Farmers in Papua, Indonesia are learning which farming activities can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

An article in The Jakarta Post reports on the Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation by Civil Society on Land-use Planning for Low Emissions Development Strategy (ParCiMon) project which is operating in the Jayawijaya regency of Papua.

Through the project, local residents have leant how to calculate carbon stocks and have been introduced to a range of activities that can reduce emissions while at the same time improve their livelihoods. These include growing fruit trees, honey bee farming, pig breeding and fish rearing.

The ParCiMon project, which is funded by the European Union and being implemented by the World Agroforestry Centre, has developed 10 strategies that communities can participate in, either to prevent declines in carbon stocks through maintaining protected forests or increase carbon stocks by maintaining the function of primary and secondary forests and planting a range of trees for timber, fruit and coffee.

Dadi Permadi, head of the Low Emission Development Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group, believes emissions in Jayawijaya regency can be reduced by 50.18 percent by 2020; exceeding the national target of 41 percent.

Read the full story: Green project helps emission reduction efforts in Papua

To find out more about the ParCiMon project, visit: http://worldagroforestrycentre.org/parcimon