PRINCE CHARLES' FOREST-SAVING PROPOSAL GOOD FOR RI : MINISTER

London, April 2 (ANTARA) - British Prince Charles' proposal to raise funds from developed countries to save the world's forests is good for Indonesia, Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said here on Thursday.

"For Indonesia, the proposal will be a boon because we have a lot of forests," Witoelar said in comment on Prince Charles' proposal to raise funds to save the world's forests.
He said the prince had taken the opportunity of the ongoing G-20 summit in London to invite the G-20 heads of state/government for a 40-minute meeting at Clarence House, London, on Wednesday where he presented his proposal.
Witoelar said Prince Charles' idea was to raise funds from developed countries to save tropical forests in developing countries.
He said there had yet to be a clear mechanism for the fund raising but according to a concept discussed before, the effort would be facilitated by the World Bank and other international development banks.
The minister said the Prince of Wales had been paying close attention to tropical forests in Indonesia as had also become evident during his visit to Indonesia some time ago.
During his visit to Indonesia, Prince Charles went to Jambi and presented assistance for forest conservation in the province.
Witoelar said the prince's proposal to raise funds for forest conservation was part of his efforts to support the Kyoto Protocol and indicated that the developed countries would like to help the developing countries overcome the problem of climate change.
"They (the developed countries) have come to their senses and want to help the developing countries," Witoelar said.
He said one of British agendas in hosting the G-20 summit was to pursue development with low carbon emission as a long-term package to rebuild the world economy.
Indonesia, according to Witoelar, fully supported the idea of low-carbon-emission development by way of reducing carbon emission and energy efficiency.