Papuan forests 'must be saved'

Papuan forests 'must be saved'

JAYAPURA, Papua: Papua Governor Jaap P. Salossa has asked
governmental agencies and all communities to help save protected
forests in the province.

The tropical forests, in terms of area the third largest in
the world after forests in Brazil and Zaire, are a major source
of oxygen and should be preserved for future generations, the
governor said while opening a workshop on ecotourism here on
Tuesday.

The workshop, jointly organized by the World Wide Fund for
Nature and Papua's Environmental Impact Management Agency, is
being attended by 85 participants from governmental agencies,
non-governmental organizations and community groups from the
Pacific region, including Australia and Indonesia.

The governor said he hoped the workshop would result in an
action plan to preserve the region's ecosystem. --Antara