AUSTRALIA and Japan should work together on high-technology systems to help developing countries make money by keeping their forests, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says

Mr. Rudd used a speech to university students in the home of the Kyoto protocol to call for more support for poorer nations with substantial forests remaining. Those countries should be helped to measure the carbon stored in their rainforests, then given credit for the greenhouse emissions avoided by not cutting the trees down, he said. The developing countries would effectively sell the carbon credits to big carbon emitting countries under an international trading scheme. Australia has already signed a forest carbon partnership with Papua New Guinea and Mr. Rudd will discuss a similar deal with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono later this week.

"Through our work with Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, we can support these countries (as they) move towards participating in global forest carbon markets and gain economic benefit for the emissions that are avoided,'' Mr. Rudd said. "There is scope for Australia and Japan to once again work together. "We both have the high technology systems to measure and monitor the carbon stored in forests - it requires a combination of satellite monitoring and on-the-ground observations.'' Australia's National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS) was widely recognised as one of the most sophisticated systems developed so far, he said.

He will raise the issue with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo on Thursday. "I hope to agree in my talks in Tokyo that Australia and Japan will be able to offer our expertise to countries in the region to monitor their forests to support market-based initiatives to reduce deforestation, to promote sustainable livelihoods while making a significant contribution to protecting biodiversity,'' he said.