21 Jan 2016

US concerned about keeping Papuan forests intact

5:58 pm on 21 January 2016

More details have emerged about the visit to West Papua by the US Ambassador to Indonesia, including American concern about destruction of rainforest in the region.

Papuan activists met with Ambassador Robert Blake in Jayapura on Tuesday to discuss issues such as human rights.

Mr Blake also discussed ongoing, rampant clearance of forest and peatlands in Papua which has some of the world's last remaining substantial tracts of rainforest.

One of the people Mr Blake met with was Father Neles Tebay of Papua's Catholic Justice and Peace Secretariat.

He says the ambassador was looking at how to help protect Papua's forests, in light of commitments made at last month's UN Climate Change summit in Paris.

"In my understanding, knowing the destruction of forests in Papua and its implications, he might raise the issue in his conversations with central government of Indonesia in Jakarta."

Neles Tebay of the West Papua Catholic Justice and Peace Secretariat, as well as the Papua Peace Network.

Neles Tebay of the West Papua Catholic Justice and Peace Secretariat, as well as the Papua Peace Network. Photo: UCA News