Papuans act to protect forests and fight climate change

Saturday, July 25, 2009 3:33 Adianto P. Simamora ,
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta
A coalition of green activists launched an action plan Thursday to tackle the severe threat of rampant deforestation in Papua.

The coalition, which includes Greenpeace, Papua NGO Network (Foker), Papua People's Assembly (MRP) and the Samdhana Institute, announced the establishment of working groups to formulate forest management policy and the financing steps needed to protect Papua's forests, indigenous forest-dependant peoples and biodiversity, as well as to fight climate change.

"The only way to save Papua's forests, people and biodiversity and to fight global climate change is to take global action immediately. This means industrialized nations must find at least US$40 billion per year to protect the world's rapidly diminishing forests and make deep emissions cuts at home," Yuyun Indradi, a Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner, said in a statement.

Head of the Papua forestry agency, Marthen Kayoi, said Papua's forests, home to the world’s richest biodiversity, sustained 70 percent of the population, but they still lived below the poverty line.

"At least 20 percent of Papua's 40 million hectares of forest have already gone. Urgent action needs to be taken to protect the remaining forest and to safeguard the rights of the indigenous peoples who depend on them.

"Forest solutions in Papua New Guinea can also be used in Papua so we are very keen to work and scale up the eco-forestry activity here as well. This could be considered as an early-action effort to protect Papua's forest,” PNG eco-forestry activist and Greenpeace's forest campaigner, Sam Moko, said.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/07/23/papuans-act-protect-forests-and-fight-climate-change.html