VOA常速英语:Carbon Trading Seen as Key to Borneo's Preservation

Experts calls on Indonesia, Malaysia protect the natural habitat

Plantation companies in Indonesia and Malaysia, which share most of Borneo island, produce 87 percent of the world's palm oil. They have come under fire for causing to deforestation, which threatens populations of rare animals such as orangutans, elephants, rhinoceros and clouded leopards.

Oscar Venter, a conservationist biologist and the study's lead author, says the time has come for governments to re-write policy to incorporate the latest scientific findings and help protect the natural habitat on the world's third largest island.

UN plans to compensate countries for protecting their forests

The United Nations has endorsed a plan that would compensate countries for protecting their forests, which soak up vast amounts of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere each year. Many environmental activists hope the plan will be included in a new global agreement later this year on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, which many scientists think contribute to global warming.

The compensation could be done through direct financial assistance or credits that can be sold on an international carbon market to companies that exceed their allotted carbon limits.

According to Venter's study, the forests would be worth more than palm oil if carbon credits were priced between $10 and $33 a ton. Figures vary but according to the United Nations, carbon credits could be worth up to $20 billion a year to Indonesia.

This would add substantially to government coffers and help preserve the remaining wilderness areas of Borneo, crucial to the survival of many of the world's most endangered species.