Landowners in Papua New Guinea's Kikori Basin say illegal loggers must respect the rules of sustainable logging in their area.
With the help of the World Wildlife Fund, the landowners have just launched three major rainforest Wildlife Management Areas, or WMA's, to protect some of PNG's most threatened wildlife habitat.
The three protected areas are Sulamesi, Hose and Arisai, which together make up more than 80-thousand hectares traversing the Basin in Southern Highlands, Western and Gulf provinces.
This pristine rainforest is home to some of the world's most biodiverse species and environments.
The WWF's officer for the Kikori project, Saina Jeffery, says the declaration of the WMAs signifies a commitment by landowners to safeguard their land against destructive developments like unsustainable logging.
"If these illegal loggers are to go in they should respect the rules and regulations that have been set by the people themselves, that have been set by the owners of these logs, owners of these resources of the rainforest in which they're illegally logging. If that is not the case, they will be sued, they will be taken to court."
The WWF's Saina Jeffery
