The Sydney Morning Herald
Friday 28 December 2007
Jakarta - The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, urged the mass planting of trees throughout Indonesia as rescuers yesterday dug with their hands through mud for survivors from a landslide that killed at least 67 people.
Dr Yudhoyono called on organisations and regional governments to plant trees in unplanted areas to prevent disasters such as flash floods and landslides and to "save the earth from global warming".
Tens of thousands of Indonesians are homeless after days of torrential monsoon-season rain caused landslides and widespread flooding from Java to Sumatra to Sulawesi.
The death toll could be as high as 130, officials said. About 50 people were missing after floods swept away a 50-metre Dutch-era bridge in East Java's Madium district. In the worst-hit Karanganyar district, blocked roads delayed the arrival of heavy equipment after 67 people were killed in a landslide on a mountainous slope that had been farmed for decades.
The victims were dining together after cleaning mud from a house after an earlier landslide before tonnes of mud slammed into them, witnesses said.
"It is difficult to reach the area, so the local teams are left on their own," said Julianto, a local government official, before about 130 members of the army force Kopassus arrived late yesterday to help the search.
Environmental groups renewed calls for the Indonesian Government to improve its record on protecting the environment.
Farah Sofa, the deputy director of the Indonesian Forum for Environment, said Dr Yudhoyono should impose a moratorium on logging, order the rehabilitation and ecological recovery of water catchment areas and ensure vulnerable areas such as mountainous slopes near populated areas are protected.
At the scene of the landslide in Central Java local officials insisted that deforestation was not to blame.
Prince Charles to Work With Norway to Save Forests
By John Acher
Reuters
Thursday 27 December 2007
Oslo - Britain's Prince Charles has offered to team up with Norway in projects to save forests around the world, Norwegian officials said on Thursday.
The Prince of Wales's offer to Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg followed Norway's announcement earlier this month that it aimed to provide about 3 billion crowns ($541.2 million) per year to prevent deforestation in developing countries.
Charles, who has said saving the world's rainforests is key to combating global warming, sent a letter to Stoltenberg suggesting that his Rainforests Project send representatives to Norway to discuss ways to cooperate, a spokesman at the prime minister's office said.
Stoltenberg said Norway would be glad to receive them and is willing to work with all who want to put systems and regulations in place to halt deforestation.
Norway has said that fighting deforestation is a quick and low-cost way to achieve cuts in greenhouse gas emissions blamed by scientists for global warming, in addition to maintaining biodiversity and securing people's livelihoods.
The Labor-led government has said that deforestation in developing countries is releasing carbon dioxide corresponding to about a fifth of total global greenhouse gas emissions.
Norway has said that commitments to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing nations should be included in a global climate change regime from 2012 and that it will work to develop funding and certification systems to promote the effort.
In April, Stoltenberg announced a goal to make Norway carbon neutral by 2050 by reducing emissions at home and by offsetting Norwegian greenhouse gas emissions by investing in environmental projects in the developing world.
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