Indonesia and Australia in A$3 Million Forest Carbon Partnership

Australian Climate Change and Water Minister Sen. Penny Wong and Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan announced Monday the establishment of a joint Sumatra Forest Carbon Partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forest degradation and deforestation.

The A$3 million (US$2.7 million) project is an extension of existing efforts by the two neighbors to reducing emission from defo-restation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries within the framework of the Indonesia – Australia Forest Carbon Partnership agreed on by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in June 2008.

In a press statement, the Forestry Ministry said the new joint activity in Sumatra would address the immediate threats to forests on mineral soils in Jambi, complementing the existing joint activity in the carbon-rich peat forests in Central Kalimantan.

Source : The Jakarta Post