（图解：1500平方公里的森林中约有 60% 位于白俄罗斯一侧）
（本文发布于2021年12月，作者为华沙大学生物学教授波格丹·雅罗谢维奇、波兰科学院哺乳动物研究所生物地理学研究负责人米哈乌·日米霍斯基等）

Poland is planning to build a wall along its border with Belarus, primarily to block migrants fleeing the Middle East and Asia. But the wall would also divide the vast and ancient Białowieża Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site which harbours more than 12,000 animal species and includes the largest remnants of prim forest that once covered most of lowland Europe.

波兰正计划在其与白俄罗斯的边界上修建一道墙，主要是为了阻止逃离中东和亚洲的移民。但这道墙也将辽阔而古老的比亚沃维耶扎森林分隔了开来，那里是联合国教科文组织评出的世界遗产，为超过12000种动物提供了居所，还包括曾经覆盖欧洲大部分低地的最大原始森林的残余部分。

Frontiers like this are of conservation priority because they often host unique biodiversity and ecosystems but are increasingly threatened by border fortification. We are experts in forest ecosystems and two of us combined have more than three decades of experience working in Białowieża, at the intersections of forest, plant and bird ecology. In the journal Science, we recently described how the border wall planned by Poland would jeopardise this trans-boundary forest.

像这样的边境是保育的优先事项，因为它们通常拥有独特的生物多样性和生态系统，但越来越多地受到边境地区防御工事的威胁。我们是森林生态系统方面的专家，我们中的两个人在比亚沃维耶扎森林拥有超过三十年的工作经验，从事的是森林、植物和鸟类生态学的交叉领域。在《科学》杂志上，我们最近描述了波兰规划的边界墙将会如何危及这片跨边界森林。

The core of Białowieża is characterised by old-growth forest rich in dead and decaying wood on which mosses, lichens, fungi, insects and also many vertebrates depend. Big animals such as the European bison, boar, lynx and wolf inhabit the forest on both sides of the border.

比亚沃维耶扎的核心是以原始森林为特征的，富含枯死和正在腐烂的木头，而苔藓、地衣、真菌、昆虫以及很多脊椎动物都籍此维生。欧洲野牛、野猪、猞猁、狼等大型动物栖息在边境两侧的森林中。



（图解：比亚沃维耶扎森林富含枯死和腐烂的木材）

A wall would block the movement of these animals, for instance preventing brown bears from recolonising the Polish side of the forest where they were recently observed after a long absence. The wall would also risk plant invasions, and would mean noise and light pollution that will displace wildlife. The influx of people and vehicles, and already accumulated garbage (mainly plastics) also pose risks, including disease – we already know that humans can transmit COVID to wild species, like deer.

一道墙会阻断这些动物的活动，比如说，会阻止棕熊重新移居到波兰一侧的森林中，最近它们在那里被观察到了，而它们在那里已经消失了很久。这堵墙还会带来植物入侵的风险，还会导致噪音和光污染取代了野生动物。人和车辆的大量涌入，以及已经出现的堆积的垃圾（主要是塑料制品）也会带来风险，包括疾病：我们已经知道人类可以把新冠病毒传染给野生物种，比如鹿。

Poland’s wall will be 5.5 metres high, solid, with barbed wire at the top, and will replace a 130 km provisional 2.5m high razor-wire fence built during summer to autumn 2021. This wall will be high enough to affect low-flying birds, such as grouse.

波兰的墙将会有5.5米高，很坚固，顶部装有带刺铁丝网，它将会取代在2021 年夏季至秋季期间建造的长130公里、高2.5米的临时铁丝网围栏。这道墙足够高，足以影响在低空飞行的鸟类，比如松鸡。

Impeding wildlife more than people

对野生动物造成的阻碍多过人

Poland’s proposed wall resembles the barrier built along parts of the US-Mexico border. Research there based on camera-traps shows that such walls deter people less than they impede wildlife. Animals affected by the US-Mexico barrier include jaguars, pygmy owls, and a bison herd whose food and water were split by the border.

波兰提议的这道墙类似沿美墨边境部分区段建造的隔离墙。在那里开展的基于相机陷阱的研究表明，这样的墙对人的威慑力，不如对野生动物的阻碍大。受美墨隔离墙影响的动物包括美洲豹、鸺鹠（译注：即侏儒猫头鹰，鸱鸮科）和某个野牛群，它们吃的食物和饮用的水被这道边界分隔开了。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


The fences across Europe are highly varied, and no mitigation standards exist. A razor-wire fence, constructed in 2015 by Slovenia along its border with Croatia, killed deer and herons with a mortality rate of 0.12 ungulates (hoofed mammals) per kilometre of fence. Along the Hungary-Croatia border, mortality in the first 28 months following construction of a fence was higher, at 0.47 ungulates per kilometre. Large congregations of red deer were also observed at the fence-line which could spread disease and upset the predator-prey dynamic by making them easier for wolves to catch.

欧洲各地的围栏千差万别，也不存在减少损伤的标准。2015 年，斯洛文尼亚在与克罗地亚接壤的边境上修建了一道铁丝网，由此杀死了鹿和苍鹭，每公里围栏的死亡率为 0.12 只有蹄类动物（有蹄的哺乳动物）。在匈牙利-克罗地亚边境，修建围栏后的头28个月死亡率较高，为每公里0.47只有蹄类动物。在围栏线上还观察到有大规模的马鹿聚集，它们可能会传播疾病，也因为更容易被狼捕捉而打乱了掠食者和猎物间的动态关系。



（图解：赤鹿（欧洲马鹿），比亚沃维耶扎森林狼最爱的食物之一）

People can and will use ramps, tunnels, and alternative routes by air and sea, whereas wildlife often cannot. Walls have a big human cost too. They may redirect people, and to a lesser extent wildlife, to more dangerous routes, for example, river crossings or deserts, which may intersect with areas of high natural or cultural value.

人们有能力使用也愿意使用斜坡、隧道以及空中和海上的替代路线，而野生动物通常没有这个能力。筑墙也要耗费巨大的人力成本。它们可能会将人以及野生动物（程度较轻）重新导向更危险的路线，比如河流交叉口或沙漠，这些路线可能会贯穿具有很高自然或文化价值的地区。

Physical barriers such as fences and walls now line 32,000 kilometres of borders worldwide with significant increases over the past few decades. According to one recent study, nearly 700 mammal species could now find it difficult to cross into different countries, thwarting their adaptation to climate change. The fragmentation of populations and habitats means reduced gene flow within species and less resilient ecosystems.

围栏和墙这类物理屏障现在遍布于全球3.2万公里的边界上，而且在过去几十年中显著增加。根据最近的一项研究，现在有近700种哺乳动物很难进入不同的国家，从而阻碍了它们对气候变化的适应。种群和栖息地的碎片化，意味着物种内部的基因流动减少以及生态系统的复原能力降低。

Border security over climate action

边境安全高于气候行动

According to the Transnational Institute, wealthy nations are prioritising border security over climate action, which contravenes pledges made at COP26 such as protecting the world’s forests. Some of the 257 World Heritage forests are now releasing more carbon than they absorb, but Białowieża Forest is still a healthy, well-connected landscape. Poland’s border wall would put this at risk.

据跨国研究院的说法，在优先事项上，富国将边境安全置于气候行动之上，这违背了在第26届联合国气候变化大会（2021年11月）上做出的保护全球森林等承诺。在257 处世界遗产森林中，现在有一部分释放的碳比它们吸收的还要多，但比亚沃维耶扎森林仍是一个健康且血统上佳的景观。波兰的边界墙将使它处于险境。

The construction of such walls also tends to bypass or be at odds with environmental laws. They due conservation investment and hamper cross-boundary cooperation. It was already hard for us to collaborate with fellow scientists from Belarus – the new wall will make cross-border scientific work even harder.

这种墙的建造往往也会绕过环境法规，或与之相左。他们贬低保育类投资并阻碍跨境合作。我们已经很难与白俄罗斯的科学家同行进行合作了，这道新的墙将会使跨境科学工作变得更难开展。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


It is possible to mitigate the effects of certain border barriers. But that requires, at the very least, identifying at-risk species and habitats, designing fences to minimise ecological harm and targeting mitigation at known wildlife crossing points. It may also mean assisted migration across a barrier for certain species. To our best knowledge no formal assessment of either social or environmental costs has yet been carried out in the case of Poland’s planned wall.

减轻特定边界障碍造成的影响是有可能的。但至少这需要查明处于危险中的物种和栖息地，设计围栏时要最大限度地减少对生态的危害，并有针对性地对已知野生动物的过境点进行减少损伤的工作。这可能也意味着，要帮助特定物种跨越障碍迁移。据我们所知，尚未对波兰规划的墙造成的社会成本或环境成本进行正式评估。

It’s time conservation biologists made themselves heard, particularly when it comes to the issue of border barriers. As climate change threatens to disrupt borders and migratory patterns of people and of wildlife, we will need to reform, not only policies and frxworks, but also how we perceive borders.

现在是保育生物学家出来发声的时候了，在涉及边界障碍问题时就更应如此了。由于气候变化有可能扰乱人类和野生动物的边界以及迁徙模式，所以我们需要改革，不仅要革新政策和参照标准，我们对边界的认知也要革新。