Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Forestry Minister MS Kaban has said he was ready to meet and discuss with Greenpeace about the organization`s campaign on saving the Indonesian forest from negative impact of palm oil plantation expansion.
"I am ready to meet with Greenpeace on November 20 to discuss several points of view of the organization," Kaban said here on Saturday.
According to Greenpeace, the expansion of palm oil plantations into forest and peat land areas posed a serious threat to the global climate and Indonesia`s remaining forests.
It said expansion plans in Riau province alone had the potential of triggering a `climate time bomb`. Riau`s peatland forests store a massive 14.6 billion tonnes of carbon - equivalent to one year`s global greenhouse gas emissions.
The forestry minister`s plan to meet with Greenpeace after its ship the Rainbow Warrior, with a banner reading "Palm Oil Kills Forests and Climate", anchored next to a palm oil tanker on Thursday and blocked it in port.
The Rainbow Warrior was stationed close enough to the large tanker, loading 33,000 tonnes of palm oil, that the tug boats couldn`t get it out of dock.
And on Friday the blockade continued with eight Greenpeace activists climbed on the palm oil tanks nearby with a banner saying "Palm Oil Kills Climate & Forests".
"In response to Greenpeace campaign, I have prepared a meeting with the organization on November 20 to discuss a number of issues that it raised," Kaban said, adding that a mutual understanding was expected to be achieved in the meeting.
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