What longer-term solutions are being put forward to stop deforestation?
At the Bali meeting, the Brazilian government put forward an ambitious proposal to achieving zero deforestation by 2015, largely through raising such international funds. One version of what could be achieved through REDD was presented at Bali by a leading Amazon scientist Dan Nepstad. He argues that the total cost of reducing deforestation down to zero over the next 30 years would be US$41bn (21bn), equivalent to US$1.2 per tonne of avoided emissions of carbon dioxide. What steps are currently being implemented? There are now several projects being developed in the region to try to extract the riches of the forest in a sustainable way. The idea is to guarantee that the forest will be preserved for future generations while at the same time benefiting the local population. Many small-scale schemes are already being tried out by which local people are paid not to cut down forests, or paid to extract the riches of the forest sustainably. Critics question whether such schemes can be expand
