DILI, 31 january 2023 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste Government, through the Secretary of State for Environment, had implemented a decarbonization program by providing tree planting incentives for communities to grow more trees to preserve Timor-Leste’s biodiversity.
“Tree planting incentives are one of the best solutions to encourage our farmers and communities to plant more trees, which is crucial to protect and preserve our biodiversity,” Secretary of State for Environment, Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho told TATOLI at his office, in Dili.
Carvalho said growing more trees would help restore habitat loss for native species, including birds, mammals, etc.
“By planting more trees, many of our indigenous birds, and mammals would migrate back from other places. For example, you can now see many monkeys returning to their habitat at the Mangrove Conservation Centre in Hera Dili after its restoration,” he said.
More than 6000 farmers from 12 municipalities had benefited from the decarbonization program: “A farmer from the Bagia Administrative Post of Baucau City Municipality receives up to US$4000 per year from planting 8000 trees.”
He added that thousands of coffee farmers were also given tree-planting incentives to restore the coffee plantation: “Each coffee farmer would receive US$0.21 per tree.”
Humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels and voracious appetite for natural resources are accelerating climate change and degrading ecosystems on land and sea, threatening the integrity of the biosphere and thus the survival of native species.
Plants and trees extract and “sequester” carbon dioxide through photosynthesis by absorbing it into their tissues and preventing it from remaining in the atmosphere. Their role is essential for decarbonization, or else known as the reduction of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, particularly in the form of CO2.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
