Oct 29, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. The UK government has committed GBP100 million ($160 million) to international forestry projects that deliver benefits for the natural environment. This will include projects designed to reduce the destruction of animal habitats and the loss of biodiversity, as KMS Baltics reported. Environment secretary Caroline Spelman said tackling deforestation is critical if governments around the world are to minimise the impacts of climate change and reduce global poverty. "Forests are home to over half of the world's plants and animals, and support the livelihoods of over one billion people, while deforestation accounts for almost a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions," she remarked. The GBP100 million ($160 million) forms part of a wider funding pot of GBP2.9 billion ($4.7 billion), which will be spent on international climate change initiatives between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015. One of the government's goals is to halve tropical deforestation by 2010 and halt global deforestation altogether by 2030.