喬萍萍/譯

The relentless spread of buildings and roads turns urban areas into heat islands， discomforting residents and exacerbating dangerous heatwaves， which are in any case likely to become more frequent as the planet warms.

高樓和道路的瘋狂擴(kuò)張將城市地區(qū)變成熱島，導(dǎo)致居民不適，加劇危險(xiǎn)熱浪強(qiáng)度。隨著全球變暖，以上情況無(wú)論如何都有可能變得更加頻繁。

A possible answer to the problem of heat is trees. Trees cool things down. Besides transpiration， they provide shade. Their leaves have， after all， evolved to intercept sunlight， the motor of photosynthesis.

針對(duì)高溫問(wèn)題，種樹(shù)是一個(gè)可行的解決方式。樹(shù)木可以降溫。除了蒸騰作用，樹(shù)木還提供陰涼，畢竟樹(shù)葉進(jìn)化出了攔截光照的特性，而光照正是光合作用的動(dòng)力。

To cool an area effectively， though， trees must be planted in quantity. In 2019 researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that American cities need 40% tree coverage to cut urban heat back meaningfully. Unfortunately， not all cities—and especially not those now springing up in the worlds poor and middle-income countries—are blessed with parks， private gardens or even ornamental street trees in sufficient numbers.

然而，要想給一個(gè)區(qū)域有效降溫，種植的樹(shù)木必須成大體量。2019年，威斯康星大學(xué)的研究員發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國(guó)城市的樹(shù)木覆蓋率達(dá)到40%才能有效給城市降溫。不幸的是，并不是所有的城市都有數(shù)量充足的公園、私人花園，或者行道樹(shù)，全球貧困和中等收入國(guó)家中正在興起的城市尤其欠缺植被。

Under the greenwood tree

綠林蔭下

One group of botanists believe they have at least a partial solution to this lack of urban vegetation. It is to plant miniature simulacra of natural forests， ecologically engineered for rapid growth. Over the course of a career that began in the 1950s their leader， Miya-waki Akira， a plant ecologist at Yokohama National University， in Japan， has developed a way to do this starting with even the most unpromising derelict areas.

一組植物學(xué)家認(rèn)為，對(duì)于城市植被缺乏，至少存在可以解決部分問(wèn)題的方案。這個(gè)方案便是建造天然林的微型模擬物，借助生態(tài)學(xué)手段快速造林。這組植物學(xué)家的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者、日本橫濱國(guó)立大學(xué)的植物生態(tài)學(xué)家宮脅昭自20世紀(jì)50年代著手此事，他已經(jīng)研究出一種方案，可以從最無(wú)望的廢棄區(qū)域開(kāi)始試驗(yàn)。

Dr Miyawakis insight was to deconstruct and rebuild the process of ecological succession1， by which bare land develops naturally into mature forest. Usually， the first arrival is grass. Shrubs sprout later， followed by small trees and， finally， larger ones. Incipient and mature woodlands therefore contain different species. The Miyawaki method skips some of the early phases and jumps directly to planting the kinds of species found in a mature wood.

宮脅博士的觀點(diǎn)是解構(gòu)和重建生態(tài)演替過(guò)程，即裸地自然發(fā)展為成熟林的過(guò)程。通常情況下，最先出現(xiàn)的是草，隨后灌木發(fā)芽，接著是小樹(shù)，最后是大樹(shù)。因此，幼林地和成熟林地包含的物種不同。宮脅造林法跳過(guò)了早期幾個(gè)階段，直接種植成熟林地中的物種。

When starting a Miyawaki forest， those involved， who often refer to themselves as gardeners， first analyse the soil in which it will grow. If necessary， they improve it by mixing in suitable fertilisers. They then select 100 or so local plant species to deploy. These are chosen by surveying the nearby area on foot instead of relying on published guidebooks， which have a habit of being out of date or even simply wrong.

建造宮脅森林之初，參與這項(xiàng)工作的人——他們通常稱(chēng)自己為“園工”——首先會(huì)分析待種土地的土壤。如果有必要，他們會(huì)在土壤中混入適當(dāng)肥料來(lái)改善土質(zhì)。接著，園工們會(huì)選擇100種左右的當(dāng)?shù)刂参锎钆浞N植。這些植物物種都是園工們實(shí)地調(diào)研周邊區(qū)域后選出來(lái)的，沒(méi)有參考已出版的指南，因?yàn)檫@些指南通常已過(guò)時(shí)，甚至是完全錯(cuò)誤的。

Using a wide mix of species， not all of them trees， is important. Most plantations， having been created for commercial purposes， are monocultures. But trees， shrubs and ground-covering herbs all coexist in natural forests， and the Miyawaki versions therefore have this variety from the start. Not only does that pack more greenery into a given space， it also encourages the plants to grow faster—for there are lots of positive ecological relations in a natural forest. Vines rely on trees for support. Trees give shade to shrubs. And， beneath the surface， plants roots interact with each other， and with soil fungi， in ways that enable a nutrient exchange which is only now beginning to be understood.

很重要的一點(diǎn)是，宮脅森林中要混種各種各樣的植物，而非全都種上樹(shù)。大多數(shù)為商業(yè)目的而建的種植園里種的都是單一植物物種，但是天然林中樹(shù)木、灌木和地被草本植物共存，因此宮脅森林從一開(kāi)始就體現(xiàn)了這種多樣性。這樣不僅能在給定的空間里種植更多綠色植物，還能加速植物生長(zhǎng)——因?yàn)樘烊涣种写嬖谠S多積極的生態(tài)關(guān)系。例如：樹(shù)木給藤本植物以支撐，還能為灌木遮蔭；地表之下，植物根系之間相互作用，還與土壤真菌相互作用，以各種方式交換養(yǎng)分，而這一點(diǎn)人們才剛剛有所了解。

After selecting their species， the gardeners gather seeds and plant them at random， rather than in rows. And they plant at high density. The seedlings therefore have to fight for sunlight， so only the fastest-growing survive. Trees planted in this way can shoot up2 as much as 14% more rapidly than normal. For three years， the gardeners water and nurture their handiwork. Then it is left to fend for itself3. A couple of decades later the whole thing reaches maturity.

選好植物物種后，園工們收集種子，但不會(huì)成行播種，而是隨意播種，種植密度也很高。因此，幼苗必須爭(zhēng)奪光照，只有生長(zhǎng)最快的才能存活。以這種方式種植的樹(shù)木生長(zhǎng)起來(lái)比正常情況下快14%。播種后的3年里，園工們會(huì)澆灌、培育他們親手種下的植物，隨后便任其自行生長(zhǎng)。幾十年后，整個(gè)森林便成熟了。

Dr Miyawaki has supervised the planting of more than 1，500 of these miniature forests， first in Japan， then in other parts of the world. Others are now following in his footsteps. India is particularly keen. In Mumbai， more than 200，000 trees are found in Miyawaki forests throughout the city and its suburbs. In Bangalore， more than 50，000. A group in Chennai has set up 25 such forests. The authorities in Tirunelveli， in the countrys south， use the Miya-waki method to create green cover in the citys schools. Hyderabad started growing the largest individual forest of the lot， across four hectares， in 2020.

宮脅博士已經(jīng)指導(dǎo)建造了1500多個(gè)微型森林，先是在日本，然后在世界其他地方。其他國(guó)家與地區(qū)正跟隨宮脅的腳步，印度尤其熱衷于此。在孟買(mǎi)，整個(gè)城市及其郊區(qū)的多個(gè)宮脅森林中共有20多萬(wàn)棵樹(shù)。在班加羅爾，這一數(shù)量超過(guò)了5萬(wàn)。金奈的一個(gè)園工小組已經(jīng)建造了25個(gè)宮脅森林。印度南部蒂魯內(nèi)爾維利當(dāng)局使用宮脅造林法在當(dāng)?shù)貙W(xué)校里建立綠色植被。2020年，海德拉巴開(kāi)始建造單體最大的微型森林，面積達(dá)4公頃。

The method is becoming popular outside Asia， too. In Europe， Belgium， France and the Netherlands are all home to Miyawaki forests. There are also a handful in Latin America. Wherever they are planting， though， gardeners are not constrained to follow natures recipe book to the letter. Miyawaki forests can be customised to local requirements. A popular choice， for example， is to include more fruit trees than a natural forest might support， thus creating an orchard that requires no upkeep.

宮脅造林法在亞洲之外的地方也越來(lái)越流行。在歐洲，比利時(shí)、法國(guó)和荷蘭都有宮脅森林。拉丁美洲也有幾個(gè)。然而，無(wú)論在哪里造林，園工們并不嚴(yán)格遵循大自然的秘方。宮脅森林可以因地制宜。例如，目前比較流行在宮脅森林中種植高于天然林承載量的果樹(shù)，這樣就會(huì)得到一個(gè)不需要維護(hù)的果園。

One such pomologist is Shubhendu Sharma. Mr Sharma has， through Afforestt， a firm he founded in 2011， become a leading proponent of the Miyawaki method. He was once an engineer at Toyotas factory in Bangalore and has brought his experience building cars to bear on4 the question of tree planting. He is particularly hot on5 time and motion6. He has measured how long， on average， it takes to plant each sort of seed or seedling and uses that information to schedule their sowing. Since its foundation， Afforestt has created over a hundred forests in ten countries in this way， and is currently setting up more. It has also spawned at least 15 imitators， in places as disparate as Australia， Chile and Iran.

舒本杜·夏爾馬就是采用這種方法的果樹(shù)栽培學(xué)家。2011年，夏爾馬成立Afforestt公司，由此成為宮脅造林法的主要支持者。曾在豐田班加羅爾工廠擔(dān)任工程師的夏爾馬，將自己制造汽車(chē)的經(jīng)驗(yàn)運(yùn)用到植樹(shù)造林上。夏爾馬特別擅長(zhǎng)設(shè)計(jì)最佳工作方法。他測(cè)量了栽種每種種子或幼苗平均需要多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，并利用這一信息來(lái)安排何時(shí)播種。自成立以來(lái)，Afforestt已經(jīng)以這種方式在10個(gè)國(guó)家打造了100多個(gè)森林，目前還在建造更多的森林。Afforestt還孵化出了至少15個(gè)模仿其模式的公司，分布在澳大利亞、智利、伊朗等不同的地方。

Heres one I prepared earlier

準(zhǔn)備已久

Mr Sharmas epiphany came one day in 2009， when Dr Miyawaki arrived at his workplace to plant a forest there. He was so impressed by this that he decided to transform his own backyard in like manner， with a planting that featured especially guava trees. Once the trees were established， Mr Sharma found that the temperature under his trees was 5°C below that of the surrounding area. As to guava， the forest grew so many of them that his mother had to give them away to neighbours.

夏爾馬的頓悟發(fā)生在2009年的一天，當(dāng)時(shí)宮脅博士來(lái)到夏爾馬工作的地方，在那兒種下了一個(gè)森林。夏爾馬對(duì)此印象深刻，于是決定以同樣的方式改造自己的后院，主要種植番石榴樹(shù)。番石榴樹(shù)種下后，夏爾馬發(fā)現(xiàn)樹(shù)下溫度比周邊低了5℃。至于番石榴，由于后院森林里結(jié)了太多果，夏爾馬的母親不得不把它們送給鄰居。

What Mr Sharma and others like him offer looks like a modern version of the 19th-century movements7 that brought city parks and their associated health benefits to the industrialising West. In those days the prevailing attitude towards nature was to try to tame it， and the parks created reflect that in their controlled， formal design. Now， greenery and environmentalism are the fashion， and the quasi-wild Miyawaki approach reflects this to a T8. The purpose is the same as before—to introduce rus in urbe9. But the means are completely in tune with the times.

夏爾馬和其他志同道合之人所從事的似乎是19世紀(jì)城市美化運(yùn)動(dòng)的現(xiàn)代版本。當(dāng)時(shí)的運(yùn)動(dòng)把城市公園以及與其相關(guān)的健康福利帶到了正在工業(yè)化的西方。在那個(gè)時(shí)代，人們對(duì)于自然的普遍態(tài)度是試圖馴服自然，這種態(tài)度在新建公園規(guī)規(guī)矩矩、整整齊齊的設(shè)計(jì)中得到了體現(xiàn)。現(xiàn)在，綠色植物和環(huán)保主義成為時(shí)尚，宮脅模擬天然林的造林法恰恰說(shuō)明了這一點(diǎn)。建造微型森林的目的和以前一樣，即打造鬧市中的田園，但手段卻完全與時(shí)代并進(jìn)了。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)?；單位：滁州職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)院）

1生態(tài)演替指一定地區(qū)內(nèi)，群落的物種組成、結(jié)構(gòu)及功能隨著時(shí)間進(jìn)程而發(fā)生的連續(xù)的、單向的、有序的自然演變過(guò)程。

2 shoot up迅速長(zhǎng)高。? 3 fend for oneself照料自己。

4 bring sth to bear （on sth）對(duì)……施加影響。? ?5 be hot on sth善于（做某事）；（對(duì)某事）了解很多。? 6 time and motion = time-and-motion study指為估計(jì)生產(chǎn)或工作效率而進(jìn)行的時(shí)間與動(dòng)作研究。? 7指城市美化運(yùn)動(dòng)（city beautiful movement）。19世紀(jì)末20世紀(jì)初，由美國(guó)知識(shí)分子、商人、建筑師發(fā)起并實(shí)踐的，致力于改善基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施、美化城市面貌的城市改革運(yùn)動(dòng)。

8 to a T〈習(xí)語(yǔ)〉（用以表示完全合適）恰好，絲毫不差。? 9 rus in urbe〈拉丁語(yǔ)〉城鎮(zhèn)中的鄉(xiāng)村。