RI welcomes Australia's $161m pledge to stop deforestation

The Jakarta Post, 30 Mar 2007:
RI welcomes Australia's $161m pledge to stop deforestation Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian and Australian officials met here Thursday to discuss ways to cooperate on stopping deforestation after Australia Prime Minister John Howard pledged US$161 million for a fund to help save forests in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.

State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar has met with his Australian counterpart to discuss how Australia's commitment could be put into practice, and how it could be combined with Indonesia's national reforestation plan, an official at the minister's office said.

"We welcome Australia's commitment as it can help our reforestation program. Indonesian and Australian officials at the technical level are now meeting to discuss how to translate this commitment into practice after a ministerial level meeting," deputy to the minister dealing with natural resource conservation and environmental control Masnellyarti Hilman told The Jakarta Post before meeting with her Australian counterparts at her office.

She said that as the Indonesian government was currently embarking on its own national reforestation program it needed to know the details of Australia's aid plan.

"We have pledged Rp 4 trillion for regreening Indonesia. We have a plan for a massive reforestation program, which will be implemented with the help of residents near forests. Besides replanting trees, we will educate people how they can benefit and get income without having to cut them down," Masnellyarti said.

Australia announced Thursday that it pledged $161 million to help the region fight deforestation.

"What this initiative will do, in a shorter period of time, is make a greater contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions than in fact the Kyoto Protocol," Howard was quoted as saying by Reuters from Canberra. Australia has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

Howard said Australia, a major coal exporter and one of the world's largest per capita greenhouse gas producers, expects to draw very significant contributions from the United States, Britain, Japan, New Zealand and Germany for the fund, which will be managed by the World Bank.

Howard's comments came a day after he met with British climate economist Nicholas Stern, who recently urged developed nations to pool funds of at least $10 billion per year to stop deforestation globally.

Stern said that the amount could help stop half of global deforestation, especially Indonesia and Brazil.

Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia's plan would have instant benefits by planting new trees and slowing Indonesia's deforestation rate -- second only to Brazil's.

"This is how we can address carbon levels in the atmosphere immediately. We don't need to wait for new technology," Turnbull was quoted as saying by AP.

According to the latest report from the World Bank, the British Department for International Development and the consultancy company Peace, Indonesia has become the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitting country, after the United States and China. Much of these gases are released from the destruction of the country's vast tropical forests.