

F.虽然这些工业对湿地的影响可以很容易地记录下来，但世界自然基金会的戴夫·蒂克纳博士认为，更微妙的影响可能更具破坏性。蒂克纳说:“沉积物流失和肥料几乎是看不见的。”过度开采水资源同样是看不见的。你确实会听到一些令人震惊的故事，比如河流变红，甚至着火，但很少有什么重大影响真正损害了湿地。”然而，Tickner并没有指责任何人故意破坏。他说，我在湿地问题上工作了20年，从未遇到过任何想破坏湿地的人。“这不是人们通常打算做的事情。很多时候，这些影响仅仅来自于那些试图谋生的人。”

F. And while these industries affect wetlands in ways that can easily be documented, Dr Dave Tickner of the WWFN believes that more subtle impacts can be even more devastating. 'Sediment run-off and fertilisers can be pretty invisible,' says Tickner.'Over-extraction of water is equally invisible. You do get shock stories about rivers running red, or even catching fire, but there's seldom one big impact that really hurts a wetland.' Tickner does not blame anyone for deliberate damage, however. 'I've worked on wetland issues for 20 years and have never met anybody who wanted to damage a wetland,' he says. 'It isn't something that people generally set out to do. Quite often, the effects simply come from people trying to make a living.'

G.西尔维乌斯也承认创收的重要性。“我们不仅仅是想恢复湿地的生物多样性——我们确实这么做了——但我们认识到有必要为当地人提供收入。”IWMI支持这种方法。麦卡特尼说:“这个想法是，发展中国家的人们只有在重视湿地并从中获利的情况下才会保护它们。”“为了可持续发展，当地居民必须参与湿地规划和决策，并拥有使用湿地的明确权利。”

G. Silvius also acknowledges the importance of income generation. 'It's not that we just want to restore the biodiversity of wetlands – which we do – but we recognise there's a need to provide an income for local people.' This approach is supported by IWMI. 'The idea is that people in a developing country will only protect wetlands if they value and profit from them,' says McCartney. 'For sustainability, it's essential that local people are involved in wetland planning and decision making and have clear rights to use wetlands.'

H.西尔维乌斯认为，如果更多的政府认识到湿地的长期价值，湿地的命运将得到改善。他说，不同的政府有不同的态度。他接着解释说，一些国家高度重视恢复湿地，而另一些国家仍然否认这个问题。然而，麦卡特尼对此持谨慎乐观态度。他说，人们越来越意识到湿地的重要性。“的确，湿地退化仍在快速进行，但我的印象是，情况正在慢慢改变。”

H. The fortunes of wetlands would be improved, Silvius suggests, if more governments recognised their long-term value. 'Different governments have different attitudes,' he says, and goes on to explain that some countries place a high priority on restoring wetlands, while others still deny the issue. McCartney is cautiously optimistic, however. 'Awareness of the importance of wetlands is growing,' he says. 'It's true that wetland degradation still continues at a rapid pace, but my impression is that things are slowly changing.'

泥炭:在潮湿的酸性条件下，由于植被部分分解而形成的棕色沉积物，通常被切下来晾干用作燃料

* peat: a brown deposit formed by the partial decomposition of vegetation in wet acidic conditions, often cut out and dried for use as fuel

沉降:地球表面的下沉，通常是由于地下资源的流失造成的

** subsidence: the sinking of the Earth's surface, most often caused by the removal of resources from the ground