Indonesia demands cash for conservation

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Indonesia wants to be paid $US5-$US20 ($A5.50-$A22.20) per hectare not to destroy its remaining forests, the environment minister says, for the first time giving an actual figure that he wants the world's rich countries to pay.

Participants from 189 countries are expected to gather in Bali for global climate talks at a UN-led summit in December.

They will hear a report on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation (RED) - a new scheme that aims to make emission cuts from forest areas eligible for global carbon trading.

But apart from carbon trading, Indonesia also wants big emitters such as the United States and the European Union to pay the country to preserve its pristine rainforests....MORE

And from the Guardian:
New money is last hope in battle to save rainforests

Industrial clearance of rainforests accounts for 20 per cent of greenhouse gases. Every second of each day a portion of jungle the size of a football pitch is destroyed. As timber is carted off for export, giant agribusinesses often move in. And so spins the nightmare cycle: a growing release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which in turn alters weather patterns and destroys delicate ecosystems.

Climate-change economists believe that slowing the speed of rainforest destruction is the most cost-effective way to fight global warming. In his Treasury report into the economics of climate change last year, Sir Nicholas Stern said $5bn a year was needed to provide rainforest nations with funds to ensure what remained was kept intact. But many people say Stern is unduly optimistic and put the real price at $15bn....MORE