Deforestation conference to turn plans to action

By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer Elaine Ganley, Associated Press Writer – 6 mins ago

Ministers from countries of the Amazon and Congo river basins and Indonesia — whose massive forests, most at risk, are at the heart of efforts to end deforestation — were among those attending the one-day conference. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for May in Oslo, Norway.

The conference, with closed-door working groups, is looking to translate measures adopted at the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in December into concrete mechanisms — and funds.

To simply inventory the forests — counting the fauna and flora — is a necessary but hugely expensive "mammoth project," said Henri Djombo, the Republic of Congo‘s sustainable development and environment minister.

Indonesia and Brazil are the world‘s third- and fourth-largest carbon emitters, after China and the United States. Deforestation for logging, growing crops or making room for cattle grazing, are the prime causes.

A portion of the $30 billion that world leaders agreed to spend over the next three years to help poor nations could go toward the forest program. World leaders agreed to spend a total of $100 billion by 2020.

Djombo and two other African ministers present with Borloo on Wednesday were unanimous that not enough money has been committed to the fight against deforestation — and they said the money earmarked so far should be funneled quickly to the relevant countries.

Gabon‘s environment minister, Martin Mabala, said the world and indigenous populations need to view the forest differently. For example, he said the term "wood cutter" should be replaced by the term "forest manager."

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