VOA常速英语:Africa’s Elephant Ivory: Sell or Destroy?(翻译)

A powerful scene here at Nairobi National Park in April,105 tons of elephant ivory and 1.35 tons of rhino horn destroyed as Kenya pledged its support for a complete ban of the ivory trade during the upcoming Convention on International trade in endangered species.
这是一处十分震撼的场景：今年四月在内罗比国家公园，有105吨的象牙和1.35吨的犀牛角被销毁，肯尼亚想要以此承诺对象牙交易全面禁令的支持，迎接即将到来的国际濒危物种贸易公约（CITES）成员国会议。

"So our philosophy has been to burn the entire stockpile,because this is one way of demonstrating to the world that if you offer trade in ivory,we give the misimpression that, actually, ivory is available.And yet it’s this very ivory that’s endangering our species.”
“我们采取的方法是烧毁整个象牙的库存，因为我们可以借此方法向世界更正过去的错误印象：象牙是可以交易、可以购得的。正是对象牙的交易，威胁到了我们国家的物种生存。”

Tens of thousands of elephants have been killed in recent years for their ivoryas a result of strong demand from Asian markets.The recent “Great Elephant Census”showed an alarming 30 percent decline in African savanna elephants between 2007 and 2014.
近年来，因为亚洲市场对象牙的强烈需求，有成千上万只大象被杀害。最近的“大象普查”显示了一个令人警醒的数字，在2007年到2014间，非洲大草原大象的数量下降了30%。

About 30 African countries, including Kenya, want a comprehensive ban on all international trade in ivory.
包括肯尼亚在内，约有30个非洲国家都希望全面禁止国际上对于象牙的交易。

"Nobody should buy ivory in the world."
“全世界的人们都不应该购买象牙。”

But Namibia and Zimbabwe have officially requested through CITES the right to sell their ivory stockpiles.Along with South Africa, these countries say they want to put the proceeds toward conservation efforts.
但是纳米比亚和津巴布韦已经正式向国际濒危物种贸易公约组织申请售卖他们库存象牙的权利。他们与南非一起，表示想要为公约的推进献出一份力。

South Africa says destroying ivory makes it more scarce,upping the black market price and driving more poaching.
南非表示摧毁象牙这一行为会加剧象牙交易的现象，因为这会使黑市象牙涨价、驱使更多的人去盗猎。

But Kenya argues that previous "one-time" sales have demonstrated the opposite is true,and that opening up trade for some countries puts elephants across the continent at risk.
但是肯尼亚争辩道，从前“一度存在”的象牙交易已经证明了事实恰恰相反，因为它使一些国家开始了对象牙的交易，将非洲的大象置于危险的境地当中。

"It is very, very hard to distinguish between legal and illegal ivory,and that means that having a legal supply of ivory in the market perpetuates the killing.And so, the cycle continues.Where you have trade, you have benefits going to a few kingpins,and you deny livelihoods to communities, and the populations continue to suffer.”
“要想将合法象牙交易和非法象牙交易区分开来，是非常非常困难的。这就意味着，只要在市场中保留一个提供象牙的合法渠道，就会使杀戮继续存在。因此，这样的循环只会继续。当你需要象牙买卖时，你会去市场找到那些占少数的“主要人物”，从而谋取暴利。接着你会忽视大象群落的生存状况，继续这样的交易，使得它们的数量继续下降。

Although elephants are the top issue for Africa at the CITES talks,trade restrictions and allowances for close to 500 other species will also be on the table.
虽然大象问题对于非洲国家来说，是国际濒危物种贸易公约组织谈话上的首要问题，但贸易管制和近500种其他物种的补助问题也会得到讨论。