Indonesia and Norway signed a deal Monday to reward deforestation reduction months after the collapse of a similar $1-billion agreement that was part of a UN-backed global initiative criticised for its ineffectiveness.

Protecting trees is key to meeting climate goals but environmentalists blame Indonesia — home to the world’s third-largest rainforest area — for a deforestation free-for-all by allowing companies to clear land for new plantations.

Jakarta claims it has made progress by reducing the rate of primary forest loss for five straight years and Oslo will now reward it with “results-based contributions” for cutting emissions, Norway’s ministry of climate and environment said in a statement.

“Today we are proud to embark on a new partnership to support the Indonesian government’s impressive results and ambitious plans,” said Norwegian Minister for Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide in a statement.

But environmental activists say the deal will not change the situation in Indonesia with vast swathes of rainforest still being destroyed to make way for palm and timber plantations that threaten endangered species and push indigenous people off their lands.

The countries had signed a landmark deforestation deal in 2010 with Norway offering Indonesia $1 billion to slash its emissions.

But Jakarta cancelled it last year saying it didn’t see enough of the money, while research showed it only made a small dent in Indonesia’s carbon-cutting targets.

Critics of the United Nations-backed REDD+ mechanism under which the deal was struck said it was ineffective and trampled on indigenous communities’ rights.

Under the new agreement Norway will send Jakarta an initial $56 million payment for its deforestation reduction in the year 2016 to 2017, the statement said.

It will then pay Indonesia for years of reductions that followed after verifying the drops in deforestation, meaning it could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Jakarta.

Indonesia has an ambitious goal to reach a net carbon sink — storing more carbon than it releases into the atmosphere — by 2030 but its vast forests are still shrinking.

The country’s tree cover has decreased by 18 percent since 2000, a loss that accounts for 6.5 percent of the global total since then, according to Global Forest Watch, a monitoring programme of the environmental research group World Resources Institute.

Mongolia has launched a rail line that could help boost coal exports to China to 50 million tonnes a year, the country’s president said, ending a decade-long wait for the crossing.

A ceremony to mark the launch of the rail service between the Tavan Tolgoi coal field and Gashuun Sukhait on the Chinese border was held in the previous week.

Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh was among the dignitaries in attendance, according to his website.

Heavily dependent on mining, Mongolia has long sought cheaper and more efficient ways to export its minerals abroad and has a national strategy to expand its rail network connections with Russia and China.

Mining makes up a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product.

China has stepped up its investment in coal in the face of extreme weather, an economic slowdown and a global fuel crisis.

The 233-kilometre (145-mile) Tavan Tolgoi rail line has the capacity to export between 30 million and 50 million tonnes of coal to China annually, according to Tavantolgoi Railway LLC, the state agency that built the line.

In 2020 the North Asian country exported 28.6 million tonnes of coal. Last year, exports fell to 15.9 million tonnes.

The railway is also expected to lower the cost to transport coal to $8 per tonne, compared to $32 per tonne when coal is delivered by truck, according to the railway authority.

Tavan Tolgoi is rich in coking coal, an essential ingredient in the steel-making process.

For years coal has been transported in trucks to China, a process that has led to long queues at the border and frequent accidents.

Mongolian governments have attempted to build a railway from Tavan Tolgoi to the Gashuun Sukhait border for more than a decade.

Tavantolgoi LLC was formed in 2018 to complete the project. Ulaanbaatar-based Bodi International served as the general contractor.

The Gashuun Sukhait-Gantsmod border crossing is now the second Mongolia-China border point with a rail crossing, with the other at Zamyn-Uud-Erlian.

Progress Rail, a division of Caterpillar, agreed to supply 16 locomotives to support operations for the railway project.

The new locomotives are designed to fit the 1,520 mm gauge used in Mongolia, Russia, and other former Soviet republics.

Mongolia’s current 1,900 km rail network was almost entirely constructed during the 20th century with help from the Soviet Union.

It consists mainly of the Trans-Mongolia line between Russia and China, and a spur line to the city of Erdenet.

The Millennium Park is the largest public park of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria and is located in the Maitama district of the city.

The Millennium Park was inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 4 December 2003.

It’s located near to the former Presidential Palace close to the nucleus of presidential and administrative buildings of the city.

A river crosses the Park in its main rectilinear axis, dividing it into two parts.

One side on the Park is dedicated to uncontaminated nature. In a system of terraces at different levels are located Nigeria’s mountain vegetation, Savana, Deciduous forest, Rainforest and brushwood as well as greenhouses for butterflies and tropical birds.

The other side, corresponding to the main entrance from road, is dedicated to the scientific knowledge of the natural environment. This part of the Park has a very traditional and rigid Italian Style Garden Layout.

Entering the Park, a rectilinear path completely paved with Roman white travertine brings the public into its green areas. A series of fountains run alongside this white mark refreshing the public during the hottest days.

This path visually links the enormous Cotton Tree, a holy tree of Abuja situated on one side of the Millennium Park, with the Aso Koro, the holy Rock of Abuja.

The path layout is based on a trident geometry separated by huge polygonal pools.

The roads are crossed by a series of multi coloured bushes going from yellow to red with a very particular wave-like course.

This Park, conceived and designed by the Italian architect Manfredi Nicoletti, has quickly become one of the main attractions of the city of Abuja bringing thousands of people together each day.

During the Millennium Park opening ceremony, each Commonwealth Head of State has planted symbolically a Ravenala Madagscariensis palm giving birth to the Park. Among others were present the President of Nigeria Olusegu Obasanjo, UK prime Minister Tony Blair and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Devetashka Cave is an impressively large karst cave that can be found in the vicinity of the village of Devetaki in the northern part of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Located more precisely on the east bank of the Osam River, the cave has an entrance which is 35 meters (115 feet) wide and 30 meters (98 feet) high, which then widens inside and creates astonishingly large hall with an area of some 2,400 square m.

Interestingly, there are several large openings from the ceiling which allow for the daylight to lighten up the largely vast interior.

Being around 2 km (1 mi) in length, after 200 meters (656 feet) from the entrance, the cave separates into two branches, where on the left side is a small river that creates miniature lakes and waterfalls, passing through the main hall and eventually flowing into the Osam River, while the right side is warm and dry with several chambers that ends with a round hall, called the Altar.

Accompanied by plenty of wonderful stalactites and stalagmites, the cave was used since the Old Stone Age, better known as the Paleolithic era, for tens of thousands of years, allowing for the humans of the time to have a shelter and place where they can thrive.

Devetashka Cave was rediscovered once again in newer times by a Bulgarian scientist, who in 1921 did some exploration inside.

It was not until 1950s when a true revelation was carried out in order to learn a little bit more about the human occupation throughout the very long history.

Having discovered some of the richest sources of Neolithic cultural artifacts, nowadays, the cave is not just an amazing touristic place for the visitors of Bulgaria, but also one of the three most important hibernation spots for bats in Europe.

From the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species of bats, there are four species that are present within the cave, and as all bats are protected by law in the country, it was unfortunate for a large number of bats in 2011 to be displaced due to the shooting of the Hollywood action film ‘The Expendables 2’.

With this movie, the cave gained more popularity, nonetheless, there were no certain sources whether the bats will return. Fortunately in late 2012, there were the first signs of bats returning, and by the end of the year, the population once again grew to a large number.

Declared as a natural landmark which is protected by law since 7 June 1996, this national and international monument of immense significance is should be protected with every intent for the future generations to be able to get a glimpse in the life of the people from the Paleolithic era.