A financial firm which has just entered a forestry carbon finance project agreement with Papua province in Indonesia says the local government is committed to deforestation.
Australia-based New Forests has signed an agreement to establish a project which would create a perpetual financial base for local Papua communities through carbon credits generated by forest conservation.
It follows the recent decision by Papua's Governor Barnabas Suebu to impose a province-wide moratorium on logging in the province much of which is illegal and gives little benefit to Papuans.
New Forests Managing Director, David Brand, says Governor Suebu sees the emerging carbon market as offering better returns for his people than deforestation.
"He's made it absolutely clear that the entire government's one hundred percent behind this. His attitude seems to be very much aligned with us. He wants to see a lot of the revenue flow to local communities and contribute to sustainable development and find alternative pathways of development that don't need the forests to be harvested, degraded or converted to oil palm."
David Brand of New Forests.
