US Donates US$5.5 Milion to Map Indonesia's Deforestation

By Azi Fitriyanti Jakarta (Antara) - The United States Government has donated US$5.5 million through the World Resources Institute (WRI) to track deforestation in Indonesia, which can help in protecting and restoring forests. Vice American Ambassador to Indonesia Kristen Bauer stated during a press conference at the American cultural center (@america) here on Wednesday night (June 4) that the donation will be used for the development of the Global Forest Watch (GFW) program. Bauer remarked that the project was mainly aimed to develop a mapping technology that will produce reliable data regarding deforestation in Indonesia. "So, this scientific data will support the government in Indonesia in mapping deforestation," she noted. Through the project, Bauer pointed out that the United States aims to contribute by raising public awareness about the ongoing deforestation in Indonesia and make efforts to resolve the problem. "I think this technology like other technologies, brings information to everyone, both to officials and the people. So, I think it is a revolution that brings real-time information about where the deforestation is happening," she added. However, Bauer stressed that the usefulness of this technology to curb deforestation will depend on Indonesia itself. "Hopefully, this will be beneficial to the people, but whether the people or government will use it or not, depends entirely on Indonesia. Indonesia should decide whether it is useful or not," she stated. The Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an application being developed by the WRI, which provides data, statistics, and other information about deforestation around the world and is now available for Indonesia. "You can simply call it the Google map of deforestation," remarked Andhyta Utami, a research assistant of forest and landscape restoration at the WRI Indonesia's office.(*)