Near the start of the rainy season in June 1983, Tony Rinaudo hauled a load of trees in his truck to be planted in remote villages in the Maradi region of Niger. Driving onto sandy soil, Rinaudo stopped to let air out of his tires to get better traction, and was hit by a sense of futility. For years, the Australian missionary had been working to improve the lives of people in one of the poorest countries in Africa by planting trees. But it wasn’t working. Most of the trees died or were pulled out by farmers. Standing beside his truck, all he could see was dusty barren plain, broken by a few scraggly bushes. “It dawned on me that I was wasting my time,” he says.

中文翻译：

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新闻特辑：使用树木改善气候和生态系统的最佳策略？顺其自然。

在1983年6月雨季即将来临之际，托尼·里纳多（Tony Rinaudo）用卡车拖了几棵树木，将它们种在尼日尔马拉迪地区的偏远村庄。Rinaudo在沙质土壤上行驶时，停下来让轮胎排出空气以获得更好的牵引力，并被一种徒劳的感觉击中。多年来，澳大利亚传教士一直致力于通过植树来改善非洲最贫困国家之一的人们的生活。但这没有用。大多数树木死亡或被农民砍伐。站在卡车旁边，他所看到的只是尘土飞扬的贫瘠平原，被一些草丛丛生的灌木丛打破了。他说：“我开始浪费时间了。”