Mozambique has agreed to keep commercial interests out of a newly discovered pristine rain forest, environmentalists say.

Representatives from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust and other groups hoping to protect the rain forest of Mount Mabu say government ministers will preserve the area after new snake, butterfly and chameleon species were found there, The Guardian reported Saturday.

"The three messages we conveyed were that there is rich biodiversity in Mozambique, that butterflies and botany can be as important as mammals, and that conservation policy should take into consideration areas such as these mountains or the coastal forests, that do not easily fit into the usual category of national park," Kew's Jonathan Timberlake told the British newspaper.

Mount Mabu rain forest has remained untouched by man even as surrounding areas was devastated by civil war thanks to its poor access, which kept people ignorant of its existence. The Guardian said it was only discovered last year by scientists scanning satellite imagery produced by Google Earth.