He said the provincial administration had met with representatives of Kanematsu Corporation, Mitsubishi Research Institute, TAIJU and Kokusai Koyusa to discuss the planned cooperation.
"The team representing the Japanese investors is now visiting Gorontalo for a survey of the conditions of our forests," Tony said.
If the forests still produced carbon in sufficient quantities, the investors would make a carbon trading deal with the provincial government, he said.
The team was now visiting Boalemo and Bone Bolango districts to study the current conditions of forests in the two regions, he added.
Gorontalo province had 401 hectares of conservation forests and 423 hectares of production forests.
"The cooperation with the Japanese investors is expected to be of great benefit to Gorontalo because besides the investment, the province`s forests would be sustainably protected," Tony said.
He was optimistic Gorontalo would make a signiifiant contribution to the efforts to reduce carbon emissions and restore the natural environment.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
