Protection of Papua forests backed

Protection of Papua forests backed

JAYAPURA, Papua: The South Pacific Forum, the U.S., Australia
and various international organizations have voiced support for
the Indonesian government's policies to protect the tropical
forests of Papua.

These statements of support were conferred directly through a
workshop held by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the
Regional Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda), in
Jayapura on Monday.

The head of the South Pacific Forum delegation, Dermot
O'Gorman, told journalists on Monday that the forum supports the
government's policy of involving WWF and Bapedalda in preserving
Papua's tropical forests, both as an asset and for their
environmental importance.

According to O'Gorman, a special body needs to be formed to
ensure forest conservation is carried out seriously.

He also asked WWF and Bapedalda to prevent illegal logging in
the forests. --Antara