President Alan Garcia on Tuesday created the first environment ministry in Peru, where scientists say climate change is hitting hard because of the Andean country's rich biodiversity.

Peru's melting glaciers, propped high in the Andes mountains, have just 25 years left until they run dry, , research shows.

"The environment ministry will ... allow us to defend Peru against global warming, the lack of fresh water and glacial destruction," Garcia said.

European and Latin American leaders meeting in Peru later this week should work to promote reforestation efforts and carbon trading systems to cut greenhouse gasses, he said.

Preserving Peru's vast Amazon rainforest plays a valuable role helping to combat climate change by absorbing carbon, and Garcia called on leaders to create a global reforestation fund financed by a fossil fuels tax.

Agencies

(China Daily 05/15/2008 page11)