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NEWS OF
THE MONTH: Greenhouse Gases on the Rise In Indonesia
Capping off the month of November, the World Agroforestry
Center and the Center for International Forestry Research,
published a report showing that conversion of Indonesian
forests into agroforestry has resulted in prodigious levels
of greenhouse gas emissions without very little economic
benefit to the surrounding communities. Collecting data on
carbon emissions and land use changes in the provinces of
East Kalimantan, Jambi and Lampung from 1990 to 2005,
researchers found that over 400 megatons of greenhouse
emissions were released primarily from 'slash and burn' land
clearing. While the report correlates the emissions with
economic gain, environmentalists agree that even if the
economic gain of agroforestry industry in Indonesia was
highly beneficial, the carbon emissions are too high. Palm
oil, rubber and coffee are the primary crops here, which can
be very profitable considering their demand is accompanied
by high prices. However, there is still a long way to go in
practicing sustainable agriculture in Indonesia.
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