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首页 » 《大学英语》 » 新视野大学英语读写教程(第六册) » Unit 3 新视野大学英语第六册第三课

Protecting the Great Bear Rainforest 课文讲解

 A historic agreement reached this April between Canadian environmental groups and Canada's timber industry will ensure the long-term security of British Columbia's threatened west coast Great Bear Rainforest (大熊雨林). The deal promises to bring an end to almost 20 years of some of the most intense and bitter environmental disputes in Canadian history.     Under the terms of the agreement, which involved intense negotiations with native American groups, timber companies, labor unions and local communities, 20 river basins will receive permanent protection, and the cutting of trees will be postponed in another 68 river basins.  In addition, the timber industry has committed itself to more ecologically sensitive harvesting. "This is a great leap forward in securing the future of Canada's rainforest," says a spokesman for Greenpeace (绿色和平组织).

    The Great Bear Rainforest, so named because of its high concentration of large bears, runs north from Vancouver to the border of Alaska and represents the Earth's largest remaining area of rainforest outside the tropics. Rendered virtually impossible to access due to its wild terrain of plunging valleys and ice-topped mountains, the Great Bear Rainforest has remained untouched since the last ice age some 15,000 years ago and, until now, was largely unknown to the outside world.    

The forest is a natural treasure chest of rare plants, birds and mammals; scientists continue to discover the extent of its biodiversity and complex ecological relationships. It was discovered only recently, for example, that the region supports a distinct population of wolves. Researchers have also found up to 10,000 insect species specific to individual rainforest valleys, the vast majority of which had been unknown to science.

    Perhaps the most amazing discovery of all is the importance of salmon (鲑鱼) in providing material to fertilize the entire rainforest ecosystem. Studies have shown that over the course of the salmon breeding season, each bear carries up to 700 salmon into the rainforest, eating only half of any one fish. The decaying bodies provide a vital surge of fertilizer into the ecosystem.    

One of the more well-known examples of the forest's unique biodiversity is the spirit bear, a rare all-white type of black bear that only lives in a remote area of the Great Bear Rainforest. Though spirit bears are normally black, a number of them are born with all-white fur. According to local native people, when the snow of the last ice age retreated, the creator of humans made the spirit bear as a reminder that the rainforest was once white with ice and snow.

    While nearly 1,000 black bears live in British Columbia's rainforests, only around 400 white spirit bears are thought to exist. They live mainly on two remote islands some 300 miles north of Vancouver. These islands form the heart of the proposed Spirit Bear Park.    

Images of the spirit bear were used to great effect by environmental groups around the world in the global campaign to save the Great Bear Rainforest from being destroyed by tree cutting.  Central to the successful campaign was market pressure against the Canadian forest products companies that were harvesting timber within the Great Bear Rainforest.  Environmental advocates targeted these companies through a series of high-profile actions around the world designed to persuade consumers to stop buying timber cut from British Columbian rainforests. Finally, after a long period of opposing the agreement, timber companies agreed to protect the area.  

    The breakthrough is widely attributed to the companies' loss of sales as dozens of major wood buyers in the US, Europe and Japan expressed strong support for conservation and responsible tree harvesting. Many have explicitly stated they would no longer purchase forest products from companies operating in a series of valleys in the Great Bear Rainforest.    

Through this effort, environmental groups have brought about a significant victory. "We have been under a lot of pressure," admits the director of public affairs and communications for one forest products company, "and we have been anxious to find a way to resolve this." Unfortunately, two companies have still refused to accept the agreement, causing Greenpeace to step up its campaign against them.  In addition to targeting buyers of forest products, Greenpeace is now also putting pressure on investors in the two companies.

    As a consequence of the agreement, British Columbia has since undergone an extremely rapid change in the eyes of environmental groups. "British Columbia's international reputation has been transformed overnight from an environmental criminal to an environmental hero," says the spokesman for one environmental group. He adds that the agreement creates a North American rainforest heritage "that can be held up to the world as a model for resolving environmental conflict".    

However, the joy the environmentalists felt at the signing of the agreement with the Premier of British Columbia has given way to caution following provincial elections in May, when the conservative Liberal Party swept to power. "We would expect the new Government to fully implement a deal that had such a high level of consensus from such diverse interests," says the Greenpeace spokesman. "The bottom line, though, is that we don't know their full intentions."

    Barbara Kravitz, a 72-year-old great-grandmother who was jailed last year for protesting against the cutting of trees in the Great Bear Rainforest, is more pessimistic. "The Great Bear Rainforest is just one forest in British Columbia that has been saved while other old-growth forests are still being clear-cut," says Kravitz. "The new provincial government is no friend of the rainforests, so I predict there's going to be more war in the woods. I fear that I may have to spend the rest of my life in jail."    

Meanwhile, the environmental group's success has given a much needed boost to Greenpeace's Ancient Forests Campaign (绿色和平组织发起的古森林保护运动), which aims to save the remaining forests in the Amazon Basin, Africa, and the Russian Far East. "Timber companies are destroying ancient forests around the world and their customers should take note of what has happened here in British Columbia," says a representative of Greenpeace International. "We will be strengthening our campaign to target governments and companies who fail to protect the world's remaining ancient forests."

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