Fw: CLIMATE/RAINFOREST ALERT: Indonesia's Biofuel Expansion on Rainforest Peatlands to Accelerate Climate Change

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ACTION ALERT

Indonesia's Biofuel Expansion on Rainforest Peatlands to

Accelerate Climate Change

 

Climate Ark & Rainforest Portal projects of Ecological Internet

http://www.climateark.org/ and http://www.rainforestportal.org/

February 18, 2007

 

TAKE ACTION

Let the President know the world expects Indonesia to keep the

Environment Minister's promise to tackle the root causes of

rainforest fires and peatland drainage

http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland

 

Indonesia's rainforests contain 60% of all the tropical peat in

the world. Such rainforests on peat soils are one of the world's

most important carbon sinks and play a vital role in helping to

regulate the global climate. They are also very rich in

biodiversity and a refuge for species like orang-utans.

Rainforest peatlands are being destroyed fast; primarily by palm

oil, timber, and paper and pulp companies. The Indonesian

government has endorsed a massive biofuel program which foresees

an increase in oil palm plantations to eventually over 26

million hectares. Far from reducing climate change emissions, it

will rapidly release up to 50 billion tons of carbon into the

atmosphere. This is the equivalent of over 6 years of global

fossil fuel emissions and could well make the generally accepted

2 degree C of warming that is considered " dangerous " unavoidable.

A recent study has found that one ton of biodiesel made from

palm oil grown on Southeast Asia's peatlands is linked to the

emission of 10-30 tons of carbon dioxide. Shockingly, this is 2-

8 times as much carbon released as in production of a ton of

fossil fuel diesel. Please write to the Indonesian government

now to express your grave concerns over biofuel expansion plans

which threaten to further destroy rainforests and peatlands, and

to thus dangerously accelerate global warming.

 

TAKE ACTION NOW at:

http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland

 

Discuss this alert at:

http://www.climateark.org/blog/2007/02/alert_indonesias_biofuel_expan.asp