Swathes of peatland are being cleared to make way for pulp and paper plantations, and the booming palm oil industry. But Indonesia is slowly waking up to the hidden cost of releasing the huge stores of carbon kept in peatland, said Daniel Mudiyarso, an expert at Indonesia’s Centre for International Forestry Research. "We used to hear the term ‘marginal land’ for this kind of ecosystem, but our awareness (of its importance) is increasing," Mudiyarso said.

For ecologist Elizabeth Linda Yuliani, the rich ecosystem of Lake Sentarum National Park in West Kalimantan is highly enjoyable because the surrounding provides breathtaking views to explore. As visitors to Lake Sentarum, Linda and her fellow researchers stayed on a houseboat, called motor bandong by locals. Living on a houseboat, Linda could observe eagles flying, orangutans and other wildlife. The researchers also observed and interacted with the local people, many of who made a living by fishing. Residents generally started their daily activities at 4 a.m., when they went to the lake for fish.

Deforestation in tropical countries is often driven by the perverse economic reality that forests are worth more dead than alive. But a new study by an international consortium of researchers has found that the emerging market for carbon credits has the potential to radically alter that equation. The study was conducted by the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), four of the15 centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and their national partners.
Similar articles also published in Health & Medicine Week, Pharma Business Week, Pharma Law Weekly, Science Letter, Biotech Week, Biotech Law Weekly, Law & Health Weekly, Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, Pharma Investments, Ventures & Law Weekly

Climate alternative Noting that Kyoto failed to include the quarter of emissions from deforestation in its controls, Sven Wunder and Frances Seymour reported that at Bali and beyond, fixing this is high on the UN agenda ("Seeing REDD to save the forests and the planet", December 14, p23). Apparently it’s difficult to come up with effective mechanisms to prevent forest destruction. Those developing nations just don’t seem to value their carbon sinks like we do. But where are the West’s trees? Well, we removed them hundreds of years ago. Now we want developing countries to do what we say, not what we did, because we value their forests more highly than their agriculture. So, we should keep buying their forests and paying them to not destroy them. But as Wunder and Seymour noted, that isn’t going well.

Mais Frances Seymour, directeur du Centre de recherche international sur les forêts, ne cache pas ses craintes de voir ce dispositif «miné par la corruption et que ses bénéfices n’aillent pas aux indigènes mais aux multinationales qui gagneront de l’argent en plantant des forêts.

Marilyn Shepherd, Kensington, SA Climate alternative Noting that Kyoto failed to include the quarter of emissions from deforestation in its controls, Sven Wunder and Frances Seymour reported that at Bali and beyond, fixing this is high on the UN agenda ("Seeing REDD to save the forests and the planet", December 14, p23). Apparently it’s difficult to come up with effective mechanisms to prevent forest destruction. Those developing nations just don’t seem to value their carbon sinks like we do.

Environmentalists said the plan to protect forests was a good start, but some had reservations about its implementation. Frances Seymour, director for the Center for International Forestry Research, a nonprofit U.S. group, voiced concern that the system was vulnerable to corruption and could be undermined by a growing demand for biofuels. Global demand for palm oil, a popular biofuel, has increased sharply in recent years and has led to the widespread clearing of tropical forests to make way for palm plantations.

La deforestación es responsable de la emisión anual de 1.600 millones de toneladas de carbono, lo que representa a nivel mundial una quinta parte de la cantidad total, y dos veces más que la aportación de la combinación total de los sectores mundiales de la energía y el transporte intensivo, según el Centro Internacional para la Investigación Forestal (CIFOR, en sus siglas inglesas) con sede en Indonesia.