[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PROTECTIVE FORESTS AND WILDLIFE IN SUMATRA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to call attention 
to the recent action of the Government of Indonesia to preserve the 
endangered rain forests an ecosystems of Sumatra.
  On October 10, 2008, the Indonesian Government, in cooperation with 
the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, announced an agreement between the 10 
provincial governors of Sumatra to protect biodiversity on the world's 
sixth largest island. Although long overdue, this is an important first 
step towards conservation of a unique habitat at a critical time.
  Sumatra is the only place on Earth where tigers, elephants, rhinos, 
and orangutans co-exist. It has also gained a reputation for having 
lost almost half of its natural forest cover since 1985. The rapid 
expansion of palm oil and pulpwood plantations, as well as rampant 
illegal logging, have been largely to blame. These activities have 
contributed to the precipitous decline in numbers of these endangered 
species, whose habitat has become a patchwork of disconnected small 
parcels of forest.
  This action to protect the forests is important not only for 
Indonesia but for the rest of the world. Thirteen percent of 
Indonesia's remaining forests grow on peat soil, which emits large 
amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when trees are felled. 
Further destruction of these forests will contribute to global warming 
at a time when we should be doing everything possible to reduce 
greenhouse gases.
  This agreement represents a significant change of attitude and 
policy, for which President Yudhoyono and his government deserve 
credit. Implementing the agreement will be difficult, requiring 
additional resources for alternative economic opportunities for people 
living in these areas, and for enforcement, and I urge the U.S. Agency 
for International Development and other donors to support it.

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