The next time you're stuck in traffic,

下次你堵車的時候。

take a minute to take a look at the sea of cars around you.

花點時間看看身邊的車海。

How many car companies do you think you could recognize?

你覺得你能認出幾家車企？

I'm not even really into cars,

我甚至不是真的喜歡汽車。

but I think I'd do fairly well.

但我認為我會做得相當好。

But then look beyond the cars

但是，再看看汽車以外的地方

to the trees that line the side of the road.

到路邊的樹木。

How many of those could you identify?

你能認出其中多少人？

Probably not as many, right?

可能沒有那麼多吧？

Year upon year,

年年如此。

we grow further and further away from nature

漸行漸遠

to the point where we have to question:

以至於我們不得不質疑。

What experience of nature will the next generation have?

下一代人將擁有怎樣的自然體驗？

And if that generation lacks a sort of emotional connection

如果這一代人缺乏一種情感上的聯繫

with their surroundings,

與周圍的環境。

then will they bother to fight and save it

那他們會不會去打仗，去救它

when we need it most?

在我們最需要的時候？

My name is Nirupa Rao, and I'm a botanical artist.

我叫Nirupa Rao，是一名植物學家。

In short, that means I paint plants,

簡而言之，就是我畫植物。

usually with watercolor,

通常用水彩畫。

in a way that aims to be not only aesthetically appealing

不僅要有美感，而且要有吸引力

but also scientifically accurate.

但也是科學準確的。

And I'm well aware that this is quite an odd profession

我很清楚這是個很奇怪的職業。

for a 21st-century urban Indian --

為21世紀的城市印第安人

some might say outdated in the age of the camera --

攝影機時代，有人會說過時了

but here's how my journey began.

但這是我的旅程如何開始。

A few years ago,

幾年前。

I met two naturalists who work with the Nature Conservation Foundation:

我認識了兩位在自然保護基金會工作的自然學家。

Divya Mudappa and T.R. Shankar Raman.

Divya Mudappa和T.R. Shankar Raman.

And now interestingly,

而現在有趣的是。

they actually began their careers working with animals,

他們實際上開始了他們的職業生涯 與動物工作。

but they soon came to realize

但他們很快就意識到

that if they were to protect those animals,

如果他們要保護這些動物，

they'd also have to protect their habitats --

它們也必須保護自己的棲息地 --

that is, the trees they live off.

也就是他們賴以生存的樹木。

And so they started a rainforest restoration program

於是他們開始了一個雨林恢復計劃。

aimed at growing local trees that local birds and animals rely on.

旨在種植當地鳥類和動物賴以生存的樹木；

And they were looking to visually document them in some way,

而他們希望以某種方式直觀地記錄它們。

but the photographers they approached came up empty-handed.

但他們接觸的攝影師卻空手而歸。

These trees were up to 140 feet tall.

這些樹高達140英尺。

That's 26 times my height.

那是我身高的26倍。

Try capturing giants like that in a single camera frame.

試著在一個鏡頭畫面中捕捉這樣的巨人。

Besides, the surrounding greenery was just too dense

而且，周圍的綠化太過濃密了

to clearly isolate a single tree.

以清晰地隔離一棵樹。

And so together, we decided to give good old painting a shot.

於是，我們一起決定給好老畫一個機會。

And to tell you the truth,

實話告訴你

even when I was standing there right in front of them,

即使我就站在他們的面前。

it was difficult to see the entire tree.

很難看到整棵樹。

So instead I'd study the buttress up close

所以我就近距離的研究一下這塊地的情況

and then climb up the hill to see its crown rising above the canopy.

然後爬上山頭，看它的樹冠升到樹冠之上。

And then with Divya, and she there as aide,

然後和迪芙婭在一起，她在那裡當助手。

we could piece these pieces of the puzzle together

我們可以把這些拼圖拼起來

into the final painting.

成最終的畫作。

For a lot of people who don't know the jungles

對於很多不瞭解江湖的人來說。

as well as these naturalists,

以及這些自然學家。

these paintings are the only way that they'll get to see these trees

這些畫是唯一的方式，他們會得到看到這些樹。

in their entirety.

全部內容。

We were able to document 30 of the region's most iconic species

我們記錄了該地區30種最有代表性的物種。

along with their fruit, flowers, seeds and leaves.

以及它們的果實、花朵、種子和葉子。

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Through this process,

通過這個過程。

the jungles really came alive to me.

叢林對我來說真的很生動。

They morphed from this undifferentiated sea of green

它們從這無差別的綠色海洋中蛻變出來。

into individual species with individual characters.

變成具有獨立字元的單個物種。

And I think a lot of people just tend to see plants as background scenery,

而我覺得很多人只是傾向於把植物看成背景風景。

assuming that their immobility makes them uninteresting.

假設他們的不動聲色使他們無趣。

But I began to see that it is that very rootedness that makes them fascinating,

但我開始發現，正是因為這種根深蒂固，才讓他們變得迷人。

the ingenious ways in which they adapt and respond

巧妙的方式來適應和應對。

to threats and opportunities

威脅和機會

on timescales that make our heads hurt to imagine.

在時間尺度上，讓我們頭疼的想象。

And I couldn't help but wonder:

我也不禁疑惑。

What if I could tell their stories,

如果我可以告訴他們的故事。

showcase their complexity?

展現其複雜性？

Perhaps we'd all start to think of plants a little differently.

也許我們都會開始對植物有一些不同的看法。

And in fact, in my family, plants have always been a source of fascination.

而事實上，在我的家族中，植物一直是我的魅力所在。

My grand-uncle, Father Cecil Saldanha,

我的叔祖父，塞西爾-薩爾丹哈神父。

was the first to document the flora of our home state of Karnataka

是第一個記錄我們家鄉卡納塔克邦的植物群的人

back in the '60s.

早在60年代，

And my mother has all of these memories

而我媽媽有這些記憶

of being a little girl watching this entire enterprise unfold.

作為一個小女孩，看著這整個企業的發展。

And consequently,

是以。

I've come to associate plants with adventure and discovery

我把植物與冒險和發現聯繫在一起。

and excitement.

和興奮。

And so I knew I didn't just want to paint roses and sunflowers.

所以我知道我不只是想畫玫瑰和向日葵。

I wanted to paint the kinds of plants that botanists like my uncle work with.

我想畫出像我叔叔這樣的植物學家所研究的那種植物。

And so I set out to create a book,

於是我開始創作一本書。

supported by the National Geographic Society,

由國家地理學會支持。

on the weirdest, wackiest plants we could find

在我們能找到的最奇怪、最古怪的植物上。

in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world:

在世界生物多樣性最豐富的地區之一。

India's very own Western Ghats.

印度自己的西高止山。

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Take a look at these fantastic jewel-like sundews.

來看看這些神奇的寶石般的蘇迪曼。

They grow in regions where nutrient content in the soil is poor,

它們生長在土壤中營養成分較差的地區。

and so they have a little way of supplementing their diets.

於是他們有了一點補充飲食的方法。

They lure, trap and ingest insects using mucilaginous glands on their leaves.

它們利用葉子上的粘液腺引誘、誘捕和攝食昆蟲。

The little insects are attracted to the sweet secretions,

小蟲子被甜美的分泌物吸引。

but once they come in contact,

但一旦他們接觸到。

they are ensnared and the game is up.

他們被套住了，遊戲結束了。

And you might notice

你可能會注意到

that the sundews very cleverly hold their flowers on tall, thin stems

杉樹非常聰明地把花放在高高的細莖上。

high above their murderous leaves

高高在上

to avoid trapping potential pollinators.

以免誘捕潛在的授粉者。

Further inside the jungle,

再往叢林裡面走。

you might meet the strangler fig.

你可能會遇到勒索者無花果。

It grows in areas where sunlight is scant

它生長在陽光稀少的地方。

and competition is intense.

且競爭激烈。

And so it has a strategy to sort of cut in line and get ahead.

所以它有一種策略，算是切中要害，出人頭地。

You see, its seeds are dispersed by birds

你看，它的種子是由鳥兒散播的。

that drop them atop the branches of existing trees.

將它們落在現有樹木的枝條上。

And that little seed will start to germinate from there,

而那顆小小的種子將從那裡開始發芽。

sending its shoots upward to the sky

漫天飛舞

and its roots all the way down to the ground,

並將其根部一直延伸到地面。

all the while strangling the host tree, often to death.

同時將寄主樹勒死，往往是死亡。

And even if that host tree dies and rots away,

而且就算那棵宿主樹死了，腐爛了。

the strangler will persist

掐死人不償命

as a hollowed-out column of roots and branches.

作為空心的根和枝的柱子。

And if that didn't impress you,

如果這還不能打動你的話

let me show you one of my personal favorites:

讓我給你看看我個人的最愛之一。

the Neelakurinji.

Neelakurinji。

When it blossoms,

當它開花的時候。

it does so in unison,

它的做法是一致的。

covering entire hillsides in carpets of blue.

覆蓋整個山坡的藍色地毯。

This is its pollination strategy known as "gregarious flowering,"

這是它的授粉策略，被稱為 "雜交花"。

in which it invests all of its resources into a single, spectacular event

其中，它將所有資源投入到一個單一的、壯觀的事件中

aimed at attracting pollinators to the feast --

旨在吸引傳粉者參加盛宴 -- --

which is easily done,

這是很容易做到的。

considering the Neelakurinji is all that can be seen for miles around.

考慮到Neelakurinji是周圍數英里內唯一能看到的地方。

But here's the catch:

但這裡有一個問題。

it happens only once every 12 years.

每12年才發生一次。

(Applause)

(掌聲)

And soon after seeding,

而且播種後不久。

these flowers will die,

這些花會死。

not to be seen again for the next 12 years.

在接下來的12年裡都不會再出現。

This is our way of telling a story of the Western Ghats:

這是我們講述西高止山的故事的方式。

through plants and through their ecosystems

通過植物及其生態系統

and the various ways in which they interact

以及它們相互作用的各種方式

with players in their habitats.

與玩家在他們的棲息地。

It's glorious, isn't it?

這是光榮的，不是嗎？

But the way things are going,

但事情的發展。

we can't be sure that the Neelakurinji will come out to play again

我們不能確定Neelakurinji會不會再出來玩。

in the next 12 years.

在未來12年內，。

The further and further we grow from nature,

我們離自然越走越遠。

the more we are almost literally blind to it

我們越是對它視而不見

and the effects that our activities have on it.

以及我們的活動對其產生的影響。

And that's what it's called -- "plant blindness":

這就是所謂的--"植物盲"。

the increasing inability to really register the plants around us

越來越無法真正瞭解我們身邊的植物。

as living beings.

作為活生生的人。

The two scientists that coined this term,

創造這個詞的兩位科學家。

Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee,

Elisabeth Schussler 和 James Wandersee,

contend that plants lack certain visual cues.

認為植物缺乏某些視覺線索。

They don't have faces,

他們沒有臉。

they don't move,

他們不動。

and we don't perceive them as threats.

而我們不認為他們是威脅。

And so with the increasing onslaught of information that our eyes receive,

於是隨著我們的眼睛接受的資訊越來越多，越來越猛烈。

we just deprioritize registering plants,

我們只是取消了註冊植物的優先權。

simply filtering out information that we view as extraneous.

只是過濾掉我們認為無關的資訊。

But stop to think about that.

但停下來想一想。

Are plants really extra?

植物真的是額外的嗎？

Are they just nature's backdrop?

它們只是大自然的背景嗎？

Or are they the fundamental building blocks

或者說它們是基本的構件

upon which all life is based,

一切生命的基礎。

the starting points of our ecosystems

生態系統的起點

and the reason why earth is sustainable for life to this day?

而地球之所以能持續生活到今天？

I leave you with these images from a program called "Wild Shaale,"

我把這些圖片留給你，來自一個叫 "野性沙爾 "的節目。

which in Kannada means "wild school."

在坎納達語中的意思是 "野學"。

It's run by a conservationist, Krithi Karanth.

它是由一位保護主義者Krithi Karanth經營的。

And her team turned some of my illustrations

她的團隊把我的一些插圖

into games that village children could play with and learn from.

成遊戲，讓村裡的孩子們可以玩，可以學。

And I can tell you they were so excited to see plants that they recognized --

我可以告訴你，他們是如此興奮 看到植物，他們承認 -

the trees that the monkeys play on,

猴子玩耍的樹。

the flowers they use at their harvest festival,

他們在豐收節上用的花。

the fruit they use to wash their hair.

他們用來洗頭的水果。

And it's that sort of familiarity which, when celebrated,

而正是這種熟悉的感覺，當慶祝。

turns to love,

變成了愛情。

which then turns into an urge to protect.

然後變成一種保護的衝動。

It's really time we open our eyes to the world around us,

我們真的該睜開眼睛看看周圍的世界了。

to this entire kingdom that's hidden in plain sight.

到這整個隱藏在眾目睽睽之下的國度。

And so the next time you're stuck in traffic,

所以下次你堵在路上的時候。

you know what to do.

你知道該怎麼做。

(Applause)

(掌聲)