By Climate Ark & Rainforest Portal,
Projects of Ecological Internet, Inc.
http://www.rainforestportal.org/ and http://www.climateark.org/
October 8, 2006
TAKE ACTION
Let Kyoto Protocol Delegates Know You Demand Immediate Action to
Stop Rainforest Fires and Peatland Agricultural Conversion
http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland
On November 6th governments from all over the world will be
meeting in Nairobi for the year's most important United Nations
climate change talks. To date international policy discussions
have largely ignored the destruction and burning of Southeast
Asia's rainforest peatlands. These wet, swampy rainforests are
drained to be cleared for agricultural plantations, and as they
dry their peat filled soils are highly susceptible to long
burning, carbon and methane rich fires. Peatland fires have for
years been one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas
emissions - accounting for the equivalent of some 15% of all
global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Hundreds of peat and
forest fires are once again burning across Borneo, Sumatra and
Java. Unless the international community acts quickly, Southeast
Asia’s emissions of carbon and methane from burning peatlands
alone may lead to dangerous climate change including massive sea
level rises and mass extinctions. Expansion of oil palm
plantations, illegal logging and timber plantations have been
identified as the main drivers of the destruction. Take action!
http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland
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Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
Working at the Crossroads of Environmental and Human Rights since 1990
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