陵墟羽客
陵墟羽客

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植物園保衛戰Battle of the botanic garden

英國衛報的Long read欄目發佈的一篇長文,内容有關懷特島(the Isle of Wight)上圍繞一個花園的爭論。

文章音頻https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2023/feb/13/battle-of-the-botanic-garden-the-horticulture-war-roiling-the-isle-of-wight-podcast

文章地址https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/battle-of-the-botanic-garden-the-horticulture-war-roiling-the-isle-of-wight

#在衛報上讀到這篇有趣的文章,於是就有了這篇總結,順便練習下自己的中英文表達能力。

文特諾植物園(ventnor botanic garden)是一座在文特諾島南部的小花園,上面種滿了從澳洲、南非和地中海搜集而來的植物。小島溫暖和煦的氣候條件給這些植物提供了很好的生長環境。自1970年建成以來,植物園一直由懷特島郡理事會(the Isle of Wight council)管理。但2008年的金融海嘯發生後,理事會再也無力承擔年復一年增長的財政赤字。他們積極尋找能接手植物園的私人買家,但前來應徵的都是想把植物園改造爲酒店的開發商。直到2012年,這座植物園被一個從天而降的救星——約翰.克緹斯(John Curtis)買下了。

克緹斯來自康涅狄格州(Connecticut)最古老的家族之一,也是約翰·溫斯羅普(John Winthrop)的直系後裔。他的衣著舉止就像是曼哈頓律師所的高級合夥人,其人思維敏捷,語速快,同時也是談話者忠實的聽衆。

克緹斯對植物園進行了大刀闊斧的改良。從前,植物園總是被一衆園藝師精心照料,從給植物澆水、人爲供熱到化學干預,無一不漏。但克緹斯接手后一年多以來,人們驚奇的發現,植物園變得像個無人打理的原始叢林,野草瘋長,落葉堆積。有前文特諾植物園的管理員評價,現在的文特諾植物園已經擔不起這個名號。前任管理者,賽門.古恩納(Simon Goodenough)甚至寫信給當地媒體,稱由於新管理層的疏忽,現在的植物園像個地獄。

克緹斯面對種種外界質疑,絲毫不露怯,他公開回應並解釋他的立場,認爲“順應自然,無爲而治”才能最好的照料植物園。

有保守派媒體聞風而來,趁機將此事描繪為激進環保主義者與單純只想要一個整潔漂亮的花園的普通人之間的戰爭。克里斯.基(Chris Kidd)是賽門的弟子,賽門卸任後他繼續留在文特諾植物園,成爲新園長克緹斯的左右手。他對賽門的公開信感到不解,認爲賽門年輕時也曾是新式環保主義的擁護者,只是隨著年紀漸增變得日益保守。

賽門的公開信引起軒然大波,各路媒體蜂擁而至,植物園的贊助者Friends Society更表示會撤資,不再為植物園的管理提供資金,直到克緹斯願意做出改變。

瓦萊莉.皮斯(Valerie Pitts)是Friends的首席,她是文特諾島居民口中的大陸人(Overner):從英國本土移居過來的人(a blow-in from the mainland)。她即位時,Friends Society和克緹斯的關係就已經很緊張。她很不喜歡克緹斯,認爲這個美國佬是爲了贊助金才接手植物園,並很堅定地表示會將這場鬥爭持續到底。

克緹斯對瓦萊莉的指控嗤之以鼻,他認爲這些人身攻擊只是源自反美情緒。“他們只想要美國大款給他們打完錢後就滾蛋”。他的曾外祖母簡(Jane B Francke)是美國保育協會的座上賓,他的外祖母向協會捐了1.5公頃的私人土地,他的母親,也是濕地保育運動的擁護者。克緹斯決心延續家族的傳統,成爲一名環保主義者。如果他真的想要金錢,他有比經營植物園更好的選擇。

置身於與從前全然不同的文特諾植物園中,沒有井井有條的植物,也沒有貼得到處都是的標簽,克緹斯表示這給了觀賞者沉浸式的體驗,仿佛他們真的走進了澳洲的原始叢林,他們見到的都是這些植物最原本的樣子。儘管Friends Society和克緹斯的下屬都不認同這種方式,並認爲如果不把克緹斯開除,就沒有辦法作出新的改變。克緹斯瞭解他們的想法,他也很自信沒人能動得了他,畢竟除了他,誰會來接手這個爛攤子呢?之所以采取這種放任的管理方式,也是因爲資金緊張和人手不足。

米歇爾.可恩(Michelle Cain),植物園的前首席園藝師,因爲和克緹斯理念不合而被開除。但她沒有離開,而是在懷特島租了個公寓,希望有一天能回到植物園工作。附近很多志願者經常去植物園幫忙清掃落葉,出於對這片土地的愛,也出於對他們所認爲正確的事的堅持。

英文總結:(不知爲何用英文寫出來的總結和中文完全不一樣😂)

The conflict over Ventnor Botanic Garden has been going on for some days. Since it has been took over by a US businessman John Curtis, the argument about what approach should a curator take toward the preservation of exotic plants in the garden spiked. John Curtis and his right-hand man Chris Kidd defended their stance that letting leave litter piled up and trees untrimmed is a natural and sustainable way to botanic gardening. The traditional methods, they say, are no longer tenable due to climate crisis.

Simon Goodenough, the former curator of botanic garden, has written an open letter to the Isle of Wight County Press, condenmning the management of Curtis and asking for public attention. Another erstwhile gardener entered the fray, bemoaning that the world-famous garden was handed over to someone with zero experience in this field.

Curtis was unmoved by the critics against him. He believed the gardening circle should recognize the value of this approach, which he called it Ventnor gardening. The flurry of open letters led to the Friends Society openly withdrawing funding from the botanic garden. Valerie Pitts, said she was staunchly opposed to the insidious way to sabotage the garden. She thought of Curtis just a shrewed businessman who want to squeeze the money out of financial supporters.

Chris Kidd pointed out that Simon himself was a radical pioneer in gardening in early years. But as time slips away, he aged into comfortable conservatism. Curtis believed his way of managing the garden is the best to preserve the originality of plants. It's also an economic way to keep the garden exist.

Michelle Cain, who was hired and appointed as head gardener by Curtis, was fired because of her differences with Curtis. But she still wants to go back to work there again, so as the other volunteers who clear debris from the storm. Despite all these disputes, they still view the garden as their common resources, and it is their right to maintain the order in the garden.

CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 版权声明

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