VOA慢速英語(yǔ):森林能幫著為世界提供糧食嗎？

[00:00.10]Experts predict nine billion people will live on our planet by 2050. [00:08.30]They say by that time demand for food will be two times what it is now. [00:16.32]Officials are worried about that prediction [00:19.66]because many people already suffer from a lack of food. [00:25.12]More than 800 million people go to bed hungry. [00:31.02]A solution to the problem may be as close as our forests. [00:37.89]A new report says forests could help reduce hunger [00:42.85]and improve nutrition if they are properly managed. [00:47.97]Sayay Veoun works at the Cambodian Federation for Bee Conservation. [00:58.18]He says some of the best honey in the world comes from forests in southern Cambodia. [01:06.05]He says they work with five local honey buyers who work with 42 honey collectors. [01:21.23]People like Hak Laang buy the honey at stores in the capital, Phnom Penh. [01:28.61]She says it smells like fresh flowers. [01:37.55]She says the smell means it is natural honey from the jungle. [01:44.42]Healthy forests provide half of the fresh fruit we eat worldwide. [01:52.10]They also produce valuable crops like coffee, [01:56.63]avocados, cashews and other healthful seeds and nuts. [02:03.92]Bhaskar Vira is the director of the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute [02:12.55]and an expert with the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, or IUFRO. [02:20.88]It recently released a report at the United Nations about forest and jungle foods. [02:29.52]Mr. Vira says crops that grow on trees can help feed people living in and around forests. [02:39.17]"It's like an insurance policy. Having access to those tree-based foods is hugely important [02:45.51]when you can't buy food from other sources or when you can't produce food because your fields have failed." [02:51.06]The growing of crops requires fields. Many fields are created by clearing, or removing, trees. [03:00.48]But Mr. Vira says properly managed fields and forests can exist together. [03:09.01]He says if you increase food production in the field, you can keep the forest and trees. [03:17.29]He says they are important for the products and services they provide. [03:23.32]The report says that forest health and economic value improves [03:29.73]when people who live in or near forests are given greater control of them. [03:36.47]For example, a project in Ghana aims for proper management of forests and fields together. [03:46.75]The people involved hope to grow the Allanblackia plant. [03:51.68]The oil from its seed can be used in soap, beauty products and food. [03:59.54]Okai Michael Henchard leads the project. He says he will help people who live nearby. [04:09.29]He says they earn money and get trees on their land. [04:14.77]The trees provide shade and improve air quality. [04:20.10]Mr. Henchard says the project also helps fight climate change. [04:27.06]I'm Marsha James. [04:29.10]Words in This Story [04:31.92]properly – adv. in a way that is acceptable or suitable [04:40.14]manage – v. to take care of and make decisions about [04:48.83]insurance – n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company [04:59.50]and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, [05:07.20]or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen [05:20.59]jungle – n. a tropical forest where plants and trees grow very thickly [05:30.37]soap – n. a substance that is used for washing something

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