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UN launches project to help poor nations avert deforestation

The United Nations has launched a new project to help poor countries gain funding to protect and plant forests. The project, called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), will start by assisting nine countries in the developing world.

Under the scheme, forested countries, including Bolivia, Indonesia and Zambia, could accumulate carbon credits by saving or planting trees. Industrialised nations can then buy these credits to compensate for their excess emissions.

Deforestation in the developing world is estimated to account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse-gas emissions.

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