Oct 08, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. The governments of Paraguay and Indonesia announced far-reaching actions to stop forest loss at a special WWF event held during the IUCN World Conservation Congress, WWF reported. Colombia also announced new measures to reduce Amazon Basin deforestation. The Paraguayan and Indonesian announcements follow commitments made at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Conference of Parties in Bonn in May to achieve zero net deforestation by 2020. The new measures will contribute to safeguarding biodiversity in some of the world’s most biologically diverse eco-regions, protect local livelihoods and are significant elements of climate change action by the three countries. Deforestation, particularly in the tropics, is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, generating between 15-20% of global carbon emissions. Paraguay announced it will implement a policy to achieve and maintain zero net carbon emissions from land use changes by 2020. As part of this policy, it will extend the country’s Forest Conversion Moratorium, or Zero Deforestation Law, by another five years when it expires in December. Implementation of the law has led to massive cuts in deforestation rates in the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s richest forests, from between 88,000-170,000 hectares annually before the law came into force, to a current level of approximately 16,700 hectares annually, a reduction of more than 85%. The Indonesian government announced it will no longer tolerate conversion of forests for establishing crop plantations such as oil palm. The government will also forge ahead with its forest-carbon initiative, aimed at conserving biodiversity, reducing carbon emissions from land-use changes, restoring ecosystem services and generating innovative incentives for sustainable development. At the same event, Colombia’s Director General of National Parks, Mrs. Julia Miranda Lodoño, also announced a regional plan to develop a network of protected areas in the Amazon, which includes establishment of joint mechanisms for effective cross-country conservation actions. This process aims to achieve both representative protected area networks, and build resilience to climate change.