Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem

　　教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃女士在保护红树林生态系统国际日的致辞

　　26 July 2017

　　2017年7月26日

　　Coastal mangroves are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth. Current estimates indicate that up to 67% of mangroves have been lost to date, and nearly all unprotected mangroves could perish over the next 100 years.

　　沿海红树林是地球上面临最严重威胁的生态系统之一。按照目前的估计，迄今已经失去的红树林高达67%，未来100年，若不加保护，几乎所有红树林都可能消失。

　　The stakes are high, because mangrove ecosystems provide benefits and services that are essential for life. From advancing food security, sustaining fisheries and forest products and offering protection from storms, tsunamis and sea level rise to preventing shoreline erosion, regulating coastal water quality and providing habitats for endangered marine species – the list is long on the importance of mangrove ecosystems. This includes the unique role that they play in sequestering and storing significant amounts of coastal blue carbon from the atmosphere and ocean, crucial for mitigating climate change.

　　事关重大。红树林生态系统提供的惠益和服务对于生命系统的维系不可或缺。从促进粮食安全、维持渔业和林业生产、使人们免受风暴、海啸以及海平面上升之害到防止海岸线遭受侵蚀、调节沿海水质以及为濒危海洋物种提供栖息地——体现红树林生态系统重要意义的例子不胜枚举。它还包括红树林发挥独特作用，从大气和海洋中封存和储存大量的沿海蓝碳，这一作用对缓减气候变化极为重要。

　　UNESCO is drawing on all of its strengths – through its Man and the Biosphere Programme, its International Hydrological Programme, its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Programme – to protect mangrove ecosystems. This action reaches across the world, from the Bosque de Paz transboundary biosphere reserve in Ecuador and Peru, and the Delta de Saloum Biosphere Reserve in Senegal to the Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark in Malaysia. UNESCO is engaged deeply in supporting the conservation of mangroves, while advancing the sustainable development of local communities who interact closely with them and depend on their goods and services. UNESCO is also leading an active role in the Blue Carbon Initiative to mitigate climate change through the conservation, protection, restoration and sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystems, focusing on mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses.

　　教科文组织利用其各方面的优势——通过人与生物圈计划、国际水文计划、政府间海洋学委员会以及“地方和土著知识系统”计划——开展红树林 生态系统保护工作。工作范围遍及世界各地，从秘鲁的 Noroeste AmotapesManglares 生物圈保护区、塞内加尔的萨鲁姆三角洲生物圈保护区到马来西亚兰卡威教科文组织世界地质公园。教科文组织积极支持红树林保护，同时推动与红树林朝夕相伴并依靠红树林提供产品与服务的当地社会的可持续发展。教科文组织还在“蓝碳倡议”中发挥积极作用，力图通过保护、养护、恢复和可持续使用沿海和海洋生态系统，尤其是红树林、潮汐沼泽地和海草，减缓气候变化。

　　We must do far more, and this calls for stronger science. To this end, UNESCO is working to broaden the capacities of States and reinforce their scientific knowledge, especially in countries that are highly dependent on these ecosystems in Africa and Small Islands Development States, always working with local communities, always drawing on indigenous knowledge.

　　我们必须作出更多的努力，而这需要更强大的科学能力。为此，教科文组织始终与地方社区一道，始终从土著知识中汲取营养，努力提高各国的能力，强化其科学知识，重点帮助严重依靠红树林生态系统的非洲和小岛屿发展中国家。

　　This International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem is the moment for everyone to redouble their commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement. UNESCO’s message today is clear – we must reverse the trend of degradation and protect the mangroves that are so essential to the health of the planet.

　　值此保护红树林生态系统国际日，每一个人都应更加坚定对《2030年可持续发展议程》以及《巴黎气候协定》的信念。今天，教科文组织要发出明确的讯息：我们必须扭转恶化的趋势，保护对地球健康至关重要的红树林。