Peru aims for zero deforestation

BBC: The Peruvian government says it can reach zero deforestation in just 10 years with the help of funds from Western governments. It is taking its ambitious proposal to the latest round of UN talks on climate change, which are taking place in Poznan. The government claims more than 80% of Peru's primary forests can be saved or protected.

Peru has the fourth largest area of tropical forest in the world after Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. It has around 70 million hectares of tropical forest covering nearly 60% of its territory. "We are not a poor country going to the Poznan meeting begging for aid," Environment Minister Antonio Brack told the BBC. "We are an important country with a large area of forest that has a value."

Mr Brack says his ministry has calculated that Peru needs about $25m (£17m) a year for the next 10 years to be able to save or conserve initially at least 54 million hectares of forest, which could rise to 60 million. He says the Peruvian government has already committed $5m a year, and he is looking for $20m a year from the international community. "This is Peru's contribution to mitigating climate change," he said.

…Peru is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It boasts a very rich diversity of Amazon species. Its Andean peaks are already subject to accelerated glacial melt, which scientists fear will seriously threaten dry season water supplies to some coastal cities….

Peru's Amazonas region, shot by Priscilla D