Forest hotspots pinpointed for climate, animals
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - A U.N. atlas pinpointed on Friday parts of
forests from the Amazon to Madagascar where better protection could give the
twin benefits of slowing global warming and preserving rare wildlife.
The atlas, issued at December 1-12 U.N. climate talks in Poznan, Poland,
identified hotspots with a high diversity of animals and plants in forests
that were also big stores of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, in
trees and soils.
"It shows overlaps between carbon stored and areas of biodiversity
importance," Barney Dickson, of the World Conservation Monitoring Center of
the U.N. Environment Program, told Reuters.
"This offers the prospect of a double dividend," he said of the atlas, meant
to guide governments in deciding where to protect forests by slowing logging
and clearing of forests.
If a government wanted to aid gorillas and other great apes, forests in part
of the eastern Congo basin could be set aside. Rare birds and amphibians
could be helped by protecting carbon-rich forests in Ecuador.
Elsewhere, it pointed to parts of the Amazon basin, the tip of South Africa,
central Papua New Guinea, parts of the Philippines and most of Madagascar as
among priority areas.
The 187-nation talks of 11,000 delegates in Poznan are examining schemes to
slow the rate of deforestation, such as payments to preserve tropical
forests.
Current deforestation rates release about 20 percent of total greenhouse gas
emissions by mankind, led by burning fossil fuels.
EXTINCTION
Some U.N. studies have said the world is facing the worst extinction crisis
since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, due to factors such
as destruction of habitats, rising human populations and climate change.
Dickson said the maps, due to be expanded in more detail next year, were the
first to make the overlaps.
"When countries plan they may wish to prioritize action in some areas ahead
of others," he said. Other likely factors include protecting indigenous
peoples' rights.
Worldwide, the loss of forests was 7.3 million hectares (18.04 million
acres) a year between 2000 and 2005, an area the size of Sierra Leone or
Panama -- according to U.N. data.
Separately, a report showed that protecting forests could be easier and have
bigger effects than parallel drives to curb industrial emissions from
factories, power plants and cars.
Reducing deforestation "is commonly seen as a significant, cheap, quick and
win-win way to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions," the report by the
Center for International Forestry Research said.
"The cost estimates vary, from $7 billion to $28 billion per year for
halving deforestation," it said, adding that even the upper estimates
compared favorably with industrial curbs.
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