RI, Japan in forestry project

JAKARTA (JP): Japan and Indonesia will launch in January a US$5 million joint project to promote reforestation through "carbon fixing" forest management over the next five years as part of a campaign to slow down the process of global warming.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Research and Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry signed an agreement on the project at Manggala Wanabhakti building on Wednesday.

Under the project, limbs and tops of trees remaining after logging that were usually burned would be turned into charcoal and buried to fertilize the soil. This method stimulates higher levels of carbon dioxide absorption from the air by the forest and the carbon fixed in the ground facilitates tree growth.

Carbon dioxide is one of many gases released in the air by industrial activities that has contributed to global warming.

Minister of Forestry Nurmahmudi Ismail said at the signing ceremony that the project would cover between 8,000 and 9,000 hectares, a small area compared to the 56 million hectares in Indonesia that could benefit from such treatment. (03)