[ti:African Wildlife Parks Face Climate, Infrastructure Threats] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Africa's national parks are home to thousands of wildlife species [00:06.36]such as lions, elephants and buffaloes. [00:11.48]The protected areas are increasingly threatened [00:15.20]by below-average rainfall and new public systems projects. [00:21.68]Climate change is already worsening an extended [00:25.32]period of severe dryness in eastern Africa. [00:30.00]Increasing development, including oil drilling and agriculture, [00:35.52]are hurting conservation efforts in protected areas, [00:40.20]several environmental experts say. [00:43.76]The at-risk parks are in Kenya, Tanzania, [00:48.64]Mozambique, South Africa, Congo and other countries. [00:54.84]The parks not only protect plants and animals. [00:59.56]They also act as natural carbon sinks. [01:03.72]This means they store carbon dioxide [01:07.20]and help reduce the effects of global warming. [01:11.80]An estimated 38 percent of Africa's biodiversity areas [01:17.40]are under severe threat from climate change [01:20.72]and infrastructure development, said Ken Mwathe. [01:26.04]He is with the organization BirdLife International. [01:31.24]Investors see the areas as ready for development, Mwathe said, [01:36.60]adding the governments have some responsibility for that. [01:41.88]Governments have opened "the land in these areas [01:45.48]for infrastructural development" he said. [01:50.16]African nations are seeking to raise living standards [01:54.12]and meet sustainable development goals, [01:57.24]including access to clean water and food, [02:00.92]economic growth and improved public education. [02:06.76]The effort leads some governments to start large building projects. [02:12.92]Many of them are through foreign investments, especially from China. [02:18.96]The proposed East African Oil Pipeline is an example. [02:23.48]Uganda's government says the project can help lift millions out of poverty. [02:30.64]However, the plan calls for the pipe [02:33.68]to run through Uganda's Kidepo Valley, [02:37.08]Murchison Falls and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. [02:42.88]Such plans threaten species [02:45.24]and have drawn criticism from climate campaigners. [02:50.00]Population growth and the construction that comes with it [02:53.96]have also added to the pressure on parks, conservationists said. [03:00.28]But they add that replacing wildlife with infrastructure [03:04.92]is the wrong way for economic growth. [03:08.40]"We have to have a future where wildlife [03:11.72]is not separated from people," said Sam Shaba. [03:15.92]He is the program manager at the Honeyguide Foundation, [03:21.28]an environmental non-profit organization in Tanzania. [03:27.08]When "people start to see that living with wildlife [03:31.12]provides the answer to sustainable development ... [03:34.76]that's the game-changer," Shaba said. [03:39.04]Most of Africa's wildlife parks were created [03:42.56]in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by colonial rulers. [03:49.48]They fenced the areas and ordered local people to stay out. [03:55.16]But now conservationists are seeking more [03:58.08]inclusive policies for operating the parks. [04:02.36]They seek the expertise of Native communities [04:05.84]that live around the parks [04:07.60]and can help protect them, said Ademola Ajagbe. [04:13.20]He is the Africa regional managing director of The Nature Conservancy. [04:19.64]The peoples of these areas are forced to move [04:23.32]"such as the Maasai in Tanzania and Kenya, [04:27.24]Twa and Mbutis in central Africa who for generations [04:32.40]have lived with wildlife," said Simon Counsell. [04:36.80]He is an advisor with Survival International. [04:42.68]"Africa is depicted as a place of wildlife [04:46.64]without people living there and this needs to change," he said. [04:52.28]The effects of worsening weather conditions in national parks [04:56.28]due to climate change should also not be ignored, experts said. [05:02.92]A recent study carried out in South Africa's Kruger National Park [05:08.16]linked extreme weather events to the loss of plants and animals. [05:14.52]Drought has seriously threatened species like rhinos, [05:19.36]elephants and lions as it reduces the amount of food available, [05:25.56]said Philip Wandera. [05:28.16]He is a former officer with the Kenya Wildlife Service [05:32.68]now teaching conservation at the Catholic University of East Africa. [05:39.40]More intensive management of parks and removing fences [05:44.64]that prevent species from traveling to wetter areas [05:48.84]are important first steps to protecting wildlife, Wandera said. [05:54.76]He added that financial help to "support communities [06:00.04]in and around parks" would also help protect them. [06:05.20]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM