Wellington, Dec 11 NZPA - The Maori Party has condemned New Zealand's position at United Nations climate talks in Poland which saw a reference to indigenous people's rights regarding forests deleted from an agreement.

New Zealand, supported by the US, Australia and Canada, insisted the text delete a draft reference to the native people' rights, but the agreement did guarantee a voice for native peoples who live in forests.

Environmentalists said the compromise text was a positive step, and cleared the way to discuss politically sensitive questions on how countries will be compensated for protecting their woodlands.

But the indigenous people issue prompted noisy demonstrations. Representatives from northern Canada to Borneo and the Amazon demanded recognition of their land rights and formal status as an "expert group" at the talks. Maori MP Hone Harawira raised the issue in Parliament today, saying it was a matter of "grave concern".

He accused appointees of the former Labour Government of continuing opposition to recognition of indigenous people's rights. The previous government did not support the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"It appears that Labour's appointees continue to oppose recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, in a decision on deforestation and forest degradation, and along with their Canzus cronies -- Canada, Australia, and the United States -- continue to oppose measures to protect the rights of the very indigenous peoples who have sustained and protected the forests targeted under this agreement, for thousands of years."

Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues Tim Groser is leading New Zealand's delegation in Poznan.

Another criticism of the draft text was there was no mention of biodiversity, which could allow countries to uproot natural forests to plant palm oil or fruit plantations.

A deal on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, known as REDD, has been tied up in a technical committee since the conference opened December 1.

The draft will be adopted by the convention before it closes on Friday.

Scientists say the destruction of rain forests, which consume carbon dioxide and release it into the air when they are obliterated, is responsible for 20 percent of the man-made emissions of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

Nearly 190 countries are negotiating a climate treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which required industrial countries to cut emissions by an average 5 percent from 1990 levels. That agreement expires in 2012, and its a successor accord is due to be finished next December in Copenhagen, Denmark. It will then be submitted to the countries for ratification.

The UN Climate Change secretariat, hosting the talks of more than 10,000 delegates, said a separate committee had reached agreement on a work plan for next year calling for a negotiating text to be put on the table next June.

Although a final treaty need not be completed in all its details in Copenhagen, "we must have a politically ratifiable outcome that can enter into force in 2013," said Yvo de Boer, the top UN climate change official.

The focus of efforts to contain global warming has been on slashing pollution in the industrial West from energy generation, heavy industries and vehicles.

Mr Groser yesterday released New Zealand's position for the talks.

He listed challenges New Zealand faced which included a small population which raised public transport issues; an already high proportion of renewable electricity generation meaning scope for gains was small and an already efficient agriculture sector.

"It is obvious that the world would not benefit from a transfer of production from New Zealand to countries that are less efficient in both economic terms and in terms of their relative carbon footprint, quite apart from the economic damage this would do to our exports, on which our jobs and prosperity are based," he said.

He said New Zealand would be negotiating aggressively to achieve better rules governing agriculture, land use and land use change.

(SEEKING GOVT COMMENT)

NZPA PAR AP mt