Soil quality news: Deforestation 'key to tackling climate change'

It is vital for deforestation to be taken into consideration as and when a deal is struck at the UN Climate Change Conference in December, it has been asserted.

Environmental charity WWF made its comments at the close of the 13th World Forestry Congress, which was held in Buenos Aires in Argentina between October 18th and 23rd.

The organisation said that a deal which gives clear incentives and guideance to the forestry sector must be reached at the summit, which is due to take place between December 7th and 18th in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Rodney Taylor, director of WWF International's Forest programme, stated: "If the global deal on climate change ignores the dangers of unchecked deforestation, it will set the world on an accelerated path to savage climate change."

Concluding, he said that a zero net deforestation by 2020 would set the urgency and scale required to gather the political will to halt forest loss.

Posted by Claire Manning