{News} 080606 Malaysia to help Riau 'clear the air'

Malaysia to help Riau 'clear the air'

NST, June 6, 2008
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia yesterday on haze management in Riau province, central Sumatra.


Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas says Malaysia is practising sustainable forest managementMalaysia will provide RM2 million in training and capacity building, peat land rehabilitation and installation of a haze early warning system.Malaysia will begin by educating farmers on alternatives to the slash-and-burn method used to clear land.

"This will minimise haze-related problems in the region," said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas after opening a climate change seminar "Between Bali and Poznan: Concrete Actions on Climate Change".

The seminar was jointly organised by the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia and the Netherlands with support from the ministry.

Embas said Malaysia had been practising sustainable forest management and that 60 per cent of the country was forested.

"This figure will increase to 77 per cent if crops like rubber, cocoa and oil palm are included. "It is the policy of the government to maintain our forests at 50 per cent of the total land area.

"He said although Malaysia was under no obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emission, it had been contributing to mitigating efforts through participation in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which is monitored through the National Committee on CDM.

CDM is one of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention mechanisms which allows developing countries to implement greenhouse gas mitigation projects with participation from industrialised countries."Malaysia is an active participant in the CDM process.

"We see climate change as a challenge which we have to address within the context of sustainable development," Embas said.He said many developing countries were experiencing climate change and had limited ability to respond to it.

"The recent incidents in Myanmar and China demonstrated the magnitude of the problem we face today."He added that a new term -- "climate refugee" -- had emerged, with the possibility of hundreds of millions of people being displaced due to the inability to address climate change.

Source:http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2259869/Article/index_html

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