少吃肉還能保護環境?以後要多吃素!大綱

Efforts to preserve nature are way off what is required, a report has warned.

一份報告警示道，我們還需要付出更多的努力來保護環境。

Populations of mammals, birds, reptiles , amphibians and fish have fallen off a cliff – dropping by 60 per cent in just over 40 years.

哺乳動物、鳥類、爬行動物、兩棲動物以及魚類的數量急劇減少，在過去的四十年裏這些動物的數量減少了60%。

“Right now the destruction of nature is seen as the price of development, and we cannot continue like that,” Tony Juniper, WWF’s executive director said.

“如今破壞自然被視爲發展的代價，但我們不能繼續這樣了，”世界野生動物基金會執行董事託尼·朱尼珀說道。

Familiar British animals like puffins and hedgehogs joined more exotic species like elephants, rhinos and polar bears on the list of species that have dropped in numbers massively between 1970 and 2014.

在1970年至2014年之間，大象、犀牛以及北極熊等外來物種的數量大幅減少，而英國人比較熟悉的角嘴海雀和刺蝟也大量減少。

These declines have been particularly pronounced in tropical regions and freshwater habitats. Just a quarter of the planet's surface is free from human activity, and this is expected to shrink to a tenth by 2050.

生活在熱帶地區及淡水棲息地的動物的數量衰減尤爲突出。地球表面只有四分之一的地區可以免遭人類活動的影響，而到2050年，這樣的地區會減少十分之一。

This habitat loss, combined with poaching, pollution and climate change, have all contributed to a crisis that experts think can no longer be handled using conventional tactics.

棲息地的減少以及偷獵、污染和氣候變化都會導致動物減少的危機，而專家認爲，使用傳統策略已無法解決這種危機。

An explosion of human activity, including overfishing, deforestation and pesticide use, has been at the heart of many species' declines.

捕撈過度、濫伐森林以及使用殺蟲劑等人類活動的激增是許多物種數量減少的關鍵。

Mr Juniper noted that there is a role for individual action to protect animals, singling out changing attitudes to food as a key strategy.

朱尼珀先生指出，個人行動可以發揮作用來保護動物，他表示改變對食物的態度是一項重要策略。

“The biggest single thing most of us can do is cut down our meat consumption,” he said.

“我們多數人能做的最大的一件事就是少吃肉，”他說道。