One of Indonesia’s easternmost regions is taking an unprecedented step toward sustainability. Last week, the government of the province of West Papua, on the island of New Guinea, announced legislation establishing it as Indonesia’s first “conservation province.” What this means is that the government will ensure that all future economic activity and development will be sustainable. The legislation also protects some of the most intact and healthy marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the Southeast Asian archipelago; promotes the development of sustainable jobs; and recognizes the rights of the region’s indigenous peoples. The announcement came nearly four years after the provincial government announced its intentions to become a conservation province, in the midst of rapid economic development in the region that threatened the area’s magnificent habitats and wildlife. West Papua, a 120,000-square-kilometer (46,000-square-mile) province boasts 90 percent forest cover, much of which remains unexplored.…