Indonesia Goes Biofriendly

In the lead up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held in Bali, Indonesia from December 3^rd to 14^th, Indonesia has taken on the biofriendly task to plant 1 billion trees.  According to this Voice of America article, the Indonesian government has already planted 79 million trees across the region – and that was in one day.

Illegal logging has long been an issue for Indonesia, which is losing its forests at a rate greater than any other country in the world.  New palm oil plantations, which pump out greenhouse gas emissions, are replacing the regions forests that absorb some of those greenhouse gases – a double right hook to the environment.  The irony here is that the palm oil is used to make biofuels, which are meant to be more biofriendly.

For a country that is chopping down its trees left, right and center, I think the planting of 79 million saplings is a good place to start. 

The climate change conference will be attended by over 180 countries, where they will work on an agreement to take over from the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012.  Let’s hope they make great strides in aspiring to make the world a lot more biofriendly.