Barnabas Suebu also known as Bas Suebu is the Governor of the Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n province

Provinces of Indonesia

The province is the highest tier of local government subnational entity in Indonesia. Each province has its own local government, headed by a governor, and has its own legislative body...

 Papua

Papua (Indonesian province)

Papua comprises most of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands. Its capital is Jayapura. It's the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia. The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea...

. He wants to protect the province's forests, and has made plans to declare a moratorium on log exports and recommended that no new logging concessions be granted to timber companies. Suebu appeared on Time Magazine's list of "Heroes of the Environment

Heroes of the Environment

Heroes of the Environment is a list published in Time Magazine. The inaugural list was published in October 2007. The list contains 43 entries, individuals or groups that have contributed substantially to the preservation of environment, and is divided into four categories: Leaders & Visionaries,...

" October 2007.

Early Life, Education, and Career

Barnabas Suebu was born on April 29, 1946, in Sentani

Sentani

Sentani can refer to several things related to a region on the north coast of the province of Papua, Indonesia:* Sentani *Lake Sentani, a relatively large, oddly-shaped freshwater lake* Sentani , a tribal group who originate from this area...

, Papua, to Bonifasius Suebu and Salomi Monim. Suebu obtained a Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 at Cenderawasih University

Cenderawasih University

Universitas Cenderawasih is a university in Jayapura, in the province Papua, Indonesia. The university is the leading educational institution in the province....

 in 1988. He was also a graduate from Lemhanas (National Defense Institute) in 1984.

He was the chairman of Irian Jaya KNPI (Indonesian Youth National Committee) in 1974–1975, Speaker of Irian Jaya Legislative Assembly (1987–1988), adviser to the Minister for Research and Technology, a member of Congress (1997–2002) and Indonesian Ambassador to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

 and Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

(1999–2002).