Indonesia, Norway Ink Deal to Reward Rainforest Protection

It will then pay Indonesia for years of reductions that followed after verifying the drops in deforestation, meaning it could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Jakarta.

Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative will pay the installments directly to Indonesia’s Environment Fund.

Norway has not specified the total amount it has allotted for the partnership.

Also read: Two Rare Rafflesia Flowers in Bloom At A Forest in Bengkulu, Indonesia

Indonesia has an ambitious goal to reach a net carbon sink in its forestry sector -- storing more carbon than it releases into the atmosphere -- by 2030 but its vast forests are still shrinking.

The country’s tree cover has decreased by 18 percent since 2000, a loss that accounts for 6.5 percent of the global total since then, according to Global Forest Watch.

A day before the deal was signed at a signing ceremony in Jakarta, Eide and his counterpart Siti Nurbaya Bakar planted mangroves in East Kalimantan near Indonesia’s planned new capital.

Siti said Eide’s arrival and participation were a symbol of the cooperation between Indonesia and Norway on the climate and environment, according to local media.

New capital Nusantara is scheduled to open its doors in 2024 as the nation plans a move away from slowly sinking, traffic-clogged Jakarta.

But environmentalists have warned it could accelerate the destruction of tropical jungles home to long-nosed monkeys and orangutans.

Source: Agence France-Presse