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Greenpeace urges Indonesia to broaden forest moratorium Jakarta (AFP) June 3, 2010 Greenpeace on Thursday said a promised moratorium on deforestation would have little impact on Indonesia's huge carbon footprint unless it is extended to existing concessions. The environmental group also urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to begin the moratorium immediately instead of next year to prevent major new concessions being granted in the interim. "The destruction of forests is still massive. President Yudhoyono needs to act fast," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Zulfahmi, who like most Indonesians goes by only one name. Yudhoyno announced the two-year moratorium in Oslo last month, cheering environmental activists but sending shudders through the country's massive palm oil industry blamed for much of the country's forest losses. In exchange for verifiable cuts in deforestation, the Norwegian government agreed to provide a billion dollars in aid to help Indonesia preserve its forests. Environmental groups have welcomed the initiative but say the details remain vague and question whether it will do much good as long as logging continues on existing concessions covering 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres). "Without intervention on existing concessions, the president cannot achieve his commitment to reduce Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions even by the promised 26 percent with or without international help," he said. Yudhoyono has promised to cut Indonesia's emissions of climate-heating gases by 26 percent by 2020 and by 41 percent with international assistance. Experts say Indonesia's forests are disappearing at a rate of about 300 football fields an hour, releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. A report by a coalition including the BlueGreen Alliance and the Rainforest Action Network released in the United States last month found that 40 to 55 percent of Indonesia's timber is illegally harvested. It warned that 98 percent of the archipelago's lowland forests could be gone by 2022.
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Rich countries up deforestation aid to 4 billion dollars Oslo (AFP) May 27, 2010 Rich countries agreed Thursday to boost funds for fighting deforestation to four billion dollars up to 2012, despite facing problems of their own due to the financial crisis, Norway announced. "In today's global markets, forests are more worth dead than alive. Today we commit to change that equation," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at an international climate conference in Os ... read more |
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