Here is some great news for the orangutans! Kudos to the Forestry Minister and the government of Indonesia for this conservation effort. Let's hope this sets a precedent or a stepping stone for further conservation efforts throughout the entire archipelago of Indonesia.
SINGAPORE - Indonesia on Wednesday approved a rainforest conservation
project that sets aside an area roughly the size of Singapore and
rewards investors with trade-able carbon credits in the first of its kind
to win formal backing in the country.
Four years in the making, the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve will
protect nearly 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres), much of it carbon-rich
peat swamp forest at risk of being felled for palm oil plantations.
Russian energy giant Gazprom and German insurance firm Allianz are backers of the project, the world's first on deep peat.
A senior Indonesian official announced the approval on the sidelines
of UN climate talks in Doha, Qatar. Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan
signed a letter last week saying the project had passed all the key
steps. Reuters has seen a copy.
"We hope projects like Rimba Raya will lead the way in proving that
conservation can address the rural development needs of the communities
and also preserve our forests for generations to come," Hasan said in a
statement.
The project challenges Indonesia's often poor conservation record and
lax enforcement where national parks are illegally logged. Indonesia
has the world's third-largest expanse of tropical forests but these are
disappearing quickly in the rush to grow more food and exploit timber
and mineral wealth. Forest clearance is a major source of greenhouse
gases.
By saving the forest and locking away planet-warming carbon,
investors such as Gazprom will receive carbon credits they can sell for
profit or use to cut their own emissions. Money from credit sales will
also fund local livelihood projects.
The project area, in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island, is
brimming with rare animal species and adjoins a national park. It is
designed to be a sanctuary for endangered orangutans.
Rimba Raya is part of a UN-led scheme called reducing emissions from
deforestation and degradation (REDD). The aim is to show forests can pay
for themselves and compete with powerful palm oil, mining and timber
interests.
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