Delegates at the global U.N. meeting to preserve natural resources were trying to agree on ways to deploy about $4 billion in cash to help developing nations save tropical forests.
The talks are aimed at setting new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, a protocol to share genetic resources between countries and companies and more funding to protect nature, especially forests.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates global deforestation fell from 16 million hectares (40 million acres) per year in the 1990s to 13 million hectares per year in the past decade, with the bulk of the losses in tropical countries.
About 12 percent of the world’s forests are designated primarily to conserve biological diversity, the FAO said in report earlier this month.
Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, and help curb the pace of climate change. They are also key water catchments, help clean the air and are home to countless species.
"Our forests need immediate action," said Brazil’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira told the meeting.
Ministers are focusing on a voluntary partnership covering nearly 70 nations aimed at boosting a U.N.-backed scheme that seeks to reward developing countries that preserve and restore forests.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69P0L820101026
Photo: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/carboncycle/images/deforestation.jpg
