Rainforest logging moratorium established in Indonesian provinces, Amazonas state

Rainforest logging moratorium established in Indonesian provinces, Amazonas state

Governors from the Brazilian state of Amazonas and the Indonesian provinces of Aceh, Papua and West Papua signed a historic agreement to protect threatened rainforests.

The pact, which imposes a logging moratorium in their states and provinces, was signed in Bali, Indonesia, where more than 10,000 policymakers and scientists are meeting to discuss measures to reign in greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming.

With talks making little progress — both the U.S. and Brazil are opposing measures to limit action on climate — environmentalists welcomed the declaration as a step in the right direction.

“They are acting because nations aren’t,” Greenpeace spokesman Marcelo Furtado told The Age. “I hope it serves as a jump-start for national and international action.”

The agreement was fostered by Carbon Conservation, an Australian firm that is seeking to push carbon credits for forest conservation as a means to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. During the moratorium, the forests in Amazonas, Aceh, Papua and West Papua will be mapped and reassessed for their carbon finance value. When a REDD (reduce emissions by reducing deforestation) framework is established, the carbon credits will be sold in the open market.

“The only way to stop deforestation is to go on the offensive, with economic incentives,” said Dorjee Sun, founder of Carbon Conservation.

Roughly 20 percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions result from forest degradation and destruction — more than the entire transport sector.

Related

Carbon for forests will help Aceh recover from war, tsunami
Aceh Governor Irwandi Jusuf, a former rebel who was one of only 40 survivors after the December 2004 tsunami struck the prison where he was incarcerated, is now one of Indonesia’s leading supporters of forest conservation funded through carbon credits. Carbon credits through forest conservation will play an important role in Aceh’s recovery from decades of civil strife and the devastating 2004 tsunami, which left more than 167,000 people dead and 500,000 homeless in the Indonesia province, said Aceh governor Irwandi Jusuf in meeting in San Francisco.

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Rhett Butler Editor

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