阿富汗一个新的国家公园为野生动物和人类带来了希望

阿富汗一个新的国家公园为野生动物和人类带来了希望

Decades of war have overshadowed many important issues in Afghanistan, including the protection of its unique wildlife and wilderness. Afghanistan has a lower percentage of protected land than nearly every other country on Earth, according to World Bank data, with less than 0.1% of its land area set aside for nature.

几十年的战争掩盖了阿富汗的许多重要问题，包括保护其独特的野生动物和荒野。根据世界银行(World Bank)的数据，阿富汗的受保护土地比例几乎低于世界上所有其他国家，只有不到0.1%的土地用于自然保护。

Bamyan Plateau Protected Area spans 4,200 square kilometers (1,630 square miles), an area larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island. (Photo: N. Jahed/Wildlife Conservation Society)

Bamyan Plateau Protected Area, which opened in late 2019, is reportedly only the fifth protected area in Afghanistan, but it's the second-largest. At 4,200 square kilometers (1,630 square miles), it's larger than iconic U.S. wilderness areas like Yosemite, Olympic and Big Bend national parks, as well as the entire state of Rhode Island.

在2019年底开放的巴米扬高原保护区，据报道是阿富汗第五大保护区，但它是第二大保护区。它占地4200平方公里(1630平方英里)，比约塞米蒂国家公园、奥林匹克国家公园和大本德国家公园等美国标志性的荒野地区，以及整个罗德岛州都要大。

Amid years of conflict, people from outside the area have come to Bamyan Plateau to hunt wildlife, reportedly leading to declines in several species. (Photo: N. Jahed/WCS Afghanistan)

"By talking with the local people one can feel how [important] natural resources and plant diversity are for [them]," Abrar tells Orion. Conserving more places like this Afghanistan, he adds, might provide more economic opportunities for local people but also even broader benefits for the country as a whole.

“通过与当地人交谈，人们可以感受到自然资源和植物多样性对他们来说是多么重要，”阿布拉尔告诉Orion。保护更多像阿富汗这样的地方，他补充说，可能为当地人民提供更多的经济机会，但也为整个国家带来更广泛的利益。

Thanks to environmental law in Afghanistan, local people were required to be involved with — and benefit from — the creation of Bamyan Plateau Protected Area. (Photo: N. Jahed/Wildlife Conservation Society)

Bamyan Plateau is a starkly beautiful landscape of high-altitude grasslands, deep gorges and jagged rock formations scattered with rare wildlife, according to Mohammad Ibrahim Abrar, a project manager with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Afghanistan. Abrar first encountered this landscape more than a decade ago, and he has worked to preserve it for posterity ever since.

据阿富汗野生动物保护协会(WCS)的项目经理穆罕默德·易卜拉欣·阿布拉尔说，巴米扬高原是一片极其美丽的景观，这里有高海拔草原、深深的峡谷和参差不齐的岩层，散落着珍稀野生动物。十多年前，阿布拉尔第一次看到这片土地，从那时起，他就一直致力于为子孙后代保护它。

Hazarchishma Natural Bridge is a natural stone arch spanning nearly 61 meters (200 feet) across its base, making it the 12th largest natural bridge in the world. (Photo: N. Jahed/Wildlife Conservation Society)

In 2011, WCS researchers stumbled across a "geological colossus" in Bamyan: a natural stone arch spanning more than 200 feet across its base. Now known as the Hazarchishma Natural Bridge, the structure is more than 3,000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet) above sea level, making it one of the highest large natural bridges in the world. It's also the 12th-largest natural stone bridge known to science.

2011年，WCS的研究人员在巴米扬偶然发现了一个“地质巨像”:一个天然的石拱，其底部跨度超过200英尺。现在被称为Hazarchishma自然桥，其结构高于海平面3000米(近10000英尺)，使其成为世界上最高的大型自然桥之一。它也是科学界所知的第12大天然石桥。

The rare Persian leopard, pictured here in an image caught by a camera trap, is among the wildlife that inhabits Bamyan Plateau Protected Area. (Photo: WCS Afghanistan)

The effort to protect Bamyan Plateau dates back to 2006, when camera-trap surveys began to reveal a wealth of wildlife. The new park is home to Persian leopards, Himalayan ibex, urials, wolves, lynxes, foxes, martens, marmots and pikas, as well as the only known Asian badgers and boreal owls in Afghanistan, plus the country's lone endemic bird species, the Afghan snowfinch.

保护巴米扬高原的努力可以追溯到2006年，当时通过相机陷阱的调查开始发现了大量的野生动物。新公园里生活着波斯豹、喜马拉雅野山羊、乌里鸟、狼、猞猁、狐狸、马貂、土拔鼠和鼠兔，还有阿富汗唯一已知的亚洲獾和北方猫头鹰，还有阿富汗唯一的特有鸟类，阿富汗雪雀。

The boreal owl is known to live nowhere else in Afghanistan but Bamyan Plateau. (Photo: N. Mostafawi/WCS Afghanistan)

Creation of the national park is an important step, both practically and symbolically, but it's hardly the final chapter in the story of this ancient landscape. In recent decades, the fog of war has allowed poaching and overgrazing by outsiders to threaten rare wildlife in Bamyan Plateau, according to Abrar, a problem that could continue without adequate enforcement.

国家公园的建立在实践上和象征意义上都是重要的一步，但它绝不是这个古老景观故事的最后一章。据阿布拉尔说，近几十年来，战争的迷雾使得外来物种的偷猎和过度放牧威胁到了巴米扬高原的珍稀野生动物，如果执法不力，这个问题可能会继续下去。

A golden finch at Bamyan Plateau Protected Area in Afghanistan. (Photo: N. Mostafawi/WCS Afghanistan)

Establishment of the park had reportedly led to a surge of local support for conservation, though, and WCS has provided funding for rangers to help control poaching and grazing in the protected area. After these efforts began, Abrar says, local residents have reported an increase in wildlife sightings.

据报道，该公园的建立引发了当地对保护的强烈支持，而WCS已经为护林员提供了资金，帮助控制保护区内的偷猎和放牧行为。在这些努力开始后，阿布拉尔说，当地居民报告了野生动物目击的增加。

The Bamyan Plateau Protected Area opened in late 2019. (Photo: Wildlife Conservation Society)

WCS "has initiated preliminary efforts to conserve key wildlife species with local people," Abrar writes. "That work has resulted in a growing awareness by local communities of the importance of wildlife, conservation, and sustainable use of natural resources.

世界野生动物保护协会“已经开始与当地人一起保护重要野生动物物种的初步努力，”阿布拉尔写道。这项工作使得当地社区越来越意识到野生动物、保护和自然资源可持续利用的重要性。

"It is our hope that this new conservation focus will help to conserve the Bamyan Plateau and its remarkable natural features for future generations of Afghans."

“我们希望，这个新的保护重点将有助于为阿富汗子孙保护巴米扬高原及其显著的自然特征。”