Ban Ki-moon, center, speaks to the media at the island of Cumbu in the Amazon jungle, near Belem, Brazil, 13 Nov 2007

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has visited the Amazon in Brazil and pledged U.N. support to preserve the world's largest rainforest.

Secretary-General Ban made his comment Tuesday as he met with Brazilian Indians and officials on a jungle Combu island in the Amazon near Belem, Brazil. Mr. Ban also was quoted as saying the Amazon forest is "a common asset of all humankind" that must be preserved.

Mr. Ban was on the last stop of a tour of South America and the Antarctic that explored the effects of deforestation and climate change.

The secretary-general is preparing for a U.N. climate change conference next month in Bali, Indonesia. The conference is meant to work out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.