In most parts of the world, marine conservationis stymied by opposition from fishing, oil, and mining interests. A mere 7 percent of the world’s ocean has any protection—mostly weak rules, with multiple exceptions—and only 2.5 percent is highly protected from exploitation. Outside of these zones, the ocean’s story is one of continuing depletion.

在全球的大部分區(qū)域，海洋保護(hù)因牽涉漁業(yè)、石油和礦業(yè)公司的利益而受到阻撓，困難重重。世界海洋僅有7%得到了保護(hù)，而其中大部分保護(hù)措施的約束力不強(qiáng)，存在多起違規(guī)案例；只有2.5%的海洋受到高度保護(hù)，完全不被開發(fā)利用。而在這些區(qū)域之外，世界海洋環(huán)境正在不斷衰竭。

A few remaining patches of ocean are the last wild places of the sea—the marine equivalent of the remotest tracts of old-growth forest in the Amazon—still undamaged by overfishing, pollution and climate change. Enric Sala, former professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is working with the National Geographic Society and together launched the Pristine Seas project in 2008. Over the past 12 years, Pristine Seas has helped create 22 marine reserves, making up two-thirds of the world’s fully protected marine areas—covering more than two million square miles in all.

世界上僅存的部分原生海域——它們?nèi)缤瑏嗰R遜偏遠(yuǎn)的原始森林帶一樣——是海洋中最后的荒原凈土，未受過度捕撈、環(huán)境污染和氣候變化的荼毒。前斯克里普斯海洋學(xué)研究所教授Enric Sala聯(lián)手美國國家地理學(xué)會，于2008年共同發(fā)起了“原始海洋”（Pristine Seas）項目。經(jīng)過12年的努力至今，該項目協(xié)助建成22個海洋保護(hù)區(qū)，占世界海洋全面保護(hù)區(qū)的三分之二，覆蓋逾相當(dāng)于200萬平方英里的海域。

Now Sala and his team have set an even more ambitious goal: to see more than a third of the world’s ocean conserved for the purpose not just of sustaining biodiversity but also of replenishing fish stocks and storing carbon.

現(xiàn)在，Sala和“原始海洋”團(tuán)隊有了一個更宏遠(yuǎn)的目標(biāo)：保護(hù)世界三分之一的海洋，使其不僅能維持生物多樣性，還能補(bǔ)充魚類資源并發(fā)揮海洋碳匯作用。

Pristine Seas worked with indigenous Palauans to give an ancient conservation tradition a modern twist. For centuries Palauans have used temporary fishing closures known as buls to preserve and rebuild their reef fish stocks. Over the years they created 35 reserves that protected marine life around their islands, some of which banned fishing permanently.

“原始海洋”項目曾與帕勞當(dāng)?shù)赝林用窈献?，為古老的漁業(yè)保護(hù)注入了現(xiàn)代活力。“buls”是當(dāng)?shù)匮赜脦装倌甑呐R時禁漁傳統(tǒng)，帕勞人通過這種方式來保護(hù)珊瑚礁魚群，使其能“休養(yǎng)生息”。多年的積累，帕勞今已設(shè)立35個海洋保護(hù)區(qū)，其中部分為永久禁漁區(qū)，保護(hù)了島嶼周邊的海洋生命。

Comparing the abundance of fish inside and outside the no-take reserves, Sala’s team found that the species targeted by fishers were almost twice as plentiful within the no-take areas. “We wanted Palauans to see how well their traditional management works and that, as well as protecting their reefs, it benefits tourism,” Sala says.

Sala的團(tuán)隊在對比禁漁區(qū)內(nèi)外的魚群總量后發(fā)現(xiàn)，禁漁區(qū)內(nèi)的可捕撈魚種數(shù)量幾乎是外圍的兩倍。Sala說：“我們希望帕勞人民看到自己的勞動成果，他們傳統(tǒng)的漁業(yè)管理方式是卓有成效的。既保護(hù)了魚類賴以生存的珊瑚礁群，同時也有益于旅游業(yè)的長期發(fā)展?！?/span>

Sala and his team calculate that a 14-fold expansion of the fully protected part of the ocean, from 2.5 percent to 35 percent, would provide 64 percent of the bio-diversity benefits and shield 28 percent of vulnerable carbon while increasing the global fish catch by almost 10 million metric tons. Even that may sound impossible, but the alternative is dire. For now, we still get to choose.

按照Sala及“原始海洋”團(tuán)隊的估算，如果能將現(xiàn)有的海洋全面保護(hù)區(qū)擴(kuò)大14倍，即所覆蓋海洋面積從現(xiàn)在的2.5%擴(kuò)大至35%，那么將意味著提供64%的生物多樣性收益，穩(wěn)定28%的碳匯量儲存，提高全球漁獲近1000萬噸。當(dāng)然這聽來似乎不太現(xiàn)實，但是放棄這一可能的后果將更加可怕。現(xiàn)在，我們?nèi)匀豢梢赃x擇。

選編自National Geographic USA, September 2020,