Message by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on World Wildlife Day

联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯世界野生动植物日致辞

（来源：英文巴士）

2022年3月3日

Each year, on World Wildlife Day, we celebrate the beauty and wonder of our planet’s wild plants and animals. Why do we care about wildlife? Beyond a moral duty to sustain the Earth, humanity depends on the essential products and services that nature provides, from food and fresh water to pollution control and carbon storage. By damaging the natural world, we threaten our own well-being.

每年的世界野生动植物日，我们都赞美和欢呼地球上美丽与神奇的野生动植物。我们为什么关爱野生动植物？因为人类除了负有维持地球的道义责任外，更依赖于大自然所供给的食物、淡水等必要产品，也依赖于大自然所发挥的污染控制、碳储存等必要功能。毁坏自然界的行为威胁到我们自身的福祉。

Today, all around the world, wildlife is in peril. A quarter of species face the threat of extinction, in large part because we have destroyed nearly half of the ecosystems in which they live. We must act now to reverse this trend.

今天，全世界的野生动植物都处于危险之中。四分之一的物种面临灭绝威胁，很大程度上是因为它们生活于其中的生态系统有近一半已遭人类破坏。我们必须即刻采取行动扭转这一趋势。

This year’s World Wildlife Day highlights the importance of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). Ecosystems are only healthy when their component species thrive. If just one keystone species disappears, an entire ecosystem can start to decline and die. This is why actions to protect individual species must go hand-in-hand with restoring entire ecosystems.

今年的世界野生动植物日活动突出宣传联合国生态系统恢复十年（2021-2030）的重要性。只有让构成生态系统的物种茁壮成长，这个系统才是健康的。哪怕只有一个关键物种消失了，整个生态系统就有可能开始衰亡。这就是为什么保护单个物种的行动必须与恢复整个生态系统齐头并进。

On this World Wildlife Day, let us commit to preserving our invaluable and irreplaceable wildlife for the benefit and delight of current and future generations.

值此世界野生动植物日，让我们下定决心保护对人类而言宝贵而不可替代的野生动植物，造福于今世，也造福于后代。

（编辑：王彦力）