The money came in the
form of a 4 billion USD fund contributed
to by seven wealthy countries - US, UK,
Norway, Germany, Australia, Japan and
France - to be used for forest protection
globally as part of REDD (reducing carbon
emissions from deforestation and degradation).
A program where developed countries provide
funds to help developing ones protect their
forests. (Deforestation contributes up to
a fifth of global carbon emissions - so
this money doesn't just protect trees it
protects our climate too!) In addition to
the global fund, Indonesia will also receive
1 billion directly from Norway.
The love was an announcement
by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
of a two year ban on handing over new pieces
of Indonesian forest and carbon-rich peatlands
to companies for logging and deforestation.
This two year ban was
a requirement of the money put forward by
Norway - but it does not include the millions
of hectares of forests already on the chopping
block.
Real love would be an
official decree by the Indonesian President
making the ban effective immediately (not
months from now) and also extending it to
cover all of Indonesia's rainforests and
peatlands - including those areas already
owned by companies like Sinar Mas and in
imminent danger of being deforested and
degraded, like this:
Now that Indonesian
forests are starting to see the money -
will the President show them some real love?
Following on the success
of the Kit Kat campaign in convincing Nestlé
to give Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands
a break - it would be amazing for the President
to announce a complete ban on the decimation
of these areas immediately.
Let's put the question
out there. Will the Indonesian President
declare true love for rainforests and carbon-rich
peatlands by banning deforestation and degradation
completely?
+ More
Do orang-utan's party
when their forests are saved?
OK peeps, help us settle
a discussion we had in the office yesterday
about how we're visually celebrating our
win of the Kit Kat campaign. (You know,
the one where Nestlé agreed to stop
buying palm oil from those who level Indonesian
rainforests to plant palm oil trees, helping
to kill our climate and making orang-utans
homeless in one fell swoop?)
We posted a graphic
of an orang-utan in party regalia. A few
voices (well, one in particular anyway,
who shall remain nameless but happens to
have a deep scottish burr) found it an insult
and unfunny, but admitted that he had a
pet peeve about anthropomorphizing images
of animals. Some of us sort of agreed, some
of us (non)violentally disagreed, all were
in accord that it was an interesting question.
So you tell us: funny? Not funny? appropriate?
off? You can fill out the tweetpoll below
or leave a comment. Whatcha think?
+ More
Landmark pact reached
to protect Canada's Boreal Forest
Feature story - May
18, 2010
Today the biggest, most ambitious forest
conservation deal ever has been announced:
The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. After
more than seven years of hard-fought campaigning
to end the on-going destruction of Canada's
Boreal Forest, Greenpeace and eight other
non-governmental organisations have agreed
to a truce with the logging industry: we
will suspend the battle for the Boreal.
In return, 21 of the
biggest logging industry players from the
Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC)
have agreed to an immediate moratorium on
logging in nearly 29 million hectares of
forest that covers virtually all the critical
habitat for the threatened woodland caribou.
The long-term agreement includes a commitment
from the parties to work over the next three
years to undertake conservation planning
for the entire area covered by the agreement.
This unusual alliance of logging companies
and environmental groups will work together
to ensure long-term protection within 72
million hectares of forest - an area twice
the size of Germany - that stretches right
across Canada.
This agreement is the
result of almost a decade of hard hard-fought
campaigning, intense market pressure and
peaceful direct action. It is the best chance
we have to permanently protect vast areas
of wilderness and biodiversity, protect
the threatened woodland caribou and secure
billions of tonnes of stored carbon which
would otherwise contribute to climate change
if the forest was logged.
This agreement would
not have happened without public support
and pressure. Last year, Greenpeace won
a key victory when Kimberly-Clark - maker
of Kleenex and the largest tissue manufacturer
in the world - agreed to a progressive forest
policy in response to our Kleercut campaign.
The role of consumer activism in transforming
Kimberly-Clark set a precedent for the rest
of the industry - it showed other companies
that involvement in forest destruction will
ultimately hurt their bottom line.
Today is just a start,
there is still more work to do to ensure
that the agreement leads to permanent protection
for large areas of intact wilderness in
Canada's Boreal Forest, one of the most
important forested areas in the world. Greenpeace,
together with the other groups and companies
involved, will continue to play a leading
role to make sure it is put into practice
in a way that really protects forests, biodiversity
and the global climate from the impacts
of destructive logging.
*Go to Boreal Resources for a complete set
of documents on the Canadian Boreal Forest
Agreement.
