爱思英语编者按：生物多样性是地球上生命经过几十亿年发展进化的结果，是人类赖以生存的物质基础。为了保护全球的生物多样性，1992年在巴西当时的首都里约热内卢召开的联合国环境与发展大会上，153个国家签署了《保护生物多样性公约》。1994年12月，联合国大会通过决议，将每年的12月29日定为“国际生物多样性日”，以提高人们对保护生物多样性重要性的认识。2001年将每年12月29日改为5月22日。

Message on the International Day for Biological Diversity
生物多样性国际日致辞

New York, 22 May 2014
2014年5月22日

This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity falls in the International Year of Small Island Developing States and is being observed under the theme of “Island Diversity”.

今年的国际生物多样性日恰逢小岛屿发展中国家国际年，纪念活动在“岛屿多样性”主题下进行。

For some 600 million island-dwellers—nearly one-tenth of the world’s population and representing one in three United Nations Member States—biodiversity is integral to their subsistence, income, well-being and cultural identity.

约6亿岛上居民占世界人口近十分之一，联合国会员国的三分之一是岛国，因此，生物多样性是其生计、收入、福祉和文化认同不可或缺的组成部分。

Half the world’s marine resources lie in island waters.  Biodiversity-based industries such as tourism and fisheries account for more than half the gross domestic product of small island developing states.  Coral reefs alone provide an estimated $375 billion annual return in goods and services.  Many island species on land and sea are found nowhere else on Earth.  Legacies of a unique evolutionary heritage, they hold the promise of future discoveries—from medicines and foods to biofuels.

全世界一半的海洋资源位于岛屿水域。以生物多样性为基础的行业，如旅游业和渔业，占小岛屿发展中国家国内生产总值的一半以上。单是珊瑚礁就提供了每年约3750亿美元的商品和服务收入。许多陆地和海上物种是地球任何其他地方都没有的。它们是独特的进化遗产，为未来在药品、食品、生物燃料诸方面获得发现带来希望。

Yet, reflecting a global pattern, island biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate in the face of growing risks.  Rising sea levels caused by climate change, ocean acidification, invasive alien species, overfishing, pollution and ill-considered development are taking a heavy toll.  Many species face the prospect of extinction. People’s livelihoods and national economies are suffering.

然而，岛屿生物多样性面临不断增长的风险，正在以前所未有的速度丧失，这也反映了全球格局。气候变化引起的海平面上升、海洋酸化、外来物种入侵、过度捕捞，污染和考虑不周的发展正在造成沉重损失。许多物种面临着灭绝的前景。国计民生正在受到影响。

The process to define a post-2015 development agenda and the Third Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa in September of this year both offer opportunities to attend to the unique needs of small island developing states and reverse the global decline in biodiversity.  Because of their vulnerability, small island developing states are demonstrating a growing understanding of the links between healthy ecosystems and human well-being.  Many have made local, national and regional commitments to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, including through ratifying important instruments such as the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization.  I call on all countries around the world to follow suit and ratify the Protocol without delay.

阐明2015年后发展议程的进程和今年9月在萨摩亚举行的第三次小岛屿发展中国家会议都提供了契机，可借以应对小岛屿发展中国家的特殊需求，扭转全球生物多样性衰退的局面。正是由于它们的脆弱性，小岛屿发展中国家正在表现出对健康的生态系统与人类福祉相互关系的不断认识。其中许多国家已就保护和可持续地利用生物多样性作出地方、国家和区域一级承诺，例如批准《关于获取遗传资源以及公正公平分享利用遗传资源所产生惠益的名古屋议定书》等重要文书。我呼吁世界各国采取同样做法，尽速批准该议定书。

Around the world, many innovative partnerships are being forged to preserve marine and coastal resources, enhance resilience to climate change and develop sustainable tourism, fisheries and other industries.  On this International Day, let us commit to adopting, adapting and scaling up best practices so we can protect fragile ecosystems for the benefit of all the islanders—and indeed people everywhere—who depend on them.

世界各地正在形成许多新型伙伴关系，以保护海洋资源和沿海资源，增强抵御气候变化的能力，发展可持续的旅游业、渔业和其他行业。值此国际日之际，让我们承诺采用、适应和推广最佳做法，以便我们能够保护脆弱的生态系统，造福于依赖生态系统的所有岛民、乃至世界各地的人们。