Maps Reveal How Global Consumption Hurts Wildlife

A map shows species-threat hot spots linked to consumption in Japan. The scale bars indicate the total of all the fractions of threats to land or marine species caused by Japan.

MAP BY MORAN AND KANEMOTO, NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2016)

In a world driven by a globalized economy, the biggest threat to an endangered species is often fueled by consumer demand thousands of miles away. And this makes protection of wildlife and biodiversity an even more daunting task.

在由全球化經濟驅動的世界中，對瀕危物種的最大威脅通常由數千英里外的消費者需求推動。這使得保護野生動物和生物多樣性成為一項更艱鉅的任務。

Now scientists have traced these economic pressures back to their origins and mapped the spots where major consuming countries are threatening biodiversity around the world. The researchers hope the work can help exporting and importing countries work together on conservation efforts, many of which are still focused on local issues.

現在，科學家已經將這些經濟壓力追溯到它們的起源，並繪製了主要消費國在世界各地威脅生物多樣性的地方。研究人員希望這項工作能夠幫助出口國和進口國共同努力開展保護工作，其中許多工作仍然側重於地方問題。

“Conservation measures must consider not just the point of impact, but also the consumer demand that ultimately drives resource use,” write Daniel Moran of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Keiichiro Kanemoto of Shinshu University in Japan, in a paper published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

挪威科技大學的Daniel Moran和日本信州大學的Keiichiro Kanemoto在今天發表的一篇論文中寫道：“保護措施不僅要考慮影響點，還要考慮最終推動資源利用的消費者需求。自然生態與進化。

Moran and Kanemoto looked at 6,803 vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species around the world, identified the commodities that affect them, then traced those commodities to their final destination using a global trade model. The resulting maps in the gallery above show the cumulative species-threat hot spots on land and nearshore waters linked to legal exports to the United States, the European Union, China, and Japan.

Moran和Kanemoto在全世界查看了6,803個脆弱，瀕危或危急瀕危物種，確定了影響他們的商品，然後使用全球貿易模式追踪這些商品到最終目的地。上圖中的地圖顯示了與美國，歐盟，中國和日本的合法出口相關的陸地和近岸水域累積的物種威脅熱點。

Species-threat hot spots in South America, driven by consumption in the U.S. (a); in Africa, driven by exports to the E.U. (b); and in southeast Asia, driven by Japanese consumption (c). The scale bars indicate the total of all the fractions of threats to land or marine species caused by the consuming country.

MAP BY MORAN AND KANEMOTO, NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2016)

The work revealed some unexpected relationships between exporting and consuming countries. For example, threats to the Amazon basin receive a fair amount of attention in the United States, but the threat from U.S. consumption in Brazil is strongest in the country’s southern highlands, where agriculture is concentrated. The U.S. map also has an unexpected threat hot spot in southern Spain and Portugal, where several fish and bird species are in trouble. (See "Snake Wine and Other Wild Souvenirs to Avoid")

這項工作顯示出口國和消費國之間有一些意想不到的關係。例如，亞馬遜河流域的威脅受到的關注相當數量的美國，而是來自巴西美國消費的威脅是在該國南部高地，在農業集中最強的。美國地圖還有一個意想不到的威脅熱點在西班牙南部和葡萄牙，幾種魚和鳥類物種麻煩。（見“蛇酒和其他避免野生紀念品”）

The European Union’s consumption is having a big impact in Africa, particularly in countries like Ethiopia, Morocco, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar. Exports to Japan are driving threat hot spots in Southeast Asia, such as on New Britain island in Papua New Guinea, where palm oil and cocoa plantations are concentrated and a lot of logging occurs. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia’s marine species are facing threats from the U.S. and Europe.

歐洲聯盟的消費對非洲產生了巨大影響，特別是在埃塞俄比亞，摩洛哥，津巴布韋和馬達加斯加等國家。出口到日本正在驅使東南亞的威脅熱點，例如在巴布亞新幾內亞的新不列顛島上，棕櫚油和可可種植園集中在那裡，發生大量伐木。同時，東南亞的海洋物種正面臨來自美國和歐洲的威脅。

The 166 threats attributable to human activity that the scientists analyzed aren’t limited to direct harvesting of endangered species and the plants and other animals they depend on for survival. Exports also have a hand in increasing pollution and encouraging the destruction of critical habitat to make way for agriculture, forestry, and urban sprawl, as illustrated in the image below.

科學家分析的人類活動造成的166種威脅不僅限於直接收穫瀕危物種及其賴以生存的植物和其他動物。出口也有一隻手在日益嚴重的污染，鼓勵關鍵棲息地的破壞讓位給農業，林業，城市擴張，如下圖所示。

These maps breakdown threats to wildlife in Southeast Asia, as driven by exports to the United States.

MAP BY MORAN AND KANEMOTO, NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2016)

Moran and Kanemoto suggest that their maps can help conservationists more efficiently prioritize their work. Collaboration between the producing and consuming countries may be daunting but could be possible in some cases, especially in places where the threat is driven by exports to just two or three countries. The scientists are also hopeful that the work could help consumers interested in avoiding unsustainable products. “It is also possible to imagine companies comparing maps of biodiversity footprints against maps showing where their inputs are sourced,” they write.

Moran和Kanemoto建議他們的地圖可以幫助保護者更有效地優先考慮他們的工作。生產國和消費國之間的合作可能是令人生畏的，但在某些情況下可能是可能的，特別是在出口到僅僅兩三個國家的威脅的地方。科學家也希望這項工作可以幫助消費者有興趣避免不可持續的產品。 “他們寫道，”還可以想像公司將生物多樣性足蹟的地圖與顯示其投入來源的地圖進行比較。