The kindest cut

　　最友善的砍伐(陳繼龍 編譯)

　　May 25th 2006

　　From The Economist print edition

　　DEPRESSING reports about how quickly the world's tropical forests are being f________① are commonplace. But depressing reports about the state of the trees that are still standing are much rarer. In fact, a new study from the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), an offshoot of the United Nations, claims to be the first exhaustive survey of tropical-forest management ever undertaken. Its findings, although grim, do contain a kernel[1] of hope.

　　有關全球熱帶森林遭到亂砍濫伐、令人痛心的報道極為常見，但是痛陳現(xiàn)存林木狀況的報道卻少之又少。事實上，聯(lián)合國分支機構——國際熱帶木材組織(ITTO)新近開展的一項研究，據(jù)稱是首次對熱帶森林管理現(xiàn)狀進行深入調(diào)查。其發(fā)現(xiàn)雖然令人沮喪，但從中我們還是看到了一線希望。

　　The ITTO examined “permanent forest estate”, meaning land that the governments of its 33 members have formally set aside for forests, and is therefore subject to some form of regulation or protection. The category includes both national parks and timber concessions, in both public and p________② hands. It covers 814m hectares, and accounts for roughly two-thirds of the world's tropical forests.

　　ITTO調(diào)查的對象是“永久性森林地產(chǎn)”，也就是被ITTO所屬33個成員國政府正式劃作森林地域，從而受到某種形式的管理或保護的土地。它涉及國家森林公園和木材的特許經(jīng)營，包括國營和私營。地產(chǎn)總面積達8.14億公頃，約占全球熱帶森林面積的三分之二。