Forests are one of the main elements of our natural heritage. 森林是自然遗产的重要组成部分。 The decline of Europe's forests over the last decade and a half has led to an increasing awareness and understanding of the serious imbalances which threaten them. 最近 15 年间，欧洲森林减少，导致人们逐渐意识并理解到严重失衡对森林构成威胁。 European countries are becoming increasingly concerned by major threats to European forests, threats which know no frontiers other than those of geography or climate: air pollution, soil deterioration, the increasing number of forest fires and sometimes even the mismanagement of our woodland and forest heritage. 欧洲国家逐渐关注欧洲森林的主要威胁因素，据了解这些威胁主要来自地理或气候：空气污染，破坏土壤，越来越多的森林火灾数量，有时甚至是木材厂和森林遗产的管理不善。 There has been a growing awareness of the need for countries to get together to co-ordinate their policies. 人们逐渐意识到国家间需要共同协调政策。 In December 1990, Strasbourg hosted the first Ministerial Conference on the protection of Europe's forests. 1990 年 12 月，斯特拉斯堡举办首届讨论欧洲森林保护问题的部长会议。 The conference brought together 31 countries from both Western and Eastern Europe. 这次会议把西欧及东欧的31个国家聚集到一起 The topics discussed included the co-ordinated study of the destruction of forests, as well as how to combat forest fires and the extension of European research programs on the forest ecosystem. 讨论的主题包含：破坏森林问题研究协作，如何抗争森林火灾及深化欧洲森林生态系统研究进程。 The preparatory work for the conference had been undertaken at two meetings of experts. 这次会议的预备工作由两次专家会议进行。 Their initial task was to decide which of the many forest problems of concern to Europe involved the largest number of countries and might be the subject of joint action. 他们的首要任务就是决定哪些森林问题涉及最大范围的欧洲国家并可作为共同行动的主题。 Those confined to particular geographical areas, such as countries bordering the Mediterranean or the Nordic countries therefore had to be discarded. 这些限制了指定地理区域，如地中海沿岸国家或北欧国家因此遭到舍弃。 However, this does not mean that in future they will be ignored. 然而，这并不意味着未来他们会被忽视。

As a whole, European countries see forests as performing a triple function: biological, economic and recreational. 总体而言，欧洲国家认为森林具有三部分功能：生物方面、经济方面和娱乐方面。 The first is to act as a 'green lung' for our planet; by means of photosynthesis, forests produce oxygen through the transformation of solar energy, thus fulfilling what for humans is the essential role of an immense, non-polluting power plant. 第一个职能是我们星球的“绿肺”，通过光合作用，森林通过太阳能转换制作氧气，为人类履行职能扮演了一个巨大的、无污染能源厂的重要角色。 At the same time, forests provide raw materials for human activities through their constantly renewed production of wood. 同时，森林通过不断更新木材数量为人类活动提供天然原料。 Finally, they offer those condemned to spend five days a week in an urban environment an unrivalled area of freedom to unwind and take part in a range of leisure activities, such as hunting, riding and hiking. 最后，他们给那些每周在城市环境下工作5 天的人们一个无与伦比的自由和放松的地方，人们可以参加休闲活动，如狩猎、骑马、登山。 The economic importance of forests has been understood since the dawn of man - wood was the first fuel. 人类产生之初就已经认识到森林的经济重要性——木材是第一个燃料。 The other aspects have been recognised only for a few centuries but they are becoming more and more important. 经过几个世纪后，人们才认识到其他几个方面，但是它们已变得越来越重要了。 Hence, there is a real concern throughout Europe about the damage to the forest environment which threatens these three basic roles. 因此，整个欧洲国家真真正正地关注到了会对这三个基本功能构成威胁的森林环境破坏问题。

The myth of the 'natural' forest has survived, yet there are effectively no remaining 'primary' forests in Europe. “自然”森林的神秘尚存，然而，事实上欧洲已不存在“原始”森林了。 All European forests are artificial, having been adapted and exploited by man for thousands of years. 所有欧洲森林都是人工的，被人类改造和开采了几千年。 This means that a forest policy is vital, that it must transcend national frontiers and generations of people, and that it must allow for the inevitable changes that take place in the forests, in needs, and hence in policy. 这意味着森林政策十分重要，它必须跨越国家疆界和几代人的努力，它必须考虑到在森林方面、需求方面，直至政策方面会不可避免地发生变化。 The Strasbourg conference was one of the first events on such a scale to reach this conclusion. 斯特拉斯堡会议是如此大规模得出这一结论的最早事件之一。 A general declaration was made that 'a central place in any ecologically coherent forest policy must be given to continuity over time and to the possible effects of unforeseen events, to ensure that the full potential of these forests is maintained'. 整体宣言声称，任何生态的连贯森林政策的中心地区，须保持超越时间的连续性和意料之外事件产生的可能影响，并确保保存这些森林的全部潜能。

That general declaration was accompanied by six detailed resolutions to assist national policy-making. 伴随那个整体宣言是六项详细的决定，用以帮助国家制定政策。 The first proposes the extension and systematisation of surveillance sites to monitor forest decline. 第一项提议扩大并系统化监管体管，以便监视森林的衰退。 Forest decline is still poorly understood but leads to the loss of a high proportion of a tree's needles or leaves. 人们很少理解森林衰退，直到森林衰退导致大部分树针或树叶的损失。 The entire continent and the majority of species are now affected: between 30%and 50% of the tree population. 目前，整个大陆及多数物种已受到影响：树木数量30%—50%。 The condition appears to result from the cumulative effect of a number of factors, with atmospheric pollutants the principal culprits. 似乎是许多因素累积影响导致这一个情况，如空气污染物质这一首要罪犯。 Compounds of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide should be particularly closely watched. 氮与二氧化硫复合物应受到特别关注。 However, their effects are probably accentuated by climatic factors, such as drought and hard winters, or soil imbalances such as soil acidification, which damages the roots. 然而，天气因素会令这些影响更为突出，如干旱、严冬或土壤失衡，以及土壤酸化破坏根部。 The second resolution concentrates on the need to preserve the genetic diversity of European forests. 第二项决定致力于保护欧洲森林遗传多样性。 The aim is to reverse the decline in the number of tree species or at least to preserve the ' genetic material' of all of them. 目的是扭转树木品种下降的趋势，或至少保护全部树木品种的“遗传原料”。 Although forest fires do not affect all of Europe to the same extent, the amount of damage caused the experts to propose as the third resolution that the Strasbourg conference consider the establishment of a European databank on the subject. 尽管森林火灾对欧洲各国的影响程度不同，但其破坏力让专家们提出第三项决定，斯特拉斯堡会议将考虑建立关于这一主题的数据库。 All information used in the development of national preventative policies would become generally available. 这样，用于国家保护政策发展的全部信息都可得到。 The subject of the fourth resolution discussed by the ministers was mountain forests. 第四项由部长讨论决定的课题是山林。 In Europe, it is undoubtedly the mountain ecosystem which has changed most rapidly and is most at risk. 在欧洲，无疑山脉生态系统迅速发生变化，大多已处于危险之中。 A thinly scattered permanent population and development of leisure activities, particularly skiing, have resulted in significant long-term changes to the local ecosystems. 一些稀疏零散的永久人口及休闲活动特别是滑雪的发展，已导致当地生态系统的严重而长期的变化。 Proposed developments include a preferential research program on mountain forests. 提议包含优先进行山林的研究。 The fifth resolution relaunched the European research network on the physiology of trees, called Eurosilva. 第五项决定由欧洲树木生理学调查网重新启动，被称为 Eurosilva。 Eurosilva should support joint European research on tree diseases and their physiological and biochemical aspects. Eurosilva 会为欧洲关于树木疾病及它们的生理和生物化学方面的共同研究提供支持。 Each country concerned could increase the number of scholarships and other financial support for doctoral theses and research projects in this area. 每个国家的都可以增加奖学金，并为博士论文集和课题研究提供其他财务支持。 Finally, the conference established the framework for a European research network on forest ecosystems. 最后，这一会议为欧洲森林生态调查网建立构架， This would also involve harmonising activities in individual countries as well as identifying a number of priority research topics relating to the protection of forests. 包括协调个体国家活动，支持优先研究与保护森林相关的课题。 The Strasbourg conference's main concern was to provide for the future. 斯特拉斯堡会议主要的关注在于为未来做准备。 This was the initial motivation, one now shared by all 31 participants representing 31 European countries. 这是最初的动机，现在被代表31 个国家的 31 名与会人员共享。 Their final text commits them to on-going discussion between government representatives with responsibility for forests. 最终决议将约束他们在政府代表与森林代表之间不断进行讨论。