The government has bowed to pressure from environmental groups and will ban imports of sawn timber from neighbouring Indonesia from next month, a senior minister said yesterday.

Primary industries minister Lim Keng Yaik said the ban was o­n squared Indonesian logs of more than 60 square inches (390 square centimeters).

"We are taking this drastic action in the interest of Malaysia and to remove the negative perception against our timber industry," he was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.