自然杂志：植树造林可能加剧水资源紧张。这是在黑中国吗？

昨天小编翻译的一篇反思媒体过度关注瑞典“口头环保”少女的文章，很多读者提到知名科学期刊《自然》杂志黑中国植树造林浪费水资源。于是小编找来了该报道原文，只看到标题的确让人很不爽，但正文提到我国已在逐步解决问题。全文翻译如下，看完后大家觉得该报道是客观评论，还是在黑我国的植树造林成果呢？欢迎在文章下方投票或留言发表您的意见吧。

China’s tree-planting drive could falter in a warming world

中国植树造林效果可能因全球变暖受影响

Researchers warn that the country’s push to hold back its deserts could strain water resources

研究者警告说该国治理沙漠的努力可能导致水资源紧张。（←这就是文章引起争议的原话，小编注。）

中国通过植树来阻止沙漠扩张

China has planted billions of trees over the past four decades as part of its fight against expanding deserts, mostly in its north. Each year, the country sows seedlings over an area nearly the size of Ireland. It is even sharing its desert-control methods with others as part of its massive Belt and Road trade initiative.

The trees have held back China′s deserts. But some scientists worry that the planting could worsen water scarcity. Many of the trees are not native to the regions where they have been planted, and they use a lot of water — despite being placed in areas that are experiencing less rainfall due to global warming.

过去四十多年来，为了阻止其北部沙漠的扩张中国种下了数十亿株树苗。每年该国新种植的树苗面积几乎和爱尔兰面积相当。作为一带一路倡议的一部分，中国还与他国分享沙漠治理的方法。

这些树有效地控制住了中国的沙漠，但也有科学家担心这种种植行为可能进一步加剧水资源短缺的状况：因为中下很多树种并非当地的原生品种，它们的需水量很大，但种植的地方却因为全球变暖导致降水量进一步下降。

“The idea is nice, but it’s kind of foolish to plant trees in a desert,” says Troy Sternberg, a geographer at the University of Oxford, UK.

“（植树造林的）想法是好的，但在沙漠里种树有点不理智。”英国牛津大学的地理学者特洛伊·斯滕伯格说。

Chinese scientists say there are good reasons to plant vegetation in barren areas but that the programme needs to take into account local conditions. They say local and national governments are already planting more shrubs, herbs and other forms of native vegetation that need less water.

中国的科学家说在荒漠地区种植植物是有必要的，但项目需要考虑到当地的自身条件。他们说地方及中央ZF已经开始更多的种植需水量更少的灌木、草本植物及其它本地植物。

Greening China 绿色中国

The Gobi Desert and similarly arid regions in China are expanding as processes such as overgrazing deplete vegetation on their borders, allowing wind and gravity to erode soil. China’s largest tree-planting drive, the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, also called the Great Green Wall, is designed to halt that encroachment. The government says that it has planted more than 66 billion trees across 13 provinces in the country’s north since the programme began in 1978.

戈壁沙漠及其它类似荒漠地区曾因为其周边草场地带过度放牧而扩张，使风沙不断侵蚀土壤。中国最大的植树造林项目——三北防护林（又被称为绿色长城）就是为了抵挡沙漠的侵犯。ZF说自1978年该项目启动以来，已累计在中国北部13省种下了超过660亿棵树。

Around the year 2000, deserts across the country were expanding by 10,400 square kilometres a year, says the government. But in 2017, the State Forestry Administration reported that China’s deserts were shrinking by more than 2,400 square kilometres a year.

数据显示， 2000年左右时中国的荒漠面积每年扩张约10400平方公里，但根据国家林业局的数据，仅2017年中国就成功减少了2400平方公里的荒漠化土地。

A 2018 study¹ analysing satellite data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found there has been an increase in forest cover consistent with government statistics, but suggested that changes in logging policy were more important factors than afforestation — planting forests where none had grown before.

一项2018年美国国家海洋及航天局的卫星数据分析显示，中国的森林覆盖情况与ZF的数据吻合。但该分析也建议说改变森林木材资源采集政策可能比在原本没有树林的地方造林更重要。

In 1999, the Chinese government began planting millions of trees in its Grain for Green Program, intended to repair damaged farmland in key agricultural in the northern Loess Plateau, which is roughly the size of France. “I was there two years ago, and it is indeed amazing that once bare landscapes are now almost fully covered by plants,” says Philippe Ciais, a climate researcher at the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences in Gif-sur-Yvette near Paris.

中国ZF在1999年便在面积相当于法国大小的黄土高原上开始了退耕还林项目并种下了数百万棵树，以修复其北部核心区的耕地生态。“我两年前去过那里，看到原本裸露的土地现在都覆盖上了植物，真是令人惊讶。”巴黎附近一家气候及环境科学实验室的气候学者菲利普·西亚斯说道。

And the afforestation drive is continuing apace: in 2018, the State Forestry Administration announced a target of 30% forest coverage by 2050. At the moment, the coverage is around 22%.

（中国的）植树造林运动还在快速发展：2018年国家林业局宣布预计到2050年中国森林覆盖率达到30%，目前这个数据是22%

The growth of forests is significant and necessary progress in the fight against desertification, says Jianping Huang, a climate researcher at Lanzhou University.

兰州大学气候研究学者黄建平说，增加森林面积是对抗荒漠化有效且必要的途径。

But it’s still too early to determine whether it has solved the problem, says Congbin Fu, director of the Institute for Climate and Global Change Research at Nanjing University. Land restoration is usually a long-term process — it can take several decades or even 100 years, he says.

但南京大学全球气候变化研究院的院长傅丛斌也承认，现在判断是否已经解决了问题还为时尚早，因为土壤恢复是一个长期的过程，可能需要数十年甚至上百年。

相比乔木而言，灌木和草丛大多时候更适合荒漠环境。

Water shortages 水资源短缺

There are some pitfalls to mass tree planting. In southwestern China, researchers have found that farmers were cutting down native vegetation so they could collect money for sowing non-native plants in government programmes.

在大规模植树造林过程也出现了一些问题。例如研究者发现中国西南部有些农民就砍掉了本地原生植物，改种项目清单里的非原生植物以获取ZF基金。

Then there are water shortages. Large parts of China — including some areas where trees are being planted — are becoming drier. A study published online in July found that semi-arid areas in the country grew by 33% between 1994 and 2008 compared to between 1948 and 1962. Another paper, co-authored by Sternberg, found that arid areas in China had increased by roughly 1.6 million square kilometres, about the size of Iran, since 1980 — probably due in large part to anthropogenic climate change.

其次是水资源短缺问题。中国很多地区（包括一些植树造林地区）正变得更加干旱。今年7月网上发布的一项调查显示中国1994-2008年间半干旱地区面积较1948-1962年间增长了33%。由斯坦伯格共同撰写的一篇论文也显示中国的干旱的确面积较1980年增加了160万平方公里，相当于一个伊朗的面积。这可能很大程度是因为人类活动导致的气候变化。

Many of the plant species introduced to the Loess Plateau use more water than native vegetation. A 2016 study co-authored by Ciais found that the revitalized ecosystem is already sucking up rainfall and reducing the amount of water that runs off to rivers; a drier climate could exacerbate the situation and trigger water shortages for humans. A modelling study co-authored by Fu and published last month reached similar conclusions, and cautioned against continuing the Grain for Green Program.

很多在黄土高原上种植的植物品种，较当地原生植物需水量更大。2016年西亚斯共同完成的一项调查发现当地已恢复的生态系统消耗了大量降雨，降低了原本流入河里的水量。而更干旱的气候可能会使情况恶化并导致人类用水紧张。傅院长上个月发表的一个模型分析也有类似结论，并对是否继续退耕还林政策提出了谨慎的意见。

Alternative approach 替代方案

Considering water shortages is important, says Shixiong Cao, an ecologist at Beijing Forestry University. He thinks the national forestry department has recognized the error of planting trees in arid areas, and that in recent years, the department and local governments have moved towards planting shrubs with lower water requirements.

北京林业大学生态学者曹世雄说考虑到水资源紧张是非常重要的，他认为国家林业局已经意识到在荒漠地区种植森林的问题，所以近年来林业局和当地ZF已转为种植需水量低的灌木品种。

The head of the forestry department, Zhang Jianlong, told Chinese state media in March that efforts should go towards keeping vegetation healthy, rather than simply planting trees. “Also, species should be planted with the right techniques in inhospitable places.”

林业部门负责人张建龙在3月份接受央视采访时说现在应朝向维护良好的植被及生态努力，而非简单的植树造林。“此外，在条件恶劣地区也应选择正确的品种，以正确的方式种植。”

Cao says planting programmes work best when local governments engage with researchers and communities to find ways to seed less-thirsty plants that create economic value. These include herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, some of which can grow symbiotically with shrubs, and which farmers can harvest and sell.

曹也说开展种植项目时，地方ZF最好能够与专家及相关团体进行合作，找到即耐旱又能产生经济价值的作物，包括一些传统中医用到的草本植物，这些植物可以与灌木共生，当地农民收获后也可以通过销售获取收入。