A SATELLITE monitoring system to combat illegal logging and the destruction of native forests in Indonesia and the Pacific will be in place by next year with the Howard Government pressing ahead to install some of the critical equipment in the north of Australia.
The satellite program, which the government hopes can eventually be used as a global model to measure deforestation, will be discussed at a high level meeting in Sydney today that brings together officials from the US, China, Brazil, Indonesian, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Co-hosted by Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, the meeting will test international support for the government's high profile diplomatic effort to combat climate change through its "global initiative on forests and climate".
detail: http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/satellites-to-combat-illegal-logging/2007/07/23/1185042986096.html