TEDGlobal 2009
Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food
Cary Fowler: Unha semente de cada vez, para protexer o futuro da comida
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As variedades de trigo, millo e arroz que medran na actualidade poden non prosperar nun futuro ameazado polo cambio climático. Cary Fowler introdúcenos nun gran banco de sementes mundial, soterrado debaixo dunha montaña xeada en Noruega, que almacena un grupo diverso de cultivos alimentarios polo que nos poida traer o futuro.
Cary Fowler - Biodiversity archivist
Biodiversity warrior Cary Fowler wants to save the world from agricultural collapse, one seed at a time. Full bio
Biodiversity warrior Cary Fowler wants to save the world from agricultural collapse, one seed at a time. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:19
I've been fascinated with crop diversity for about 35 years from now,
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Desde hai 35 anos, estou fascinado coa diversidade de cultivos,
00:23
ever since I stumbled across a fairly obscure academic article
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desde que batín nun artigo académico bastante escuro
00:28
by a guy named Jack Harlan.
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dun fulano que se chamaba Jack Harlan.
00:30
And he described the diversity within crops --
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Describía a diversidade dentro dos cultivos
00:33
all the different kinds of wheat and rice and such --
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--todos os diferentes tipos de trigo e arroz e outras--
00:36
as a genetic resource.
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como un recurso xenético.
00:38
And he said, "This genetic resource," --
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E dicía: "Este recurso xenético"
00:41
and I'll never forget the words --
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--e nunca esquecerei as súas palabras--
00:43
"stands between us and catastrophic starvation
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"interponse entre nós e unha fame catastrófica
00:46
on a scale we cannot imagine."
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ata un punto que non podemos imaxinar."
00:49
I figured he was either really on to something,
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Supuxen que el descubrira algo,
00:52
or he was one of these academic nutcases.
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ou que era un deses chalados académicos.
00:54
So, I looked a little further,
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Así que, investiguei un pouco máis
00:56
and what I figured out was that he wasn't a nutcase.
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e o que descubrín é que non era un chalado.
00:59
He was the most respected scientist in the field.
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Era o científico máis respectado do seu campo.
01:03
What he understood was that biological diversity -- crop diversity --
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O que entendeu é que a diversidade biolóxica --a diversidade de cultivos--
01:09
is the biological foundation of agriculture.
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é o alicerce biolóxico da agricultura.
01:12
It's the raw material, the stuff, of evolution in our agricultural crops.
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É a materia prima, a esencia, da evolución nos nosos cultivos agrícolas.
01:17
Not a trivial matter.
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Non é, entón, un asunto trivial.
01:19
And he also understood that that foundation was crumbling,
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E tamén entendeu que ese alicerce estaba a esbororarse,
01:24
literally crumbling.
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literalmente.
01:26
That indeed, a mass extinction was underway
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Que, de feito, unha extinción masiva estaba en marcha
01:30
in our fields, in our agricultural system.
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nos nosos campos, no noso sistema agrícola.
01:34
And that this mass extinction was taking place
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E que esta extinción masiva estaba tendo lugar
01:37
with very few people noticing
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con moi pouca xente informada
01:39
and even fewer caring.
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e moita menos aínda á que lle importase.
01:42
Now, I know that many of you don't stop
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Ben, sei que moitos de vostedes non se paran
01:44
to think about diversity in agricultural systems
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a pensar na diversidade dos sistemas agrícolas
01:47
and, let's face it, that's logical.
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e, sexamos sinceros, iso é lóxico.
01:49
You don't see it in the newspaper every day.
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Non o vemos nos xornais a diario.
01:52
And when you go into the supermarket, you certainly don't see a lot of choices there.
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E cando imos ao supermercado, a verdade é que non vemos moito onde elixir.
01:55
You see apples that are red, yellow, and green and that's about it.
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Vemos mazás vermellas, amarelas e verdes, e non hai máis.
02:00
So, let me show you a picture of one form of diversity.
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Entón, déixenme amosarlles unha imaxe dunha forma de diversidade.
02:04
Here's some beans,
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Velaí algúns feixóns,
02:06
and there are about 35 or 40 different
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arredor de 35 ou 40
02:10
varieties of beans on this picture.
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variedades diferentes de feixóns nesta imaxe.
02:14
Now, imagine each one of these varieties as being distinct from another
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Agora, imaxinen cada unha destas variedades diferentes entre si
02:18
about the same way as a poodle from a Great Dane.
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como se fosen un caniche e un gran danés.
02:20
If I wanted to show you a picture of all the dog breeds in the world,
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Se eu lles quixese amosar unha imaxe de todas as razas caninas do mundo,
02:25
and I put 30 or 40 of them on a slide, it would take about 10 slides
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e puxera 30 ou 40 en cada diapositiva, precisaría arredor de 10 diapositivas
02:29
because there about 400 breeds of dogs in the world.
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porque hai unhas 400 razas de cans no mundo.
02:33
But there are 35 to 40,000 different varieties of beans.
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Pero hai de 35 a 40.000 variedades diferentes de feixóns.
02:37
So if I were to going to show you all the beans in the world,
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Así que se eu fora amosarlles todos os feixóns do mundo,
02:40
and I had a slide like this, and I switched it every second,
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e tivera unha diapositiva coma esta, e a cambiara cada segundo,
02:44
it would take up my entire TED talk,
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ocuparía toda a miña charla en TED.
02:46
and I wouldn't have to say anything.
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E non tería que dicir nada.
02:50
But the interesting thing is that this diversity -- and the tragic thing is --
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Pero o interesante --e o tráxico-- é que esta diversidade
02:55
that this diversity is being lost.
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está a se perder.
02:58
We have about 200,000 different varieties of wheat,
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Temos arredor de 200.000 variedades distintas de trigo,
03:02
and we have about 2 to 400,000 different varieties of rice,
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e de 200 a 400.000 de arroz,
03:07
but it's being lost.
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pero están a perderse.
03:09
And I want to give you an example of that.
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E quixera poñerlles un exemplo diso.
03:11
It's a bit of a personal example, in fact.
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É un exemplo un pouco persoal, de feito.
03:13
In the United States, in the 1800s -- that's where we have the best data --
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Nos Estados Unidos, nos anos 1800 --que é de onde temos os mellores datos--
03:18
farmers and gardeners were growing 7,100
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os agricultores e xardineiros estaban a cultivar 7.100
03:23
named varieties of apples.
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variedades de maza con cadanseu nome.
03:26
Imagine that. 7,100 apples with names.
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Imaxinen. 7.100 mazás con nome.
03:30
Today, 6,800 of those are extinct,
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Hoxe, 6.800 delas extinguíronse,
03:35
no longer to be seen again.
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endexamais se volverán ver.
03:38
I used to have a list of these extinct apples,
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Eu adoitaba ter unha listaxe desas mazás extintas,
03:40
and when I would go out and give a presentation,
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e cando daba unha charla
03:42
I would pass the list out in the audience.
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pasáballe a listaxe ao auditorio.
03:44
I wouldn't tell them what it was, but it was in alphabetical order,
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Non lles dicía o que era, pero estaba en orde alfabética
03:47
and I would tell them to look for their names, their family names,
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e pedíalles que buscasen os seus nomes, os seus apelidos,
03:50
their mother's maiden name.
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os apelidos de solteira de súas nais...
03:52
And at the end of the speech, I would ask, "How many people have found a name?"
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E ao final da miña charla preguntáballes "Cantos de vostedes atoparon un nome?"
03:56
And I never had fewer than two-thirds of an audience hold up their hand.
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E nunca tiña menos de dous terzos do auditorio coa man erguida.
04:01
And I said, "You know what? These apples come from your ancestors,
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E eu dicíalles "Saben o que? Esas mazás proceden dos seus devanceiros,
04:07
and your ancestors gave them the greatest honor they could give them.
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e eles outorgáronlles o máis grande honor que lles podían dar.
04:12
They gave them their name.
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Déronlles o seu nome.
04:15
The bad news is they're extinct.
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A mala noticia é que se extinguiron.
04:17
The good news is a third of you didn't hold up your hand. Your apple's still out there.
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A boa noticia é que un terzo de vostedes non ergueu a man. A súa mazá aínda anda por aí.
04:22
Find it. Make sure it doesn't join the list."
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Búsquenas. Asegúrense de que non se engaden á listaxe."
04:27
So, I want to tell you that the piece of the good news is
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Ben, quero dicirlles que unha parte da boa noticia é
04:30
that the Fowler apple is still out there.
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que a mazá Fowler aínda anda por aí.
04:35
And there's an old book back here,
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Teño por aquí atrás un libro antigo
04:37
and I want to read a piece from it.
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e quería lerlles un anaco del.
04:44
This book was published in 1904.
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Publicouse en 1904.
04:47
It's called "The Apples of New York" and this is the second volume.
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Titúlase "As mazás de Nova York" e este é o segundo volume.
04:50
See, we used to have a lot of apples.
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Vexan, tiñamos un monte de mazás.
04:53
And the Fowler apple is described in here --
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E a mazá Fowler descríbese aquí
04:57
I hope this doesn't surprise you --
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--espero que isto non os sorprenda--
05:01
as, "a beautiful fruit."
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como "unha froita preciosa".
05:03
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
05:09
I don't know if we named the apple or if the apple named us, but ...
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Non sei se nos bautizamos a mazá ou se ela nos bautizou a nós, pero...
05:13
but, to be honest, the description goes on
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Pero, para ser sincero, a descrición continúa
05:17
and it says that it "doesn't rank high in quality, however."
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e di que "no entanto, non está moi ben clasificada en canto á calidade".
05:21
And then he has to go even further.
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E despois aínda vai máis lonxe.
05:23
It sounds like it was written by an old school teacher of mine.
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Parece que o escribise un meu antigo profesor.
05:26
"As grown in New York, the fruit usually fails to develop properly in size and quality
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"Como medra en Nova York, habitualmente a froita non se desenvolve adecuadamente en tamaño e calidade
05:32
and is, on the whole, unsatisfactory."
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e é, en conxunto, insatisfactoria."
05:34
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
05:42
And I guess there's a lesson to be learned here,
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E penso que de aquí se debe aprender unha lección,
05:44
and the lesson is: so why save it?
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e a lección é: e entón, por que conservala?
05:47
I get this question all the time. Why don't we just save the best one?
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Fanme seguido esta pregunta. Por que non conservamos só a mellor?
05:51
And there are a couple of answers to that question.
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E hai un par de respostas para esta pregunta.
05:53
One thing is that there is no such thing as a best one.
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Unha é que non existe cousa tal como "a mellor".
05:57
Today's best variety is tomorrow's lunch for insects or pests or disease.
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A mellor variedade de hoxe é o almorzo de mañá para os insectos, as pragas ou as enfermidades.
06:02
The other thing is that maybe that Fowler apple
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E a outra é ao mellor esa mazá Fowler
06:05
or maybe a variety of wheat that's not economical right now
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ou unha variedade de trigo que non é economicamente viable hoxe
06:10
has disease or pest resistance
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é resistente a pragas ou enfermidades,
06:12
or some quality that we're going to need for climate change that the others don't.
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ou ten algunha cualidade que imos precisar por mor do cambio climático e que as outras non teñen.
06:16
So it's not necessary, thank God,
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Así que non cómpre, grazas a Deus,
06:20
that the Fowler apple is the best apple in the world.
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que a mazá Fowler sexa a mellor do mundo.
06:23
It's just necessary or interesting that it might have one good, unique trait.
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Só é necesario ou interesante que poida ter un trazo bo e único
06:29
And for that reason, we ought to be saving it.
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E por esa razón debemos conservala.
06:32
Why? As a raw material, as a trait we can use in the future.
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Por que? Como materia prima, como un trazo que podemos usar no futuro.
06:38
Think of diversity as giving us options.
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Pensen na diversidade como fonte de opcións.
06:46
And options, of course, are exactly what we need in an era of climate change.
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E opcións, abofé, é exactamente o que nos cumprirá na era do cambio climático.
06:53
I want to show you two slides,
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Quero amosarlles dúas diapositivas,
06:55
but first, I want to tell you that we've been working at the Global Crop Diversity Trust
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pero, antes, quero contarlles que no Global Crop Diversity Trust levamos traballado
06:59
with a number of scientists -- particularly at Stanford and University of Washington --
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cunha serie de científicos --particularmente das universidades de Stanford e Washington--
07:03
to ask the question: What's going to happen to agriculture in an era of climate change
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para formularlles a seguinte pregunta: Que lle vai pasar á agricultura nunha era de cambio climático
07:07
and what kind of traits and characteristics do we need in our agricultural crops
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e que tipo de trazos e características lles cómpren aos nosos cultivos agrícolas
07:11
to be able to adapt to this?
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para ser capaces de adaptarse a el?
07:14
In short, the answer is that in the future, in many countries,
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Resumindo, a resposta é que no futuro, en moitos países,
07:18
the coldest growing seasons are going to be hotter
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as estacións de crecemento máis frías serán máis calorosas
07:22
than anything those crops have seen in the past.
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ca calquera outra que eses cultivos coñeceran no pasado.
07:25
The coldest growing seasons of the future,
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As estacións de crecemento máis frías do futuro
07:28
hotter than the hottest of the past.
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serán máis calorosas ca as máis quentes do pasado.
07:31
Is agriculture adapted to that?
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Está a agricultura adaptada a isto?
07:33
I don't know. Can fish play the piano?
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Eu non o sei. Os peixes poden tocar o piano?
07:36
If agriculture hasn't experienced that, how could it be adapted?
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Se a agricultura nunca experimentou tal cousa, como habería de estar adaptada?
07:41
Now, the highest concentration of poor and hungry people in the world,
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No presente, a maior concentración de persoas pobres e esfameadas do mundo,
07:45
and the place where climate change, ironically, is going to be the worst
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e a zona onde o cambio climático, ironicamente, vai ser peor
07:48
is in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
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coinciden no sur de Asia e na África subsahariana.
07:51
So I've picked two examples here, and I want to show you.
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Elixín dous exemplos e gustaríame amosarllos.
07:54
In the histogram before you now,
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No histograma que teñen diante,
07:56
the blue bars represent the historical range of temperatures,
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as barras azuis representan o rango histórico de temperaturas,
08:00
going back about far as we have temperature data.
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recuando ata onde existen datos rexistrados.
08:02
And you can see that there's some difference
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E poden ver que existen algunhas diferenzas
08:05
between one growing season and another.
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entre unha estación de crecemento e outra.
08:07
Some are colder, some are hotter and it's a bell shaped curve.
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Algunhas son máis frías, outras son máis calorosas e isto forma unha curva en forma de campá.
08:10
The tallest bar is the average temperature for the most number of growing seasons.
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A barra máis longa é a temperatura media para o maior número de estacións de crecemento.
08:16
In the future, later this century, it's going to look like the red,
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No futuro, avanzado este século, vaise asemellar á vermella,
08:20
totally out of bounds.
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totalmente fóra dos límites.
08:22
The agricultural system and, more importantly, the crops in the field in India
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O sistema agrícola, e o que é máis importante, os cultivos nos campos da India
08:26
have never experienced this before.
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nunca sufriron nada semellante.
08:29
Here's South Africa. The same story.
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E esta é de África do sur. O mesmo conto.
08:33
But the most interesting thing about South Africa is
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Pero o máis interesante de África do Sur é
08:35
we don't have to wait for 2070 for there to be trouble.
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non fai falta agardar ata 2070 para bater cos problemas.
08:39
By 2030, if the maize, or corn, varieties, which is the dominant crop --
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Por volta de 2030, se as variedades de millo, que é o cultivo dominante,
08:43
50 percent of the nutrition in Southern Africa are still in the field --
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--a metade de [inintelixible] en África dos Sur aínda está no campo--
08:47
in 2030, we'll have a 30 percent decrease in production of maize
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en 2030 --dicía-- veremos unha diminución do 30 por centro na produción de millo
08:52
because of the climate change already in 2030.
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por causa do cambio climático xa nesa data.
08:56
30 percent decrease of production in the context of increasing population,
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Unha diminución do 30 % na produción, nun contexto de poboación en aumento
09:00
that's a food crisis. It's global in nature.
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significa unha crise alimentaria. Isto é de natureza mundial.
09:03
We will watch children starve to death on TV.
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Veremos nenos morrer de fame na televisión.
09:06
Now, you may say that 20 years is a long way off.
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Neste momento, poden dicir que 20 anos dan para moito.
09:09
It's two breeding cycles for maize.
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Son dous ciclos de mellora para o millo.
09:11
We have two rolls of the dice to get this right.
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Temos dúas oportunidades para facelo ben.
09:14
We have to get climate-ready crops in the field,
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Temos que ter nos campos cultivos preparados para o cambio climático,
09:17
and we have to do that rather quickly.
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e temos que telos bastante rápido.
09:21
Now, the good news is that we have conserved.
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A boa noticia é que levamos tempo conservando.
09:24
We have collected and conserved a great deal of biological diversity,
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Estivemos recollendo e conservando unha gran cantidade de diversidade biolóxica,
09:26
agricultural diversity, mostly in the form of seed,
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diversidade agrícola, maiormente en forma de sementes,
09:30
and we put it in seed banks, which is a fancy way of saying a freezer.
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e depositámolas en bancos de sementes, que é unha forma sofisticada de dicir "conxelador".
09:35
If you want to conserve seed for a long term
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Se queren conservar sementes durante moito tempo
09:38
and you want to make it available to plant breeders and researchers,
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e queren que se manteñan dispoñibles para melloradores vexetais e investigadores,
09:41
you dry it and then you freeze it.
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teñen que secalas e despois conxelalas.
09:44
Unfortunately, these seed banks are located around the world in buildings
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Por desgraza, estes bancos de sementes atópanse por todo o mundo en edificios
09:47
and they're vulnerable.
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e son vulnerables.
09:49
Disasters have happened. In recent years we lost the gene bank,
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Xa ocorreron sinistros. Nestes últimos anos perdemos o banco xenético,
09:52
the seed bank in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can guess why.
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o banco de sementes de Iraq e Afganistán. Poden adiviñar o porqué.
09:56
In Rwanda, in the Solomon Islands.
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En Ruanda, nas Illas Salomón.
09:58
And then there are just daily disasters that take place in these buildings,
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E despois están os sinistros cotiáns que acontecen neses edificios,
10:01
financial problems and mismanagement and equipment failures,
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problemas financeiros, mala xestión e fallos nos equipos,
10:05
and all kinds of things, and every time something like this happens,
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e todo tipo de problemas. E cada vez que algo así acontece,
10:08
it means extinction. We lose diversity.
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significa extinción. Perdemos diversidade.
10:11
And I'm not talking about losing diversity in the same way that you lose your car keys.
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E non estou a falar de perder diversidade como se perdermos as chaves do coche.
10:16
I'm talking about losing it in the same way that we lost the dinosaurs:
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Estou a falar de perdela como perdemos os dinosauros,
10:20
actually losing it, never to be seen again.
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perdelos definitivamente, para non velos endexamais.
10:22
So, a number of us got together and decided that, you know, enough is enough
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Entón, un grupo reunímonos e decidimos que xa abondaba
10:26
and we need to do something about that and we need to have a facility
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e que precisabamos facer algo sobre esta cuestión e que precisábamos ter instalacións
10:30
that can really offer protection for our biological diversity of --
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que realmente puidesen ofrecerlle protección á nosa diversidade biolóxica
10:35
maybe not the most charismatic diversity.
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aínda que ao mellor non sexa a diversidade máis carismática.
10:37
You don't look in the eyes of a carrot seed quite in the way you do a panda bear,
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Non se mira unha semente de cenoura aos ollos como se mira un oso panda,
10:43
but it's very important diversity.
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pero é unha diversidade moi importante.
10:46
So we needed a really safe place, and we went quite far north to find it.
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Por iso, precisabamos un lugar realmente seguro, e fomos ata moi ao norte para atopalo.
10:55
To Svalbard, in fact.
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Ata Svalbard.
10:57
This is above mainland Norway. You can see Greenland there.
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Está por riba da Noruega continental. Desde alí pódese ver Groenlandia.
11:00
That's at 78 degrees north.
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Está a 78 graos norte.
11:02
It's as far as you can fly on a regularly scheduled airplane.
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É o máis afastado que se pode voar nunha liña regular de avión.
11:07
It's a remarkably beautiful landscape. I can't even begin to describe it to you.
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É unha paisaxe extraordinariamente fermosa. Non podo nin comezar a describírllela.
11:11
It's otherworldly, beautiful.
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É outro planeta. Fermoso.
11:13
We worked with the Norwegian government
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Traballamos co goberno noruegués
11:16
and with the NorGen, the Norwegian Genetic Resources Program,
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e con NorGen, o Programa Noruegués de Recursos Xenéticos,
11:20
to design this facility.
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para deseñar estas instalacións.
11:22
What you see is an artist's conception of this facility,
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O que ven é o esbozo que un artista fixo delas,
11:25
which is built in a mountain in Svalbard.
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construídas nunha montaña en Svalbard.
11:28
The idea of Svalbard was that it's cold,
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A idea de Svalbard xurdíu porque alí vai frío,
11:31
so we get natural freezing temperatures.
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así que podemos ter temperaturas de conxelación natural.
11:34
But it's remote. It's remote and accessible
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Pero é remoto. É remoto e accesible
11:38
so it's safe and we don't depend on mechanical refrigeration.
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por iso é seguro e non dependemos da refrixeración mecánica.
11:43
This is more than just an artist's dream, it's now a reality.
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Isto é máis ca o soño dun artista. Xa é unha realidade.
11:49
And this next picture shows it in context, in Svalbard.
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E nesta imaxe amósase no seu contexto, en Svalbard.
11:54
And here's the front door of this facility.
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Velaquí a porta principal das instalacións.
11:59
When you open up the front door,
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Cando se abre esta porta
12:02
this is what you're looking at. It's pretty simple. It's a hole in the ground.
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isto é o que se ve. É bastante simple. Un burato no chan.
12:05
It's a tunnel, and you go into the tunnel,
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É un túnel, e éntrase a través dese tunel,
12:08
chiseled in solid rock, about 130 meters.
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escavado en rocha viva, uns 130 metros.
12:11
There are now a couple of security doors, so you won't see it quite like this.
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Despois hai un par de portas de seguridade, así que non se vería igual ca aquí.
12:15
Again, when you get to the back, you get into an area that's really my favorite place.
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Cando se chega a parte de atrás, éntrase nunha área que é, en realidade, a miña favorita.
12:20
I think of it as sort of a cathedral.
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Por que? Penso que é como unha especie de catedral.
12:22
And I know that this tags me as a bit of a nerd, but ...
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E sei que isto que cataloga como un pouco "nerd", pero...
12:26
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
12:29
Some of the happiest days of my life have been spent ...
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Algúns dos días máis felices da miña vida paseinos...
12:32
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
12:34
in this place there.
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neste lugar.
12:36
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
12:42
If you were to walk into one of these rooms, you would see this.
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Se entraran nalgunha destas estancias verían isto.
12:50
It's not very exciting, but if you know what's there, it's pretty emotional.
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Non é moi emocionante, pero se saben o que alí hai, é bastante emotivo.
12:55
We have now about 425,000
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Temos xa perto de 425.000
12:59
samples of unique crop varieties.
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mostras de variedades únicas de cultivos.
13:03
There's 70,000 samples of different varieties of rice
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Hai 70.000 mostras de variedades distintas de arroz
13:07
in this facility right now.
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nestas instalacións agora mesmo.
13:10
About a year from now, we'll have over half a million samples.
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E de aquí a un ano, imos ter máis de medio millón de mostras.
13:13
We're going up to over a million, and someday we'll basically have samples --
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Imos superar o millón e, algún día, teremos mostras
13:17
about 500 seeds --
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--unhas 500 sementes--
13:19
of every variety of agricultural crop that can be stored in a frozen state
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de todas as variedades de cultivos agrícolas que poidan almacenarse en estado de conxelación
13:24
in this facility.
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nestas instalacións.
13:26
This is a backup system for world agriculture.
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É a copia de seguranza da agricultura mundial.
13:29
It's a backup system for all the seed banks. Storage is free.
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É unha copia de seguranza para todos os bancos de sementes. O almacenamento é gratuíto.
13:33
It operates like a safety deposit box.
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Funciona como unha caixa de seguridade.
13:36
Norway owns the mountain and the facility, but the depositors own the seed.
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Noruega é a propietaria da montaña e das instalacións, pero os depositantes sono das sementes.
13:42
And if anything happens, then they can come back and get it.
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E se ocorre calquera cousa, poden volver e levalas consigo.
13:46
This particular picture that you see shows the national collection of the United States,
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Nesta imaxe que ven amósase a colección nacional dos Estados Unidos,
13:50
of Canada, and an international institution from Syria.
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de Canadá, e dunha institución internacional de Siria.
13:54
I think it's interesting in that this facility, I think,
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Penso que é interesante que nestas instalacións
13:58
is almost the only thing I can think of these days where countries,
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--é case a única cousa que me vén á mente actualmente-- países
14:02
literally, every country in the world --
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--literalmente, todos os países do mundo
14:05
because we have seeds from every country in the world --
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porque temos sementes de todos eles--
14:07
all the countries of the world have gotten together
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todos os países do mundo se xuntaron
14:10
to do something that's both long term, sustainable and positive.
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para facer algo a longo prazo, á vez sustentable e positivo.
14:16
I can't think of anything else that's happened in my lifetime that way.
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Non se me acorda cousa ningunha que se desenvolvera así en toda a miña vida.
14:19
I can't look you in the eyes and tell you that I have a solution
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Non podo fitalos e dicirlles que teño a solución
14:24
for climate change, for the water crisis.
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para o cambio climático ou para a escaseza de auga.
14:29
Agriculture takes 70 percent of fresh water supplies on earth.
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A agricultura usa o 70 por cento das reservas de auga doce do planeta.
14:33
I can't look you in the eyes and tell you that there is such a solution
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Non podo fitalos e dicirlles que existe unha solución
14:36
for those things, or the energy crisis, or world hunger, or peace in conflict.
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para estes problemas, ou para a crise enerxética, ou para a fame no mundo ou para lograr a paz nos conflitos.
14:41
I can't look you in the eyes and tell you that I have a simple solution for that,
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Non podo fitalos e dicirlles que teño unha solución simple para todo iso,
14:44
but I can look you in the eyes and tell you that we can't solve any of those problems
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pero podo fitalos e dicirlles que non podemos resolver ningún deses problemas
14:50
if we don't have crop diversity.
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se non temos diversidade de cultivos.
14:52
Because I challenge you to think of an effective, efficient, sustainable
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Porque os reto a que pensen nunha solución efectiva, eficiente e sustentable
15:00
solution to climate change if we don't have crop diversity.
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ao cambio climático, se non temos a diversidade de cultivos.
15:04
Because, quite literally, if agriculture doesn't adapt to climate change,
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Porque, literalmente, se a agricultura non se adapta ao cambio climático,
15:10
neither will we.
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tampouco o habemos facer nós.
15:12
And if crops don't adapt to climate change, neither will agriculture,
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E se os cultivos non se adaptan ao cambio climático, tampouco o ha facer a agricultura,
15:17
neither will we.
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e tampouco o habemos facer nós.
15:19
So, this is not something pretty and nice to do.
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Por iso, isto non é só algo fermoso e simpático de facer.
15:22
There are a lot of people who would love to have this diversity exist
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Hai un monte de xente á que lle gustaría que esta diversidade existise
15:25
just for the existence value of it.
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polo seu valor intrínseco.
15:27
It is, I agree, a nice thing to do.
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É, concordo, algo simpático de facer.
15:30
But it's a necessary thing to do.
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Pero tamén é algo necesario.
15:32
So, in a very real sense, I believe that we, as an international community,
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Por iso, nun sentido moi real, creo que nós, como comunidade internacional,
15:38
should get organized to complete the task.
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deberiamos organizarnos para completar a tarefa.
15:41
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a wonderful gift
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A Arca de Sementes Global de Svalbard é un agasallo marabilloso
15:44
that Norway and others have given us,
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que Noruega e outros nos deron,
15:46
but it's not the complete answer.
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pero non é a resposta completa.
15:48
We need to collect the remaining diversity that's out there.
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Temos que recoller o resto da diversidade que hai por aí fóra.
15:51
We need to put it into good seed banks
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Temos que depositala en bos bancos de sementes
15:54
that can offer those seeds to researchers in the future.
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que poidan ofrecerllas aos investigadores futuros.
15:58
We need to catalog it. It's a library of life,
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Temos que catalogalas. Son unha biblioteca da vida,
16:00
but right now I would say we don't have a card catalog for it.
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pero neste momento eu diría que non temos un catálogo delas.
16:04
And we need to support it financially.
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E temos que apoiar financeiramente todo isto.
16:07
My big idea would be that while we think of it as commonplace
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A miña gran idea sería que, mentres que consideramos común
16:12
to endow an art museum or endow a chair at a university,
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patrocinar un museo de arte, ou unha cátedra universitaria,
16:17
we really ought to be thinking about endowing wheat.
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deberiamos estar pensando en patrocinar trigo.
16:21
30 million dollars in an endowment would take care
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Unha doazón de 30 millóns de dólares permitiría
16:25
of preserving all the diversity in wheat forever.
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toda a diversidade de trigo para sempre.
16:29
So we need to be thinking a little bit in those terms.
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Así que temos que pensar un pouco nesa liña.
16:32
And my final thought is that we, of course, by conserving wheat,
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E a miña reflexión final é que nós, conservando trigo,
16:40
rice, potatoes, and the other crops,
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arroz, patacas e outros cultivos,
16:43
we may, quite simply, end up saving ourselves.
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se cadra estamos, simplemente, a salvármonos.
16:47
Thank you.
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Graciñas
16:49
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Cary Fowler - Biodiversity archivistBiodiversity warrior Cary Fowler wants to save the world from agricultural collapse, one seed at a time.
Why you should listen
Tucked away under the snows of the Arctic Circle is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Sometimes called the doomsday vault, it's nothing less than a backup of the world's biological diversity in a horticultural world fast becoming homogenous in the wake of a flood of genetically identical GMOs.
For Cary Fowler, a self-described Tennessee farm boy, this vault is the fulfillment of a long fight against shortsighted governments, big business and potential disaster. Inside the seed vault, Fowler and his team work on preserving wheat, rice and hundreds of other crops that have nurtured humanity since our ancestors began tending crops -- and ensuring that the world's food supply has the diversity needed to stand against the omnipresent threats of disease, climate change and famine.
Cary Fowler | Speaker | TED.com