8 nations map 1.2 bil. yen project to save tropical forests

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TOKYO — Japan, the United States and six European countries
will contribute 1.2 billion yen to an international project aimed at protecting
tropical forests to help curb greenhouse gas emissions, sources said.

The project will be carried out by the Yokohama-based
International Tropical Timber Organization over three years, beginning in 2010.

It will support measures by the government of developing
countries and nongovernmental organizations to combat illegal logging and
support environmentally conscious forest management.

Promoting this new attempt at reducing emissions from
deforestation and degradation is one of the key items on the agenda of the 15th
Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change
(COP15), which will open in Copenhagen on Monday.

The organization estimates the project will cost about 5.8
billion yen and hopes it will be a model case for this type of cooperation.

Deforestation results in 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide
emissions every year, equivalent to one-fifth of the emissions related to the
consumption of fossil fuels.

Measures to be taken include crackdowns on timber-smuggling
ships and improved efforts to find the channels through which illegally
harvested timber is shipped to importing countries.

To try to stop people living in and near tropical forests
excessive logging as a result of poverty, the project also will aim to
introduce technology that allows agricultural and forestry operations to
coexist with environmental protection efforts.

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 13
million hectares of tropical forest disappear every year, roughly equivalent to
one-third the area of Japan.

Deforestation is occurring mainly in Africa, South America
and Southeast Asia.

Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.