We talked to Keith Porter who is a member of the official delegation from Jamaica at the Cancun climate talks. A forester in his home country, he is interested in conservation and reforestation issues and their relevance for our climate. In Cancun his special focus is on the problems that climate change poses particularly for small island states like his home country Jamaica.

 

One of the topics of discussion at COP16 will be something called REDD. What is it? It stands for 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation' and it's a UN forest protection program. Basically, wealthy nations pay developing countries to preserve their forests, and in return they get "carbon credit" to use in the global carbon trading industry. Some countries, like Indonesia, are already taking part in the project. What do you think? Is this a good way to save our forests?