no deforestation

WWF obtained pledges from
more than 65 government
ministers to achieve zero net
deforestation by 2020. In May,
at the 9th Conference of Parties
to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD COP9), ministers
from 67 countries as well as the
European Commissioner for the
Environment, and others including the CBD Secretariat,
Commission of Forestry in Central Africa (COMIFAC)
and UNEP, signed on to WWF’s call for zero net
deforestation by 2020.
Deforestation, particularly in the tropics, is the third
largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, generating
almost 20 per cent of all carbon emissions worldwide.
These pledges – which included priority forest countries
such as Indonesia and DRC, as well as developed
countries including those of the EU and Japan – are
now being followed up individually to develop
implementation plans.
In this regard, the governments of Paraguay and
Indonesia announced far-reaching actions to stop forest
loss, at a special WWF event held during the IUCN
World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Paraguay announced it will extend the zero deforestation
law by another 5 years while the Indonesian government
said it will no longer tolerate conversion of forests
for establishing crop
plantations such as oil
palm. These plantations
will instead have to
use idle lands.
In November, Paraguay’s
Congress unanimously
voted to extend
the country’s “Zero
Deforestation Law” by another fi ve years, beginning
in 2009. With this, Paraguay moves closer towards
zero net deforestation and has again honoured its
commitment made at the CBD COP9 in May and the
IUCN World Congress in October, to support WWF’s
call for zero net deforestation by 2020.