[1]蘇利南的野生樹懶。相片由Stellar Tsang拍攝，鳴謝「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會」提供，經授權使用。
蘇利南[zht] [2]巴拉馬利波（Paramaribo）的一個保育組織正致力於拯救野生動物及保存其棲息地：在 2005 年由莫莉卡·普兒（Monique Pool）成立的「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會 [3]」（Green Heritage Fund Suriname）透過教育大眾以捍衛動物權益。
雖然蘇利南是個鬱鬱蔥蔥的國家，但其城市地域的動物卻深受森林砍伐的影響而離去。「綠色遺產基金會」的角色即是幫助這些動物──其中以樹懶為主──以及保存海豚和其它海洋生物的生態系統。
「全球之聲」與普兒進行訪談，並談及了其組織的重要工作。
[1]「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會」的創辦人及董事莫莉卡·普兒（Monique Pool）。相片由 Stellar Tsang 拍攝，經授權使用。
全球之聲（GV）：「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會」有些什麼日常性工作呢？
Monique Pool (MP): I think most people think we are either running behind sloths and anteaters, or maybe watching dolphins all day. I wish…but actually, we have a lot of tasks. We plan for new activities and then in between, we get calls for rescues. Sometimes we have one rescue a week and sometimes we have two rescues in one day.
Monique Pool (MP)：我想大部份的人都以為我們整天不是跟著樹懶和食蟻獸跑，就可能是看著海豚。我也想這樣子…但事實上我們有很多工作要執行。我們要策劃新活動，與此同時亦要接收救援請求。有時我們一星期只有一個救援任務，有時則是一天有兩個。
[1]一隻獲「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會」援救的樹懶的特寫。相片由 Stellar Tsang 拍攝，經授權使用。
GV：請跟我們多描述這類的活動，以及你們作為非營利組織的目標。
MP: We have four programs. The Xenarthra Program is basically the rescue, rehabilitation and release of wildlife. It’s also about [preserving] the ecosystem that they live in, to ensure that there’s enough left. We’re not just the normal conservation organization. We’re also looking more and more at the wildlife welfare of animals that are losing their habitat, especially in the city.
The second program is the Dolphin Program. While that's the one species the program is focusing on, we also started looking at the broader picture — all the animals that share the ecosystem with this dolphin and the health of that ecosystem. Together with WWF Guianas [4], the Nature Conservation Division of the Suriname Forest Service, and the Protected Areas Commission [5] of Guyana, we’re actually implementing a regional Marine Spatial Planning project. In the end, the aim for that program is to have a marine protected area.
Our third program is Education and Research. For us, education is the main focus of what we do because we feel if you don’t raise awareness or don’t educate people, you will never be able to protect areas. Education is a really important part of our efforts. It’s cutting through all of our programs and education, of course, includes advocacy.
The fourth program is Green Community Development. If the community invites us, we help them look for alternative ways of earning money.
MP：我們有四項計劃。異關節總目[zht] [6]計劃（Xenarthra Program）基本是包括野生動物的救援、復原及放生。這亦是關於［保存］這些動物所居住的生態系統，以確保牠們有足夠的存活數量。我們並非一般的保育組織，而是要確保這些正在喪失家園的野生動物的福祉，尤其是那些生存在城市的動物。
第二項計劃是海豚計劃。這個計劃不僅關注這一物種，我們也開始把眼光放得更遠──涵蓋了所有與海豚共享同一生態的動物及這生態系統的健康。我們與「世界自然基金會蓋亞那分會 [4]」（WWF Guianas）、「蘇利南林務局的自然保育部」（Nature Conservation Division of the Suriname Forest Service）及「蓋亞那保護區委員會 [5]」（Protected Areas Commission of Guyana），一同實施一項地區性的海洋空間規劃工程。這項計劃是以建構一個海洋保護區為最終目標。
我們第三項計劃是教育與研究。於我們而言，教育是我們主力的工作，因為我們覺得如果不提高人們的意識或者不好好教育他們，將難以真正地保護生態地區。所以，教育正是我們所做的努力的其中一個重要部分。它貫徹我們整個計劃，這當然也包括倡導活動。
第四項計劃是綠色社區發展（Green Community Development）。假如有社區邀請我們，我們會協助他們另覓賺錢的方法。
GV：為何你會選擇主力於保育樹懶呢？
MP: It’s more or less of a coincidence that we started doing that. I had lost my dog and while I was looking for him through the Animal Protection Society, I volunteered to take care of a baby sloth. Then I started becoming interested in why specifically sloths were being reported [to the Animal Protection Society] so much. We started focusing more on that whole group because they are very special animals — not just the sloths, but also anteaters. I became more and more curious, and started looking online for resources.
MP：其實這或多或少是個巧合。我的狗曾經走失了。當我在「動物保護組織」（Animal Protection Society）尋找牠時，曾義務照顧過一隻樹懶寶寶。之後我特別好奇為何那麼多樹懶被報失［至動物保護組織］。我們開始關注整個異關節總目，因為牠們是非常特別的動物──不只是樹懶，更包括食蟻獸。我對此越感好奇，所以開始於網上找尋有關資料。
GV：蘇利南城市的發展和森林砍伐是如何影響樹懶生存呢？
MP: All wildlife that shares the habitat with the sloths are affected when there is deforestation — but sloths are so slow, they cannot get away. The moment the machines start coming in, the monkeys will flee, the birds will go away, the snakes will leave because of the ground moving in a certain way. The animals will be gone, with the exception of the animals that are too slow to do that. These include the sloths, the silky anteaters (small anteaters that live very high in the trees), and the tree porcupines.
When we do the rescues, those are the animals that we mostly catch. We normally release all healthy animals within a week.
Deforestation is happening in the interior where there is illegal gold mining, but those areas are already heavily hunted, so there is not that much wildlife. Most of our animals come from the coastal zone, with maybe 96% coming specifically from the city.
MP：當森林被砍伐之時，所有與樹懶生存於同一棲息地的野生動物都會受到影響，但樹懶行動緩慢，所以無法逃走。當機器逐步逼近之時，不論是猴子、雀鳥還是蛇都因感受到地面的震動而逃之夭夭，只有行動太慢的動物會被留下來。這些動物包括樹懶、侏食蟻獸（居住於高樹上的小型食蟻獸）及樹豪豬。
我們進行救援工作時，這些動物最常被我們捉到。我們通常於一星期内將所有健康的動物釋放。
有不少非法掘金的內陸地區經常有森林砍伐的情況，但這些地區都已被過度狩獵，所以野生動物所剩無幾。大部分被我們所救的動物都來自沿海區域，而大概 96% 來自城市。
[1]一隻樹懶在蘇利南首都一處嚴重污染的荒地前行，而這裡有很多動物都面臨喪失家園的危機。相片由 Stellar Tsang 拍攝，鳴謝「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會」提供，經授權使用。
GV：當樹懶來到保護所時，你會如何照顧牠們？
MP: First, we assess their health status. If they are healthy, we release them within two to three days. Because of the hunting going on in Suriname, we normally do releases [in areas we deem safe].
[For injured animals], the most challenging part is providing food that they will eat. Once the animals eat, you can provide the full treatment they need before releasing them. But if they refuse to eat, they will die, even if they get the treatment; then, we need to make a decision about what to do. Sometimes we will release an animal if we see that being in the forest and being able to take care of itself will heal it. But we don’t do that very often — almost never — because a weak animal or injured animal is just food for predators.
MP：首先，我們會檢查牠們的健康狀況。如果一切安好，我們會在兩至三天內釋放牠們。由於蘇利南有不少人狩獵，我們多數會在確認為安全的地域放生。
至於受傷的動物，最大的挑戰是提供一些牠們願意進食的食物。一旦牠們進食，便能在釋放前為牠們提供全面的治療。但如果牠們拒絕進食，就算牠們得到治療亦會死去；然後，我們需決定下一步該怎麼辦。有時當我們發現牠們重回森林能夠好好照顧自己，我們會釋放牠們讓其自我復原。但我們甚少這樣做──幾乎是從未試過──因為一隻虛弱或受傷的動物只會成為其天敵的食物。
[1]莫莉卡·普兒和其機構成員伴著一隻獲救的樹懶。相片由 Stellar Tsang 拍攝，鳴謝「蘇利南綠色遺產基金會」提供，經授權使用。
GV：妳的工作中最困難的部分是什麼呢？
MP: When we have an animal that is really badly injured, the most difficult part is having to deal with people’s awareness about what they did to the animal. I remember this one animal — people had caught a two-fingered sloth because they wanted to eat it. Then they thought it was pregnant and because they didn’t want to eat a pregnant animal, they tied it up and let it sit in their yard. After maybe ten days, they called us. The wire had completely ruptured through the flesh of its leg and we had to euthanize the animal after we brought it to the vet.
For a week or more, the volunteer and I…we just couldn’t sleep thinking about that. It’s not just dealing with the suffering of the animals, but the ignorance of the people. That really gets me most, the ignorance.
MP：當我們處理一隻重傷的動物時，最困難的是如何讓人們意識到他們對這隻動物所造成的傷害。有隻動物令我印象深刻：有人抓了一隻兩指樹懶只因他們想吃掉牠。不過他們以為牠懷孕了，因為他們不想吃懷孕的動物，所以把牠綁起並留在後院中。大約十天後，他們聯絡我們前來。綑綁的鐵線已經完全地勒入牠的腿部，我們只好帶牠到獸醫院進行安樂死。
我和當時的義工在至少一星期的時間內都無法安心入睡，這件事在腦海中揮之不去。這不單是涉及動物所受的苦難，更是人們的無知。而這無知正是令我感受最深的。
GV：相反地，那一個部份最令你有滿足感呢？
MP: It’s an incredible thing that I am living in a country where these special animals live, where we can see them in the wild and where they still have reasonably untouched habitats. It’s just something I appreciate very much, that I live here — not just where sloths live, but also where these amazing dolphins live. It’s something I’m very grateful for. I’m grateful that I can speak on their behalf and help protect their habitat.
MP：很難以置信的是我居住在這些獨特的動物生存的國家裡，我們能夠在大自然中看見牠們，而牠們還有未受破壞的棲息地。這是我十分感激的事──我居住於此，不只有樹懶居住，還有這些令人讚嘆的海豚居住於此。這亦是我十分感恩的事。我很感激我能代牠們發聲，為牠們守護家園。
GV：那人們可以怎樣幫助你的機構及支持你的工作呢？
MP: There are two ways. One is to spend time, helping and volunteering with us. There can also be volunteering from a distance. There is a form on our website, where it says ‘Volunteer’ [7]. People can fill out their name, tell us what their skills are and how they want to help us. For example, our website administrator lives in the United States.
The other thing, of course, is donations. We live off of donations. That would help continue this work.
MP：這有兩種方法。第一是花時間──成為義工協助我們；在我們的網站上有「義工 [7]」表格提供，就算身在異地亦可以成為我們的義工。人們可以填寫他們的姓名、專長和想要如何幫助我們。例如我們的網站管理人本身就居於在美國。
另一方法當然就是捐款了。我們依靠捐款運作，這能幫助我們持續進行這項工作。
GV：你如何利用社交媒體獲得支持及增加關注度？
MP: We use social media to emphasise our message ‘a wild animal belongs in the wild’, and we use the #notapet [8] hashtag in a lot of our posts. We actively use our Facebook page [9] to raise certain issues and we have used social media to promote a petition we started in 2011 and repeated in 2013 [10] to fight against the selling of wildlife in the streets.
MP：我們以社群媒體強調我們的訊息：「野生動物是屬於野外的。」而且我們在眾多的貼文中加上#notapet [8](#不是寵物）作為主題標籤。我們積極地在我們的臉書專頁 [9]上發起一些議題，而且曾以社群媒體推廣我們於 2011 年發起的一項「反對街上販賣野生動物」的聯署活動，並且在 2013 年再次發起 [10]。
[1]Monique Pool 將一隻獲救的樹懶釋放回屬於牠的野外。相片由Stellar Tsang拍攝，鳴謝蘇利南綠色遺產基金，經受權使用。
GV：你所做的保育工作中有哪些是人們可能不甚了解的？
MP: One thing that is really good for people to know is that we do not keep animals in enclosures. There are a lot of people who call and say, ‘We want to come and see the animals’, or want to touch them. We don’t have animals in cages. We absolutely don’t do hugging. We ourselves even limit how much we touch the animals. Sloths are solitary animals, so they are not used to social interactions, even within their species — so you can imagine how other types of interaction can be very stressful for them.
Instead, we take people on releases because we have so many rescues and releases. It’s often a very beautiful moment, because you can see when they are sitting in a cage [on the way to being released], these animals get really depressed. Once you release them, you can actually see how their energy changes; how they get off into the forest, and it’s really amazing to see that. We allow people to take as many pictures as they want, because of course this is what we want to promote — that wild animals belong in the wild.
MP：有一件我們真心希望人們明白的事，是我們不會將動物困於籠內。有很多人會致電向我們表示：「我們想來看看動物。」或是想觸摸牠們。我們並沒有困在籠裏的動物，我們絕不會擁抱牠們，就算是我們亦要限制自己盡量少觸碰牠們。樹懶是獨居動物，所以牠們不習慣與他人接觸，甚至連牠們同類之間亦是如此。因此你可以想像其它形式的接觸會對牠們造成多大的壓力。
反而，我們讓人們參與放生，因為我們有太多救援及放生工作。這很多時候都是很動人的時刻，因為你可以見到牠們［被釋放之前］悶悶不樂地被困在籠內，一旦我們將牠們釋放，就見到牠們變得朝氣勃勃並奔向森林，這是我們樂見其成的。我們會讓人們盡情地拍照，因為這就是我們想宣傳的：野生動物是屬於野外的。