PROTECTING LEUSER ECOSYSTEM FROM DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES by Fardah

Jakarta, Jan 12, 2019 (Antara) - Leuser National Park is the last natural place on Earth, home to four mega fauna species of Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii), Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris), and Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus).   
     Leuser is also a habitat for most fauna, ranging from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians to fish and invertebrates. It is a region having the longest list of birds in the world, up to 380 species, with 350 of them found in this park, which is also home to owa (Hylobates lar) and kedih (Presbytis thomasi).

        Moreover, the Leuser Ecosystem (KEL) is also a national strategic area owing to its environmental functions, notably as sources of clean water and air. It mitigates disaster impacts, such as erosion, pest, and climate change. 
   The KEL covers over 2.6 million hectares of intact forest area located in 13 districts in Aceh Province and three districts in North Sumatra.    
   Of the 2.6 million hectares, some 2.25 million hectares are in Aceh Province, while the remaining 384 thousand hectares are in North Sumatra Province. 
  Inside the KEL are the Mount Leuser National Park, nature reserve area, protected forest, production forest, limited production forest, permanent production forest, and convertible production forest.

       The natural scenery in KEL is charming and diverse, ranging from natural green scenery, crystal clear river water, beautiful waterfalls, diverse life, and fresh air, to a variety of rare animals.

         Aceh's KEL is home to 8,500 plant species, 105 mammal species, and 382 bird species.

        However, the Leuser environment is being threatened by development activities, as over four million people of Aceh live in KEL. The area has also been encroached by land clearance to make way for plantation, industry, and roads.

       Development activities endanger the survival of protected flora and fauna in Leuser, Farwiza Farhan, the chairman of HAkA Foundation, an Aceh non-governmental organization (NGO), stated recently.

       The NGO activist expressed concern and called for protection of the Leuser KEL, which is located in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh Darussalam.                
   Based on HAkA's latest data, 3,290 hectares of Leuser area were destroyed during the January-June 2018 period, a slight decrease from 3,780 hectares damaged during the same period in the previous year.

        "We are aware that many people are unaware of KEL, particularly in Banda Aceh. Hence, we are encouraged to campaign for protection of the vast forest area in Aceh," he emphasized.

         Meanwhile, Acting Aceh Governor Nova Iriansyah once remarked that during this year, not a single infrastructure project was carried out in the Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL).

         The Aceh government is committed to protecting and preserving the Leuser forest, which is a priority in the environmental policy, he noted.

         "In accordance with the Aceh land use plan, no infrastructure development is conducted inside the TNGL. There is no systematic effort by the Aceh government to harm TNGL and KEL. Foreign teams and UNESCO are welcomed to look at it closely," the acting governor added.

        According to North Sumatra's Leuser National Park Office, encroachment for plantations has currently reached 35 thousand hectares and is mostly concentrated in Langkat District.

        "We need several strategies in order to save the parts of Leuser facing the threat of deforestation," Director of the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) Fransisca Ariantingsih stated.

       OIC has been developing strategies to help the Indonesian government save Leuser. Some of these include restoring parts of the forest that have been encroached upon and turned to palm plantations and strengthening security at the forest border.

        The Mount Leuser National Park was designated as a Biosphere Reserve in 1981 and inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United National Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2004.

          This biosphere reserve has a range of ecosystems: lowland evergreen dipterocarp forest, lower and upper montane rainforest, peat swamp forest, forest over limestone, sub-alpine meadows and heathlands, freshwater lakes and rivers, and sulphur mineral pools.

           The Mount Leuser National Park is proven to be a rich yet vulnerable natural laboratory. The park also has over four thousand plant species, including three of the 15 species of the parasitic plant Rafflesia. Thus, it is a habitat for several medical plants.

          As a natural laboratory, Gunung Leuser is important for conservation, education, and scientific research for local and foreign researchers and ecotourism. Orangutan Research Station in Ketambe, Southeast Aceh District, is one of the oldest research stations, opened by Dr. Herman D. Rijksen, and remains an interesting location for researchers.

         In March 2016, actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio had visited the Leuser Ecosystem for his documentary on climate change.

         "The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is supporting local partners to establish a mega-fauna sanctuary in the Leuser Ecosystem, the last place on earth where orangutans, tigers, rhinos, and elephants coexist in the wild," DiCaprio posted in his personal Instagram account.

    (f001/INE)
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(T.F001/A/BESSR/A/G.N.C. Aryani) 12-01-2019 21:12