Save the forest, save the world!

Emission from land use, land use change and forestry contributes up to 18% of the world’s emission. This means that forest can become 18% of the problem that lead to climate change but could also potentially serve as solution to keep the climate system integrity.

Since the climate negotiation begun, the recogniziton of forestry role is already there. It was recognized that afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation is part of the carbon flux process and become part of Kyoto Protocol.

However, under the Kyoto mechanisms, efforts to halt deforestation were opposed. Under the clean development mechanism (CDM), it is just the afforestation and reforestation (A/R) that’s been approved within the forestry sector.

While the A/R provides opportunity but it is not without a problem since definition of forest could also provide incentives to low-biodiversity type of forest. To some this is viewed as perverse incentive as plantation has already profitable without climate incentives and it actually serves smaller advantage to the climate and people.

Our focus to natural forest is not only for the value of biodiversity or just for the birds. Natural forest is inherently holds more carbon stock than other type of forest. Thereby the complex system of the forest provides more benefit to the climate. The total economic value of natural forest is astounding.

It is then important to provide sufficient funding to preserve the tropical forest. Reducing emission from deforestation is hoped to be the mechanism to provide sufficient funding to safe the forest. The hard work now is how to make certain that the mechanism is to benefit the people, the biodiversity, and ultimately to safe the climate system.