Indonesia seeks international help to protect forests

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia's environment minister said Thursday his country needed about six billion dollars a year from rich nations to preserve dwindling forests, a key step in fighting climate change.

"We need financial assistance for the conservation of our forests. Developed countries must give their support by providing financial assistance to developing countries," Rachmat Witoelar told AFP.

Indonesia is gearing up to host a global UN summit on climate change next month in which nations will attempt to lay the groundwork for an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions after the current phase of the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012.

Witoelar said that direct funding from foreign governments was a more efficient way of financing his country's climate change fight than the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) agreed under the Kyoto Protocol.

"The CDM is too complicated and bureaucratic. We need direct funding from developed countries in an effort to protect human beings from disasters caused by global warming," he said.

The CDM allows developing nations to sell carbon credits to rich countries earned through development projects that reduce carbon emissions.

The CDM lets countries earn credits by planting or restoring forests -- which are key absorbers of carbon -- but does not provide financial incentives for preserving existing forests.

Nicholas Stern, author of a key climate change report, said during a visit to the Indonesian capital Jakarta in March that the world should invest 10 billion dollars annually to halve deforestation in Indonesia, Brazil and other countries.

Rapid deforestation of Indonesia's equatorial forests, which include carbon-rich peatland swamps, has pushed the country to the unenviable rank of third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, behind the United States and China.