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The Congo Basin isn't just a source of folklore, however. It's a crucial ecosystem for both local communities and the planet.
然而，刚果盆地并不仅仅是民间传说的摇篮。无论是对当地社区还是我们的星球，它都是一个至关重要的生态系统。
Spanning an area second only to the Amazon, it is often called the "lungs of Africa."
作为仅次于亚马逊的广袤区域，刚果盆地被誉为“非洲之肺”。
It absorbs 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually, ranking it the world's largest carbon sink.
这片地区每年吸收15亿吨二氧化碳，是世界上最大的碳汇。
But it's under siege. Agriculture, logging, mining, and a swelling population carve more into the jungle each year, while government corruption greenlights unchecked encroachment.
然而它正陷入围困。农业生产、林木采伐、矿物开采和不断膨胀的人口每年都将丛林侵蚀更深，政府的腐败则为肆无忌惮的蚕食开了绿灯。
The relentless appetite for bushmeat, the march of industry, and the looming shadow of climate change all have a hand in destroying the Congo.
对丛林肉的无情渴求、不断推进的工业铁蹄以及气候变化的阴云全都摧毁着刚果。
Weakening the rainforest, of course, will have global implications.
破坏雨林显然会对全球产生影响。
One of those is the growing proximity between humans and wildlife, which facilitates the transmission of zoonotic diseases -- illnesses that jump from animals to humans, such as COVID-19, Ebola, and monkeypox.
其中之一是人类与野生动物之间的距离越来越近，这就为人畜共患疾病的传播提供了便利，这类疾病可以由动物传染给人，如COVID-19，埃博拉和猴痘。
"The more we're exposed to wild animals, the higher the chances these viruses will make the jump into the human population," says Blom. "It's a simple question of statistics."
“我们和野生动物接触得越多，病毒感染人群的可能性就越大，”布洛姆说，“这是很简单的统计学问题。”
But this dynamic is a double-edged sword.
而这一作用对双方皆有伤害。
The "rapid increase in the Congo Basin, driven by commerce," exposes endangered gorillas and chimpanzees to disease -- an impact his team sees clearly as both populations continue to decline year after year, says Gwili Gibbon, conservation manager at African Parks.
非洲公园保护经理格威利·吉本说，“在刚果盆地商业推动下的人口快速增长”让濒临灭绝的大猩猩和黑猩猩进一步面临疾病的威胁，他的团队清晰地观察到，在这种影响下，两边数量都在逐年下降。
The ripple effects of these interactions aren't new to Selah Abong'o, who mistook a forest elephant for a mokele-mbembe nearly 20 years prior.
塞拉·阿邦奥对这类相互作用会产生的涟漪效应并不陌生，近20年前，她就曾错将一头森林象当成魔克拉-姆边贝。
"My colleagues still tease me about that," she says with a smirk. "But when I think about it now, it saddens me.
“我的同事还在因为这件事嘲笑我，”她笑着说，“但是现在想到它，我还是很难过。
People are still confusing elephants and apes for mokele-mbembe, and that's largely because of deforestation.
人们今天仍然会把大象和猩猩误认成魔克拉-姆边贝，但这很大程度上是因为森林滥伐。
Zoonotic diseases, like Ebola, are still spreading as people encroach more on the forest. And the Congo," she paused, "is still disappearing."
当人们侵占的森林越来越多，埃博拉病毒等人畜共患疾病还将继续扩散。而刚果，”她停顿了一下，“也将不断消失。”
