The US Government has recently authorized a bill that allows eligible countries to trade debt for forest conservation pledges. Indonesia is one of the first to take advantage of the program, having the total of their US$30 million forgiven in exchange for conservation. This is the largest agreement for conservation ever reached. The agreement mandates that Indonesia put forward US$30 million over the next eight years into a trust fund for forest conservation and restoration work. The work could not come at a better time, as the Sumatran rainforest have been depleted by about ninety per cent, due to logging and clearing for agriculture.

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