Australia, Indonesia Back Kalimantan Forest Plan
Date: 10-Sep-07
Country: AUSTRALIA
Australia would contribute A$30 (US$22 million) to the
project, which aims to raise up to A$100 million over four
years and cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 700 million
tonnes over 30 years, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer
said in a statement.
A failed 1990s plan to convert 1 million hectares of
Kalimantan's peat swamp forests into rice fields sucked dry
huge areas of cleared forest, leaving a combustible substance
that burns in the dry season and sends a choking haze billowing
across the region.
"The deforestation and burning of Indonesia's vast peat
lands is the largest single source of its greenhouse gas
emissions," Downer said.
A declaration was signed by Downer and his Indonesian
counterpart Hassan Wirajuda to establish the project, which
would work with other countries, international non-government
organisations and the private sector to attract funding.
