If we still lived as hunters and gatherers on wild plums and animals alone,
如果我们依然以采集野果和狩猎为生，
then there would be only about 25 million people on earth today.
那么今天地球上可能只剩下2500万人了。
Now the population is over seven billion, which is due to a change in our way of life from over 10,000 years ago.
而现在地球上的人口已经超过了七十亿，这是因为10000多年前我们生活中做出的一个改变。
Some of your and my ancestors saw the potential in certain wild plants and animals and started domesticating them.
一些你们和我的祖先看见了某些特定的野生植物和动物身上的潜力，于是开始驯化他们。
This happened through continuous cultivation and selection of those plants with a special capacity
这就要经过持续的培养，并且要从各种植物中进行挑选，
only a small part of wild plants and animals can be domesticated at all.
只有很小的一部分植物和动物可以培养和驯化。
Let's have a look at this plant, for example.
比如我们来看看这种植物。
Isn't it amazing that out of this wild cabbage, kale, cauliflower and all the other cabbage varieties were developed?
通过这种植物我们培养出了洋白菜、甘蓝、花椰菜和其他种类的白菜，这难道不值得人们惊讶吗？
This development into a culture plant did, of course, not happen overnight
这种培养过程当然不是发生在一夜之间的，
but took thousands of years, and it took several hundreds of generations of humans.
而是耗费了上千年，也就是数百代人类才达成这样的成果。
That's why they are a real cultural heritage, just like the Eiffel Tower or a Van Gogh painting.
因此他们是真正的文化遗产，就像埃菲尔铁塔和梵高的画一样。
So, maybe the next time you bite into a cauliflower, be aware that you're eating a kind of Mona Lisa.
所以，下次你咬花椰菜的时候，当心你咬的是另外一种蒙娜丽莎哦。
Through domestication process, a huge diversity arose.
在培养的过程中，多样性产生了。
For almost every part of the world, species and varieties that fit the special conditions were found.
几乎在世界的每一个角落，人们都找到了能够适应各种特定环境的物种。
In Switzerland, for example, there were distinct varieties in almost every village, like the Kuttiger carrot or the Uster apple.
比如在瑞士，几乎在每一个村庄都有不同的品种，比如Kuttiger胡萝卜和Uster苹果。
I like to watch the reactions of people at exhibitions of traditional varieties. It is clearly split by age.
我很喜欢看人们在展会上看到那些传统品种时的反应。不同年龄之间有清晰的分界。
Older the people say, 'Oh, I remember this variety from my grandmother's garden.'
年长一些的人会说：“哦，我在我奶奶的花园里看见过这个。”
And younger people, they are just amazed and say, 'I didn't know there were so many different ones',
年轻一些的人只是很惊讶地说：“我还不知道居然有这么多不同的种类”，
and then they take out their phone and take a picture.
然后他们会拿出手机拍一张照片。
But apart from being a cultural heritage or simply being beautiful, do we really need this much diversity?
但除了作为文化遗产和好看之外，我们真的需要这么多种类吗？
Would not one single variety of each crop be enough?
一个品种里有一种难道不够吗？
What happens if a population depends too much on a single variety was highlighted in Ireland in the mid 19th century.
如果人类过度依赖一个品种会发生什么，这件事已经在十九世纪中叶的爱尔兰验证过了。
The Irish were mostly cultivating a potato variety called the Lumper.
当时的爱尔兰人大部分都会种植一种叫做Lumper的土豆。
Potatoes of the same variety are clones and thus genetically identical.
因为同一个品种都是克隆出来的，所以它们具有独一无二的基因。
So when a new disease arrived with the potato blight, it had a very easy game, and it destroyed the crops in consecutive years.
因此当一种新型的疾病马铃薯晚疫病发生时，它非常轻易的毁掉了连续几年的作物。
The sad consequence was that about a million people died, and one and a half million Irish had to emigrate.
结局很悲伤，死亡了大约一百万人，还有一百五十万的爱尔兰人不得不移民。
We can see from this that nature does not agree with monocultures, as they can be easily wiped out by a single disease.
从这儿我们就可以看出，自然并不支持单一文化，因为它很可能会被一种疾病轻易抹去。
The natives in South America, for example, do not grow only one single potato variety but many, many different ones.
比如南美洲的土著人，就不只种植一种土豆，而是种很多很多种不同的品种。
Like this, they always have a yield, as the varieties differ in their reaction to pests and drier or wetter years.
所以他们总有收获，因为不同的品种会对虫害或者旱季和雨季做出不同的反应。
A more current example to show that monocultures are only short living is the banana.
还有一个更靠近现代的例子，也证明了单一的文化存活时间不会长久，那就是香蕉。
It may well be that in a few years, you will not be able to eat one anymore.
可能在几年内你就无法再吃到它了。
The trade relies to 95 percent on a single variety which is grown on large plantations.
百分之九十五的香蕉贸易中交易的都是同一个品种。
These are now threatened by the Panama disease. There is no other variety to replace it at the moment.
而它们现在面临着巴拿马病毒的威胁。当下没有别的品种可以取代它。
And to make my point for diversity very clear, let's look at it from a completely different angle.
为了让我对于多样化的观点更加明确，我们从一个完全不同的视角来看。
If you were so lucky to be a millionaire, you would not put all your money on the same stock,
如果你很幸运地成为了一个百万富翁，你不会把所有的钱都投资在同一支股票上，
but you would diversify because the risk of losing everything is too big.
而是会选择多支股票，否则失去一切的风险就太大了。
But, in agriculture, instead of diversifying and minimising the risk, what we are doing is the exact opposite.
但是在农业中，人们做的不是选择多样化并且把风险最小化，而是恰恰相反。
And this funnel represents the concentration which is taking place at every level.
这个漏斗就代表了这种集中性，这样的现象发生在每个层级。

Firstly, it represents the people working in agriculture.
首先它代表着从事农业的人口数量。
At the beginning of the 20th century, it was 60 percent of the population. Now, it is down to three percent.
20世纪初，从事农业的人口有60%。现在下降到3%。
And it stands for the seed companies. In 1970, there were 7,000 companies, and none had a market share of over 0.5%.
它还代表着种子公司。1970年，有7000家种子公司，没有任何一家的市场份额超过0.5%。
Now, the top five hold 60 percent of the market.
现在，最顶尖的五家公司掌握着60%的市场。
And it stands for the huge loss in diversity.
它还代表着生物多样性的急剧减少。
In the last 150 years, we lost 75 percent of all varieties ever selected by humans. They have gone forever.
在过去的150年里，我们失去了曾挑选出来的所有物种中的75%。他们永远的消失了。
One reason for this huge loss is the industrialisation of every culture and with it the appearance of modern hybrid seeds.
造成这种损失的原因之一就是工业化和它带来的现代的杂交种子。
For farmers and gardeners, hybrid seeds are a dead end because they do not stay true to type when you take the seeds.
对于农民和菜农来说，杂交种子就是死结，因为当你拿到种子之后它们并不会一直繁衍。
You have to buy them every year, and thus, they are an extremely good business model, as you have to rely on the companies.
你每年都要去买新的种子，这就形成了一种完美的商业模型，于是你就需要依赖那些公司。
Traditional varieties, on the other hand, can be regrown by everybody who wants to, year after year, by saving your own seeds.
另一方面，传统的那些品种，所有想种的人都可以种，你可以攒下自己的种子一年年的种。
With traditional varieties, many ways are possible, and this is what makes them powerful.
有了传统的种子，就可能会出现很多不同的品种，它们就变得强大。
They can be the base for a more sustainable agricultural future.
它们可以为可持续的农业提供基础。
We do not know what challenges lie ahead and what new traits will be necessary, but the more diversity we can safeguard now,
我们不知道前面还有什么样的挑战，什么样的特性是有用的，但是我们现在能保留的种类越多，
the better the chances are that we will have the suitable varieties at hand for the future.
未来我们掌握合适种子的机会就越大。
And that is why I would like this funnel to be reversed again.
所以我希望把这个漏斗倒过来。
With urban gardening and farming and community supported agriculture, reversing this process has already started.
城市的花园农场和社区都在支持农业的发展，倒转这个过程已经开始了。
And that is why we from the ProSpecieRara Foundation try to save as many different traditional varieties as possible.
因此我们来自未来物种基金会的人在努力保留尽可能多的不同品种。
At the moment we're safeguarding 1,600 different vegetable varieties in our seed library here in Basel, and the number is still growing.
目前，我们在巴塞尔的种子博物馆保留了1600种不同的蔬菜种子，这个数字还在增加。
We think it's important to sow the seeds every year so that they can adapt to changing environment.
我们认为，每年播下种子是非常重要的，这样它们就能够适应不断变化的环境。
We would need a very large garden to be able to do so, but fortunately,
我们本来需要一个非常大的花园才能够做到这件事，幸运的是，
we have the help of over 500 volunteers who grow the varieties in their own garden and then send the saved seeds back to us.
我们有超过500名志愿者的帮忙，他们在自己的花园里种下种子，再把保留的种子寄回给我们。
Without them, our work and that of other seed saving organisations would not be possible.
没有他们，我们和其它那些种子保存机构就无法开展工作。
You can also be part in reversing this process.
你们也可以参与到这个逆转的过程中来。
To be honest, seed saving is quite difficult with most crops, but some are rather easy.
说实话，对于大部分作物来说，保留种子是很困难的，但有一些是很简单的。
Tomatoes, for example, are very simple and very rewarding.
比如西红柿就很简单，而且很容易见到成效。
Have you ever eaten a sun-ripe tomato fresh from the plant?
你们有没有吃过一种刚摘下来的熟西红柿？
The taste of it excels that of the supermarket type by far.
它的口感超过了目前市场上能见到的任何品种。
And instead of eating only red and round ones, you can choose from a huge variety in color, shape and size.
除了红色的圆形的西红柿，你还可以选择不同的颜色、形状和大小。
I'm sure you would find one that suits you.
你总会找到的适合你的那一款。
All you need is a sunny spot on your balcony or in front of your house, a pot, earth and water.
而你要做的，就是在你的阳台或者屋前找到一块儿阳光充足的地方，准备好花盆、土壤和水。
When a tomato is ripe, the seeds are ripe as well.
西红柿成熟之后种子也就成熟了。
So if you want to get the seeds from a very good variety,
如果你想获得不同品种的种子，
you just put the seeds in a glass and let them sit for one or two days. Then you rinse them and let them dry.
只需要把它们放进玻璃杯里，等待一到两天。然后冲洗干净再晒干。
As nature is abundant, you will get a large amount of seeds, which you can share with your friends and family and resow next spring.
大自然是非常慷慨的，你会得到很多种子，你可以跟朋友、家人分享，明年春天再种植。
By sowing and sharing them, you will keep a link alive to what your and my ancestors have been doing for thousands of years,
通过播种和分享，你就可以跟我和你们的祖先数千年来一直在做的那件事产生联系，
and bring it into the future. I hope you will give it a try. Thank you.
并把它带到未来。希望大家都试一试。谢谢大家。