STING SWINGS DOWN UNDER ON MISSION TO SAVE FORESTS

British rock star Sting visited Australia's hottest environmental trouble spot after meeting Prime Minister Bob Hawke to promote a campaign to save Amazonian rain forests. The former singer of the group Police went to the Eden rain forests near the Snowy Mountains of southern New South Wales to show his support for the conservation issue. Since February, 550 demonstrators have been arrested at the Eden forests. Sting's visit caps a world tour that has included Britain, the United States and Japan to raise awareness for the vanishing jungles of Brazil. "I don't pretend to be an expert on this problem here," he said. "But one thing I did learn while in Japan recently is that they don't log their own forests. They don't need to, they log yours." Japan is a leading importer of logs from the U.S. Northwest and other areas of the world. Hawke pledged $187,500 toward the protection of the Amazon rain forests.