A few people must have been very busy yesterday in Indonesia. Officials say that 79 million trees were planted in a single day in an effort to replant lost forest cover and signal how seriously the government views the problem of climate change.
In this archipelago nation the root cause of carbon emissions is through widespread deforestation. Indonesia is losing its forests at a faster rate than any other nation and, a surprise to me, is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases because of it.
Environmentalists applaud the mass tree planting but also warn that it is only a first step and does not address the root cause of the problem of government permits to clear forests combined with pervasive illegal logging.
Indonesian president Suslio Bambang Yudhoyono has declared illegal logging the nation’s “biggest enemy”, but many criticize the government for not doing enough to stop it.
National and international environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on palm oil plantations, the land for which is usually cleared forest, and all forms of logging.
Worldwide, more than a billion trees have been planted this year, surpassing the U.N. goal and brainchild of Nobel Peace Prize winner and Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai.
Sources and Further Reading:
Voice of America
BBC World News
Malaysia Star
photo courtesy of Interet-General.info
