双语阅读：拿什么拯救你——西部大草原（英汉对照）.doc

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How to Save the Grasslands: Bring in More Cattle
拿什么拯救你——西部大草原

By Judith Schwartz
作者：朱迪斯·施瓦茨

To many, the Western grasslands still reflect the essence of this country: the vast plains that begin with prairie and bump up against the Rockies, home to herds of cattle and the cowboys that run them. Yet this indelible image belies the facts, as much of the nation's rangeland has been degraded by overgrazing. Land where lush, waving grasses flourished is now eroded and only sparsely covered with plants. One consequence, says farmer and rural public policy expert Michael Bowman of Wray, Colorado, is that "hundreds of small communities whose economies relied on healthy grassland are withering with the grass."

在大多数人眼中，西部的大草原依然能反映美国的立国之本：以草原为起点的广袤平原，依托落基山脉海拔升高，这里是牛群和牛仔的家乡。如此在人们脑海中难以磨灭的画面却掩盖了一些事实，因为过度放牧已经使这个国家的牧场退化。曾经丰美茂盛的草地如今已遭破坏，地面鲜有植物生长。科罗拉多州雷县的农村公共政策专家、农场主迈克尔·鲍曼表示，由此而生的一个后果就是，“数百个小型动物群落就依靠着茂盛的草原而繁衍，所以它们也随着草地植被凋零而凋敝。”

Many ranchers, conservationists, and investors are determined to revive this magical and (once) highly productive landscape. And have embarked on doing so by increasing the density of livestock.

许多牧场主、保守人士和投资者都决意重新缔造这块土地的神奇，再现一度欣欣向荣的盛况。并且增加牲畜的放养密度。

Wait — wasn't overgrazing the problem?

且慢 —— 这不就是提到了过度放牧的问题吗？

The key is how grazing animals are managed. For according to Shannon Horst, CEO and co-founder of the Savory Institute, an organization dedicated to restoring the world's grasslands through Holistic Management, ranchers can consistently double, and even — depending on the condition of the land and adherence to the practices — quadruple livestock capacity over time.

关键在于如何管理放养的动物。雪柏利研究所着力以整体管理①使世界上的草原重现生机。该机构的一位创始人兼首席执行官香农·霍斯特认为，牧场主可以参考土地的条件并据此实践，随着时间推移相应地将现有的家畜数量加倍、甚至扩大三倍。

However, more cattle per acre is just one benefit. By actively planning and managing the grazing and recovery of the plants as opposed to allowing continuous grazing, ruminants become part of the solution rather than a burden to the land. Allan Savory, who developed Holistic Management as a researcher and farmer in Southern Africa, saw the connection between roaming animal herds and grassland vitality. The dynamic is as follows: the animal chews the grass so as to stimulate plant and root growth, and allow sunlight to get through to the growth points, then moves on in a herd either (in a leisurely way) to find fresher grass or (with a pounding of hooves) to elude a predator. He found that when domestic livestock are managed to replicate this behavior on degraded lands, the grasses come back: the deep-rooted plants enrich and aerate the soil and the hoof movements chip away at hardened earth so that seeds can germinate and grow and water can penetrate.

而每英亩放牧的牛更多只是一方面收益。为了抵制继续像过去那样放养，采取了积极计划与管理放牧以及恢复草地植被的方法。草原上的反刍动物成了解决环境问题的一方面因素，不再是土地的负担。提出整体管理法的艾伦·雪柏利是南非的研究学者，也是位农场主。这套理论找到了放养动物数量与草原生命力之间的联系。这其中的活力表现为：动物吃草，刺激植物与根茎生长，并且让阳光能照射到植被的生长点。而草食动物不是悠然自得地寻找更新鲜的草料，就是奋蹄飞奔，躲避肉食动物。雪柏利发现，在退化的土地上，只要控制家畜重复这样的行为，啃食的青草就会再生长出来：那些深深植根于大地的植物使土壤肥沃又透气，家畜蹄踩会逐渐松动坚实的土地，地下的种子就能生长发芽，水也可以渗入地底。

Rich, aerated soil is productive, retains water, and, highly significant in environmental terms, is a carbon sink. "Healthy grasslands represents the ecosystem with the highest potential for carbon sequestration of any on the planet," says Steven Apfelbaum, Founder/Chairman of Applied Ecological Services, Inc., a landscape restoration company based in Brodhead, Wisconsin. He notes that grasslands cover more than 45% of the U.S., a proportion fairly consistent throughout the world. This has important implications for reducing atmospheric CO2. Plus, soil carbon plays a vital role in sustaining water supplies, which are perilously threatened in much of the West. "Every one percent increase in soil carbon holds an additional 60,000 gallons of water per acre," says Apfelbaum. "Water infiltrates the ground and replenishes groundwater sources. Springs reappear."

肥沃、透气的土壤富饶多产，能保持水分，而环境最得益之处就是碳汇②。应用生态服务有限公司位于威斯康星州布罗德黑德，从事景观恢复。该公司创始人兼董事长斯蒂文·阿普费鲍姆说：“茁壮成长得草原表明该生态系统有着地球上最大的碳封存能力。”他指出，草原占据了美国45%以上的国土面积，这在全世界也是很可观的稳定比例，对减少大气中的二氧化碳有着重要意义。此外，土壤有机碳在维持水源系统方面起到关键作用。大部分西部地区的供水形势受到严重威胁。“土壤有机碳每增加百分之一就会使每英亩土地上增加6万加仑水，”阿普费鲍姆说，“水渗入地下，补充了地下水的不足。草原的春天又回来了。”

The grassland landscape "co-evolved with grazing animals and plants and predators," says Shannon Horst. This was once a biologically synergistic community, she says, but over thousands of years human interventions like hunting, farming and domesticating livestock changed the nature of the symbiotic relationship and produced stress on the land. Specialists in land restoration say that by considering animals, plants, soil and water as a system farmers and ranchers can work to restore the carbon, water and plant nutrient cycles that underlie land's biological productivity, and ultimately economic viability.

香农·霍斯特认为，草原上曾经呈现出“草食动物、肉食动物和植物共同进化的景观。”她说，这里曾是一个生物间协同作用的群落。但几千年来，人类以狩猎、农耕和驯养家畜这些活动介入，改变了共生关系的性质，并给土地带来压力。土地复垦专家说，农民和牧场主可以将动物、植物、土壤和水视为一个系统，整体运转系统，以此恢复碳、水和植物的养分循环，提高土地的生物生产力，最终重现经济活力。

From this standpoint, excess atmospheric CO2 can be understood as a carbon cycle dysfunction: too much carbon is up in the air rather than in the soil, where it lends fertility (33% of soil organic matter is carbon). Similarly, floods and droughts are symptoms of a carbon cycle gone wrong: when soil is compacted or eroded, rain evaporates or runs off. This June, Allan Savory won the Buckminster Fuller Challenge for "Operation Hope," a program in Zimbabwe that uses livestock and Holistic Management to fight poverty and food scarcity through restoring soil, water and biodiversity to degraded lands.

从这个角度来看，大气中的二氧化碳过多可以被理解为碳循环功能障碍：太多的碳不在土壤里，而在空气中，这剥夺了土壤中的肥力（碳元素应占土壤有机质的33%）。同样地，水灾和旱灾也是碳循环出现问题的征兆：当土壤被压实或者遭到侵蚀，雨水就会蒸发或流失。今年6月，艾伦·雪柏利凭“希望行动”项目在巴克敏斯特·富勒挑战赛中夺冠。该项目在津巴布韦进行，采用了牲畜和整体管理法，以恢复土壤、水和退化地块的生物多样性的方式对抗贫困与粮食匮乏。

Meanwhile, back at the Western ranch, landowners are using Holistic Management to streamline costs and enhance profitability. Nancy Ranney of Ranney Ranch in Corona, New Mexico, family-run since 1968, says that since introducing Holistic Management practices in 2002, feed costs have plummeted to one-fifth of what they were, fuel and labor costs have dropped 50% and 30% respectively, and the land is more resilient during droughts. She has also noticed that the land — at 18,000 acres it's a mid-sized operation — is healthier. While the pasture had been dominated by one type of grass, blue grama, "within three years we had 25 native grasses," she says. "The seeds were dormant in the soil and reappeared." This attests to increased biodiversity, which reflects a healthier ecosystem.

与此同时，在西部牧场，农场主使用整体管理法削减成本，提高盈利能力。从1968年起，新墨西哥州科罗纳的南希·兰尼一家就开始经营兰尼牧场。兰尼说，牧场2002年引入整体管理措施，饲料成本已降至此前的1/5，燃料和劳动力成本减少了50%和30%，土地对干旱的适应性变得更强。她也提到，这家18,000英亩的中型牧场更为健康。尽管现在牧场饲草品种主要是蓝色格兰马草，但“三年内我们就会有25种本地草种，”她说，“正在土壤中休眠的种子会重新发芽。”这证明了生物多样性有所增加，反映出这个生态系统比以往更加健康。

For Ranney, these changes not only made economic sense, but also spoke to family priorities. "We all feel this land was entrusted to us by our parents and grandparents, and we care about the integrity of the land," she says. "We're also concerned about global environmental health and biodiversity. We're interested in finding ways of protecting land as well as developing it." Some investors are establishing Western ranches with land restoration at the core. Grasslands, LLC, is a vast tract of two ranch properties in South Dakota acquired by investors including John Fullerton — a former Managing Director of JP Morgan and Founder and President of The Capital Institute — and under the operation of CEO Jim Howell, who's affiliated with the Savory Institute. In its pilot season Grasslands has already enhanced the land's productivity: there's 20% more edible grass, rather than opportunistic plants unpalatable to cattle that crop up when grazing is unmanaged. This means the land can carry more cattle. "When you improve the quality of the land in an ecological sense, the profitability follows," says Fullerton. He adds: "We're trying to track not just ecological and financial, but also social improvements so that we can have a thriving rural land based economy again."

对于兰尼来说，这些变化不仅具有经济意义，也关系到家族的头等问题。“我们都觉得，这片土地是父母和祖父母给予的，”她说，“我们关心土地的完整性，也关注全球环境健康和生物多样性。对于寻找方法对保护和开发土地，我们都很有兴趣。”一些投资者正在建立西部牧场，以土地复垦为核心任务。包括前任摩根大通董事总经理及资本研究所创始人兼所长约翰·富勒顿在内的一些投资人成立了草原责任有限公司，在南达科他州购买了两个牧场，目前附属于雪柏利研究所，由首席执行官吉姆·豪威尔负责运作。在试行季节，草原公司已经提高了土地的生产力：动物可食用饲草量增加了20%以上，不再像过去无序放牧时那样杂草丛生。这意味着土地可以承载更多的牛群。富勒顿说：“土地的生态质量有所提高之后，盈利将随之而来。”他还表示：“我们不仅要努力跟进了解生态和经济变化，还要随时关注社会进步。如此一来，我们就会拥有以农村土地为依托的经济，它将再次蓬勃发展。”

Grasslands, LLC is also exploring means to monetize the sequestration of carbon. "Putting a value on the ecosystem services of the land makes maintaining the land more profitable than, say, putting up condos," says Fullerton. "Our approach is triple bottom line people, planet and profit — leading with restoring ecological function. We want to show investors that you can make money and restore the grasslands." Courtney White, Executive Director of the Quivira Coalition, a New Mexico-based organization devoted to ecologically and financially sound Western ranch management, has introduced the concept of "The Carbon Ranch," the topic of the group's 2010 Conference, to be held in November in Albuquerque. He says: "This puts all the pieces together: reducing the carbon footprint, providing grass-fed food, restoring habitat, and carbon sequestration."

草原责任有限公司也在探索货币化碳封存的方法。“应该给土地的生态系统服务估价，让维持土地的生态面貌比盖公寓楼获得的利润更高，”富勒顿说，“我们采用人、地球和利润的三重底线方式③，由它来主导恢复生态功能。我们希望向投资者展示，这样做既能赚钱又能重建草原。”位于新墨西哥州的基维拉同盟④组织致力于在生态和金融领域健全管理西部农场。2010年11月，该组织在阿尔伯克基市召开了以“碳农场”为主题的年度大会。该组织执行董事科特尼·怀特此前引入了“碳农场”的概念。在这次会上，他说：“这个理念包含了所有目标：减少碳足迹、提供动物草料、再造栖息地环境和实现碳封存。”

To White, setting an economic value for sequestered carbon is important for mitigating against climate change — plus for added income to ranchers struggling economically. "It's tough for everybody," he says. "Farmers and ranchers get 19 cents on every dollar in the food system. If you do a good job you can raise your stocking rates. But usually you have to diversify income streams." The question, he says, is: "How can rural landowners be compensated for sequestering carbon? There is a role for government to light this fire: reward early adopters willing to tackle climate change for land use and food production.

怀特表示，为了减轻面对气候变化的压力，设定碳封存的经济价值就很重要，而且极力节省开支的农场主也会增加收入。“每个人都很不容易，”他说，“在食品业系统中，农民和农场主们从每一美元里能得到19美分。如果做的很好，他们可以提升畜牧率。但一般说来，必须得有各种各样的收益来源。”他说，问题是“怎样能补偿封存碳的乡村土地所有者？政府应该扮演重要角色：奖励那些在使用土地和生产食品方面有意及早采用对策解决气候改变问题的人。”

Steven Apfelbaum underscores the need to bring grassland soil sequestration into the discussion as the Senate embarks on new climate/energy legislation. "The work of the ranches in revitalizing grasslands is also good for the climate," he says. "Appropriate energy and climate policies that address growing soil carbon would provide a new source of revenue and give ranchers and farmers an incentive to apply ecosystem-based management."

斯蒂文·阿普费鲍姆强调，需要把草地土壤封存的问题提交美国参议院，在刚开始的新气候/能源立法讨论中考虑这一问题。“牧场努力恢复草原活力对气候也有好处，”他说，“要制定适当的能源和气候政策，旨在着重提高土壤中的有机碳含量。这会提供新的财源，还会激励牧场主和农场主运用基于生态系统的管理方式。”

Michael Bowman, a fifth-generation Coloradan, would be happy to see new economic opportunity in the Central Great Plains. "The out-migration has reached epidemic proportions, especially among young people," he says. "The school system here has one-half the students compared with three decades ago." Nancy Ranney says people in her New Mexico town have to drive 2 1/4 hours to find a fully stocked grocery store. More effective grazing management and additional sources of income, she notes, could allow more people to "stay on ranches, otherwise they'd have to sell."

迈克尔·鲍曼是第五代科罗拉多人，他很高兴看到中部大平原地区迎来了新的经济机遇。“当地人大批搬迁到外地，尤其是年轻人，”他说，“现在学校里的学生人数只有30年前的一半。”南希·兰尼说，新墨西哥州的人得花2小时15分钟时间开车才能找到一家货品齐全的杂货店。她指出，放牧管理越有效和收入来源越多就会让更多的人“继续经营牧场，否则他们将不得不把牧场卖掉。”

For now, Ranney is still stunned by how grazing management has changed the ranch routine: "We used to have three to four weeks of sustained riding to move animals to new pasture. Now they're in in a day. Where did the old Western round-up go? We're nostalgic for that, but it's all about less work and therefore greater productivity."

对于放牧管理改变了牧场惯例的方式，兰尼如今仍然表示震惊：“我们过去把动物们赶到新的草地要花3到4周，现在只用1天。从前西部那种放养到哪里去了？我们怀念那样的方式，但目前这样子工作量更少，生产力也就更高了。”

译注①：提出该理论的是雪柏利研究所的艾伦·雪柏利。他认为，影响草场的首要因素不是牲畜头数，而是植被暴露于牲畜的时间，提倡牧场推广整体放牧模式。

译注②：从空气中清除二氧化碳的过程、活动、机制。主要指森林吸收并储存二氧化碳的能力。

译注③：1997年，英国学者约翰·埃尔金顿（John Elkington）提出此概念，又称三重盈余，指企业盈利、社会责任、环境责任三者的统一。

译注④：基维拉（Quivira）是西班牙神话中盛产黄金之地。

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