The governor of the Indonesian Province of Papua says it will ban all log exports from next month, in a move he says to preserve one of the world's largest remaining tracts of untouched forests.
Barnabas Suebu, told The Age newspaper that the Bali climate change conference should endorse funding the anti-logging moves, due to its impact on reducing global warming.
Mr Suebu says he has already imposed a moratorium on issuing new logging licences and would present legislation next month withdrawing all licences, as loggers had been destroying Papua's forests illegally.
He says licences would only be reissued under strict conditions.
At least 7.2 million cubic metres of timber was being cut in Papua a year, rapidly shrinking its 42 million hectares of forests, which has the highest level of biodiversity in the world.
The proposals had also been submitted to the Indonesian Government, but Mr Suebu says he has the authority to implement them under the new regional autonomy laws.
