This year’s observance of the International Day for Biodiversity falls during the 2011 International Year of Forests, declared by the United Nations General Assembly to educate the global community about the value of forests and the extreme social, economic and environmental costs of losing them.
在今年举办生物多样性国际日纪念活动，适逢今年是2011国际森林年。联合国大会宣布今年为2011国际森林年，是为了让全球社会了解森林的价值以及失去森林将产生的极端社会、经济和环境成本。

The benefits of forests are far-reaching. Forests catch and store water, stabilize soils, harbour biodiversity and make an important contribution to regulating climate and the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. They generate profits for international businesses and provide essential income and resources for hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people. Yet, despite our growing understanding and appreciation of just how much we reap from forests, they are still disappearing at an alarming rate. This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity is devoted to highlighting the need for urgent action.
森林的益处久远绵长。森林聚水蓄水，稳定土壤，涵养多种生物，并对调节气候以及造成气候变化的温室气体做出重要贡献。森林为国际生意创造利润，为全世界数以亿计最贫穷的人民提供必不可少的收入和资源。我们取之于森林者可谓多矣。然而，尽管我们对这一点的理解和重视日益增加，森林仍然在以惊人的速度消失。今年的生物多样性国际日则专门强调采取紧急行动的必要性。

Last year, governments agreed on a new strategic plan for biodiversity at the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in Aichi, Japan. The Aichi targets call for a significant reduction in the rate of loss, degradation and fragmentation of all natural habitats, including forests, by 2020. One of the important tools agreed in Japan is the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. Forests contain a vast – and barely catalogued – store of biodiversity. The early ratification and implementation of this Protocol can support forest protection and the sustainable use of biodiversity. This, in turn, can contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable national development.
去年，各国政府在日本爱知县举行的名古屋生物多样性首脑会议上商定了一项新的生物多样性战略计划。爱知目标要求到2020年大幅度降低包括森林在内的所有自然生境的丧失、退化和条块分割速度。在日本商定的重要工具之一是《遗传资源获取以及利用遗传资源所产生惠益公平公正分享问题名古屋议定书》。森林中蕴藏的生物品类繁盛，但却几乎没有进行过分类登记。早日批准和实施该议定书可以支持森林保护和生物多样性的可持续利用。而这又可以促进减贫和可持续的国家发展。

As the ongoing climate change negotiations demonstrate, awareness is growing that reducing deforestation and forest degradation can play a large part in our response to the combined threat of climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. I commend this renewed emphasis on the importance of forests to sustainable development.
目前仍在继续的气候变化谈判表明，人们越来越清醒地认识到，减少森林的砍伐和退化，在我们应对气候变化、生物多样性丧失和土地退化等问题的共同威胁方面可以发挥重大作用。我赞扬这种一再强调森林对可持续发展的重要性的做法。

Nearly two decades ago, world leaders included the Rio Forest Principles as a major outcome of the Earth Summit, which also saw the birth of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Next year, governments will reconvene in Rio for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20). As we look forward to this landmark conference, I urge all sectors of society to re-commit to the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for our collective future.
将近20年以前，在地球问题首脑会议上，世界各国的领导人把《里约森林原则》作为首脑会议的重大成果列入成果文件，《生物多样性公约》也由此诞生。明年，各国政府将在里约再次聚首，召开联合国可持续发展大会(里约+20)。在我们期待这次里程碑式大会之时，我敦促社会各界再做承诺，对所有各类森林加以管理、养护和可持续的开发，以造福我们共同的未来。