Leuser Rainforest in Sumatera: Under siege of crude palm oil plantation

The Leuser national park of Indonesia was situated across the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra on the island of Sumatra. This ancient ecosystem (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and richest in biodiversity is cover more than 2.6 million hectares of lowland rainforests, peat swamps, montane and coastal forests and alpine meadows; over 35 times the size of Singapore and almost 5 times the Bali's size. Said, the Leuser Ecosystem is also one of Asia’s largest carbon sinks and the last place on earth where orang utans, rhinos, elephants, and tigers co-exist.

The map of Leuser ecosystem

Probably the largest intact, contiguous forest remaining in Southeast Asia, and containing three of the planet's most indispensable carbon-rich deep peat swamp forests, the Leuser stores immense quantities of carbon in its forests and peatlands, mitigating global climate change by keeping pollution out of the atmosphere. More, Leuser contains with at least 105 mammal species, 382 bird species, and 95 reptile and amphibian species, with countless others no doubt still unrecorded. Didn't count the rainfall Leuser's forests produce, and the numerous clear rivers that emanate within them, which essential for millions of local people with clean drinking water and irrigation for agriculture

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Despite either being protected by law and acknowledge of the importances of Leuser ecosystem given to the world, those didn't succeed of halting deforestation principally by forest clearing for palm oil plantation. A latest Rainforest Action Network (RAN) field investigation in 2017 has found evidence of active, illegal clearance of critically endangered Sumatran elephant habitat within the rainforests of the Leuser Ecosystem. The suspect was a local palm oil producer which linked to a known supplier to Wilmar International. Wilmar later ships this unethical palm oil around the world where it is may be used by consumer brands, including PepsiCo.

Showing the power of money over law enforcement, it's a clear violation of the moratorium announced by the President of Indonesia in April 2016 as well as instructions from the Governor of Aceh in June 17, 2016, ordering the company to cease all forest clearance activities, including areas with existing permits.

According to the November 2015 Sustainability Brief of palm oil giant Wilmar International, at least 31 plantation companies (24 local ones and 7 associated with larger parent company groups) whose concessions overlapped with a total of 125,000 ha in the Leuser Ecosystem. However, the brief trying to apologise these as "not so illegal" since number of the established plantations within the Leuser Ecosystem are associated with historical plantation permits that in some cases originated more than 25 years ago. Well, we can presume how "legal" they got permits in time of 32 years dictatorial regime of General Soeharto eventually collapsed by Indonesian student movement in 1998.

Farwiza Farhan from local NGO HAkA and Leonardo DiCaprio at the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh last year. Photograph: Paul Hilton/ HAkA/EPA. Source

Illustrating the deforestation rate exist, according to Global Forest Watch data from 2001-2014, the Leuser Ecosystem region lost 145,000 hectares of tree cover due to both deforestation and tree plantation harvesting. More recent data indicates that another 22,000 hectares of forest cover were lost between January 2015 and April 2017.

Another data by local watchdog Forest, Nature and Environment of Aceh (HAkA), showing the first seven months of 2017 alone, Leuser have been lost 3,941 hectares of forest cover, an area almost three times as large as Los Angeles International Airport.

Beside the giant palm oil plantation intrusion, the smallholder or local people entering their concessions and open up new lands also contribute toward deforestation of Leuser, including “encroachment and illegal settlement, illegal wildlife poaching, roading, industrial development — including ongoing proposals for geothermal plants and hydropower dams — are still taking place,” said Panut Hadsiswoyo, director of the Sumatra-based Orangutan Information Center.

Palm oil contribution to Indonesian economy

Deforestation within Leuser ecosystem and other forest conservation area in Indonesia wasn't detached of rapid expansion of palm oil industries that brought huge wealth to the region. According to data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS) the total area of oil palm plantations in Indonesia is currently around 11.9 million hectares; three times higher than in the year 2000.

Palm oil is the top export of Indonesia which contributed $14.4B (or equal to 10%) of total $140B exported in 2016. Even larger from traditionally export commodities as such coal briquettes ($11.9B), petroleum gas ($6.22B), or crude petroleum ($4.93B). The role of palm oil was so dominant in economy, leaving far behind other monoculture-plants competitors such as rubber (2,4%) or coffee (0.7%).

An aerial view of the cleared forests. Source

Unfortunately, the corporation gained wealth from palm oil on corporation didn't apply for local communities cultivating same plants. As said by Farwiza Farhan: “the smallest smallholders, who grow two hectares, don’t usually have their lives super transformed. They need to wait about three to five years for the palm to produce anything like $100 per hectare.”

These smallholder farmers are accounted of 40,49% of total palm oil area owned in Indonesia, compare to big private plantation who owned bigger chunk 52,88%. And they are millions in numbers. However, most of these smallholder farmers are highly vulnerable to global downswings in palm oil prices as they cannot enjoy the cash reserves (or bank loans) that the big planters have at their disposal.

Definitely, the palm oil industry generates significant fiscal earnings for the government and stimulates economic growth in rural areas. But perhaps the crop’s greatest offence is its potential for devastating environmental impacts. As concluded by Farhan, when the subsequent floods and destruction caused by the deforestation for plantations, “Companies aren’t paying for, that falls to the local communities and the government.”