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REDD to help conserve Indonesian forests |
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Sunday, 07 June 2009 |
Nearly 60 percent of remaining forests in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province could be saved by a U.N.-backed scheme that aims to save forests in return for valuable carbon credits, the provincial governor said on Friday.
Central Kalimantan, which covers an area of nearly 154,000 square kilometers or about the size of the U.S. state of Georgia, has suffered from severe land clearing driven by logging activities.
It has about 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of carbon-dioxide absorbing of forest left and Governor Teras Narang said more than half could be earmarked for projects under the scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
REDD's aim is to reward developing countries with potentially billions of dollars in carbon credits in exchange for conserving their forests.
"In accordance with our plan, we will protect about 57 percent. Later it could be more. I hope so," Narang said in an interview with Reuters at a forest conference in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Indonesia earlier this month became the world's first country to release a set of rules governing REDD but the scheme is in its infancy globally. It is expected to formally become part of a broader U.N. climate pact likely to be agreed in December.
REDD aims to curb the rate of forest destruction and promote replanting of damaged or degraded areas to help them soak up more CO2.
But key issues such as how to distribute the money from REDD credit sales to local communities still need to be worked out.
"We want to know about our rights and our duties, especially for the local people. We do not want, after we agree, then our people do not know about their rights," the governor said, adding he considered REDD an important adjunct to palm oil plantations.
He said the province was already in negotiations for REDD schemes covering 5 to 10 percent of remaining forest area.
Fitrian Ardiansyah, WWF's program director for climate and energy in Indonesia said that there was between eight and 10 million hectares of forest left in the province, adding the provincial government should be more specific about where they want forests protected.THE END
Source: Reuters
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