VOA常速英语:Chocolate Industry Fights Deforestation Caused by Growing Cocoa

During the Easter season, chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits are extremely popular, but environmentalists say chocolate lovers should be aware of the environmental damage that occurs when rainforests are cleared for cocoa growing operations, especially those that are illegal.
复活节期间，巧克力蛋和巧克力兔子非常流行。但是，环保人士提出，巧克力爱好者应当认识到一种环境破坏，即砍伐热带雨林以种植和谐会带来环境破坏，尤其是那些非法的和谐种植。

“We can’t indulge in a feel-good luxury product at the expense of a huge swath of tropical rainforest.”Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, is losing its rainforests at a faster rate than any other African nation.While cocoa growing is legal in national parks here,the government says it wants to stop illegal cocoa farming, which makes up 40 percent of the harvests.Park rangers at Mont Peko National Park work hard to remove illegally grown cocoa trees, but progress is slow.“Roughly more than 800 hectares of cocoa has been cut compared to the parks total area of 34,000 hectares. That’s very little.”
“我们不能以牺牲大片雨林为代价来享受这些带给我们舒适感的产品。”科特迪瓦是世界上最大的和谐生产国，但这里的雨林正在以非常快的速度消失，速度比非洲其它任何一个国家都要快。虽然和谐种植在这里是合法的，但政府仍表示想要阻止非法和谐的种植，其收成占总收成的百分之四十。佩丽山国家公园的管理员努力清除非法种植的和谐，但是进展缓慢。“大约有800多公顷的和谐已经砍伐掉了，但是和公园总占地3.4万公顷相比，这些还是太少了。”

Ivory Coast and Ghana, the second largest cocoa producer, are collaborating with the leading chocolate companies and the noNPRofit World Cocoa Foundation to end the deforestation.“The cocoa and chocolate industry took landmark decision back in 2017 to end deforestation in the cocoa supply chain, and promote forest restoration, beginning in the two key geographies of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.The World Cocoa Foundation which is a membership organization of a hundred different companies has been the main convener of this partnership of the companies, working very closely with the two governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.”But while the cocoa industry and governments work in deforestation, some cocoa traders are still turning a blind eye to illegally harvested beans.The World Cocoa Foundation recommends choosing chocolate brands that adhere to international standards and from groups that support sustainable farming practices.
加纳是世界上第二大和谐制造商，科特迪瓦与其和世界上领先的巧克力生产商开展合作，以结束对森林的砍伐，参与合作的还有非营利机构——世界和谐基金会。和谐和巧克力协会在2017年作出了一个具有里程碑意义的决定，结束对森林的砍伐，促进森林恢复。这个决定从两个关键的地区开始实施，即加纳和科特迪瓦。世界和谐基金会是一个拥有一百家公司的成员组织，其已经成为这些公司合作伙伴的主要召集人，它和两国政府也保持密切合作。但是，虽然和谐业和政府都在努力减少森林砍伐，一些和谐交易商仍然对非法采摘的豆子睁一只眼闭一只眼。世界和谐基金会建议人们选择一些品牌，即遵循国际标准的和支持农业可持续发展的巧克力品牌。

“There are some brands that carry out a certification standard, like Rainforest Alliance (RA-Cert) or Fairtrade.”The environmental protection group—Mighty Earth—has expanded its focus to look at deforestation caused by the cocoa industry in other countries,including Indonesia Cameroon, Peru and Ecuador.
有一些品牌实行诸如“雨林联盟”或者“公平贸易”的认证标准。环保团体——强大的地球——已经开始注意其他国家由和谐引发的森林砍伐情况了，其中包括印度尼西亚、喀麦隆、秘鲁和厄尔多瓜。

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