location: Sumatra

location: Sumatra

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On Indonesia’s unique Enggano Island, palm oil takes root in an Indigenous society
- Formed millions of years ago in the Indian Ocean by a process independent of tectonic collision, Indonesia’s Enggano Island is now home to many unique species and a diverse Indigenous society of subsistence farmers.
- Since the early 1990s, developers have sought to obtain control over large parts of the island, but encountered staunch opposition from its six Indigenous tribes.
- Today, PT Sumber Enggano Tabarak, which has been linked to the billionaire-owned London Sumatra group, is seeking to establish an oil palm plantation over 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres).
- Civil society researchers and Indigenous elders say the island lacks sufficient freshwater to provide irrigation to both the community and an industrial oil palm plantation, and that a plantation at scale risks catalyzing an ecological crisis.

Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Tesso Nilo National Park was created to protect one of the largest remaining tracts of lowland forest on the island of Sumatra, and as a refuge for threatened wildlife such as critically endangered Sumatran tigers and elephants.
- Despite being declared a National Park in 2004 and expanded in 2009, Tesso Nilo has experienced continued deforestation in recent years, largely driven by the proliferation of oil palm plantations.
- Satellite data show Tesso Nilo lost 78% of its old growth rainforest between 2009 and 2023.
- Preliminary data for 2024, coupled with satellite imagery, show continued forest loss this year.

As Sumatra loses mangroves to oil palms, local fishers also suffer
- Interviews in Kwala Langkat, a fishing village in Indonesia’s Langkat district, along the Malacca Strait, suggest fisheries incomes have collapsed after local elites ripped out a mangrove ecosystem to establish a new oil palm plantation.
- In June, Mongabay reported that police had arrested three residents of Kwala Langkat village in connection with alleged criminal damage to a structure used on the oil palm plantation.
- More than a third of the world’s population today lives within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the coast, a more than 50% increase in absolute terms compared with 30 years ago.

Thousands of birds seized in massive Indonesian bird-trafficking bust
- More than 6,500 illegally trafficked birds were seized from a truck at a port in the Indonesian island of Sumatra last month in what activists believe to be the largest seizure of trafficked bird’s in the nation’s modern history.
- The birds, which included 257 individuals from species protected under Indonesian law, are believed to have been captured across Sumatra and were bound for the neighboring island of Java, where songbirds are sought as pets and for songbird competitions.
- The birds were all found alive, and have since been checked by a veterinarian and released back to “suitable natural habitats.”
- Local NGO FLIGHT says more than 120,000 Sumatran trafficked songbirds were confiscated from 2021 to 2023, a number that likely represents just a fraction of those captured and sold.

Indonesian mother imprisoned for protesting palm oil factory next to school
- Gustina Salim Rambe, a mother from North Sumatra province, was sentenced in October to more than five months in prison following a demonstration against a palm oil factory built adjacent to two schools in Pulo Padang village.
- Representatives in Indonesia’s national Parliament had urged police to apply principles of “restorative justice” rather than criminalize Gustina.
- Civil society advocates pointed to separate regulations and laws that should protect from prosecution people who speak out against alleged environmental abuses.
- From 2019-24, Amnesty International recorded similar cases affecting 454 civil society advocate in Indonesia.

Canopy bridges serve a lifeline for Sumatra’s tree-dwelling primates
- An NGO is working with local authorities in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province to build canopy bridges for primates to safely cross roads that fragment their forest habitats.
- Pakpak Bharat district has seen rapid growth of new roads to improve communities’ access to schools and hospitals, with the trade-off being that many of these roads disrupt wildlife connectivity.
- The bridges, designed to meet the needs of different species, have been used by various wildlife, though not yet the critically endangered orangutans that the designers had in mind, and are monitored regularly through camera traps and maintenance checks.
- Conservationists highlight the bridges’ role in preventing inbreeding among isolated populations and sustaining the ecosystem’s biodiversity, with hopes to expand the initiative across Sumatra.

Orangutan conservation and communication: Gary Shapiro’s half-century journey from zoos to the wilds of Borneo
- Gary Shapiro’s work on orangutan cognition and communication spans five decades, beginning with his pioneering studies teaching sign language to ex-captive orangutans in Borneo.
- His research evolved into a lifelong commitment to orangutan conservation, leading him to co-found organizations like Orangutan Foundation International, focusing on protecting orangutans and their rainforest habitats from logging and palm oil plantations.
- Shapiro advocates for “orangutan personhood,” emphasizing their intellectual and emotional capacities, and calls for global action to save both the orangutans and their critical habitats amidst the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises.
- Shapiro recently spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler about his work and the state of orangutans in the wild.

Sumatra citizen lawsuit seeks accountability for haze-causing fires
- Three companies that manage pulpwood plantations in Indonesia are facing a citizen lawsuit over repeated fires on their concessions that have been blamed for illnesses and other disruptions.
- The companies are located in South Sumatra province and are all suppliers to Asia Pulp & Paper, the largest pulp and paper producer in Indonesia.
- In the lawsuit, residents of areas affected by haze from the fires say they want the companies to know that “what they are doing is wrong because it damages our families and the environment.”
- Citizen lawsuits are increasingly being used by communities across Indonesia to hold companies accountable for environmental damage, amid rising dissatisfaction with the inability of law enforcement to crack down on serial violators.

For Indonesian oil palm farmers, EU’s deforestation law is another top-down imposition
- By the end of this year, exporters of products derived from palm oil and six other agricultural commodities to Europe will be required to comply with the newly enacted EU Regulation on Deforestation Free Products, or EUDR.
- The law requires exporters to prove the commodities were not produced on recently deforested land, and that their supply chains are free of human rights abuses and environmental violations.
- Experts say compliance will likely be a struggle for small farmers, who sell their crops through chains of intermediaries, and who often lack clear land titles even on long-settled land.
- During reporting in Indonesia’s North Aceh province, oil palm smallholders told Mongabay they weren’t even aware of the EUDR, let alone prepared to comply with it.

‘Stop the stupidity’: Indonesia’s top court orders end to mine in quake zone
- Indonesia’s highest court has ordered the revocation of the environmental permit for a zinc-and-lead mine being built in a seismically active zone in Sumatra.
- The ruling upholds a lower court’s decision last year that sided with independent scientific analysis that the region was far too prone to earthquake risk for the planned mine and its waste dump to be feasible.
- Residents of communities living near the planned mine in Dairi district, North Sumatra province, have welcomed the ruling, saying they hope it puts “a stop to this stupidity.”
- The mining developer’s Chinese and Indonesian backers, however, say they will appeal the ruling, and there’s no indication the environment ministry will comply with the order to revoke the permit.

More alarms over Indonesia rhino poaching after latest trafficking bust
- A recent rhino horn trafficking bust in southern Sumatra may be linked to a poaching network in Java responsible for killing 26 Javan rhinos since 2019.
- The arrest of a 60-year-old suspect in the bust highlights the broader crackdown on the illegal wildlife trade, including the use of cyber patrols to monitor online trafficking activities.
- Investigations have uncovered significant discrepancies between official rhino population figures and actual numbers, suggesting that many rhinos have disappeared due to poaching, despite government claims of population growth.
- Conservation experts stress the exclusivity of the rhino horn trade network and the need for specialized efforts to dismantle it.

Indonesia’s Farwiza Farhan among Ramon Magsaysay awardees for protecting Leuser Ecosystem
- Indonesian conservationist Farwiza Farhan says she was moved to tears upon learning she’d been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, recognizing her work in protecting the Leuser Ecosystem.
- As the founder of the conservation NGO HAkA, she was instrumental in securing a $26 million court fine against a palm oil company and halting a dam project threatening the Leuser Ecosystem, a key biodiversity hotspot in northern Sumatra.
- The award also highlights her efforts to overcome gender-based discrimination and involve women in conservation activities in the most staunchly conservative province in Indonesia.
- Farwiza said she plans to continue her work by developing a conservation school in Leuser.

A one-time illegal logger grows back a forest for his people in Sumatra
- Efron Simanjuntak, once a successful illegal logger in Sumatra, became a committed forest protector after realizing the impact logging had on the livelihoods of villagers and the environment.
- After serving time in prison, Efron began replanting trees that produce resin, such as frankincense and pine, as part of his efforts to restore the damaged forest and ensure a sustainable income for his community.
- Efron credits being indebted to his ancestors and his role in protecting his family’s frankincense-farming heritage as key to his desire to protect the forest.
- Along with civil society organizations, Efron fought for the recognition of his village’s customary forest by the government, which was finally achieved in August 2024, giving his community stronger legal status to protect their forest from outside threats.

Indonesia expands IPLC land recognition — but the pace is too slow, critics say
- Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has issued land titles for more than 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) to Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), bringing the total extent of IPLC-recognized areas to 8 million hectares (19.77 million acres) nationwide.
- But activists say the pace of recognition for IPLC land rights is slow; the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA) has so far mapped 30.1 million hectares (74.4 million acres) of IPLC territories across Indonesia, including forests, rivers and sea.
- Advocates say that having a specific law on Indigenous rights would greatly help IPLCs to have their land rights formally recognized by the government by providing a legal framework that acknowledges and protects the rights of communities.

Sumatran province brings hammer down on illegal oil wells after fatal blasts
- Indonesia’s South Sumatra province was the site of some of the archipelago’s largest oil discoveries by U.S. and Dutch companies during the early 20th century.
- After many wells were abandoned in the 1990s, thousands of farmers who previously tapped rubber moved into freelance oil extraction.
- Fatal explosions at illegal drilling sites this year have prompted the province to form a task force to oversee a crackdown on the sector, which in some locations accounts for more than a third of local employment.

Sumatran tiger confirmed killed by snare in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province
- Officials have confirmed that a Sumatran tiger was found killed by a snare in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province in late July, after farmers had reported encounters with the animal in human settlements over a period of around four months.
- The Sumatran tiger remains the most threatened tiger subspecies in the world, with fewer than 400 individuals estimated to remain in the wilds of Sumatra.
- Tiger species endemic to the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali were declared extinct during the 20th century following decades of hunting and deforestation.
- Researchers are calling for the various conservation and protected forests in West Sumatra and to unified into a single national park and for increased government regulation on snares.

Sumatra community school hands down ancient knowledge to modern generation
- A community near an ancient Buddhist archaeological site on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island has established a voluntary school to teach young people history and culture that dates back centuries.
- The curriculum includes the identification and application of medicinal plants used for generations by traditional healers like Mbok Hawo, a healer in her 60s.
- The founders of the school told Mongabay that the idea for the initiative sprang from worry that changes in society threatened to eclipse cultural heritage, and that preserving this ancient knowledge remained vital to local identity in Muaro Jambi.

Sumatra pulp & paper giants violate zero-deforestation pledge, activists allege
- An investigation by an NGO coalition in Indonesia alleges that two pulp and paper giants — Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd. (APRIL) — have cleared natural forests and peatlands in violation of their zero-deforestation pledges.
- The allegations center on a concession operated by PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper (RAPP) in Siak district of Riau province, a concession managed by an open market supplier to APRIL, PT Selaras Abadi Utama (SAU), in Pelalawan district of Riau province, and a block of land in Riau managed by a local cooperative that has a working agreement with an APP subsidiary, PT Arara Abadi (AA).
- APRIL reiterated its commitment to sustainability and zero-deforestation and APP denied that any illegal timber had entered its supply chain.

In Indonesia’s Aceh, a once-isolated forest hosts local travelers on bamboo rafts
- In the semiautonomous region of Aceh, an Indigenous community has repurposed the bamboo rafts they use to commute downriver to sell tourism services to nearby urban settlements.
- The forests of Samar Kilang were once out of reach of Indonesia’s economy, until road access enabled local people to travel into the highlands.
- The nonprofit Katahati Institute has been working with women in Samar Kilang to market nontimber forest products and support the community’s ecotourism venture.

Water is key as study shows restoration of drained tropical peat is possible
- Rewetting of tropical peatland that was drained for agriculture can lead to the recovery of the native ecosystem, a long-term study of a former pulpwood plantation in Indonesia shows.
- Researchers studying the 4,800-hectare (11,900-acre) plot that was retired in 2015 by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) found the water table had risen, soil carbon emissions had gone down, and native trees were springing up and replacing the planted acacia pulpwoods.
- They attributed these outcomes to APP’s efforts to rewet the peat by blocking the canals previously dug to drain the waterlogged soil.
- The findings suggest that “several million” hectares of peatlands in similar condition can be restored this way, “should plantation owners aim to restore forest in parts or all of their peatlands.”

Unrest and arrests in Sumatra as community fights to protect mangroves
- Police in Indonesia’s Langkat district, North Sumatra province, arrested three people in April and May over alleged criminal damage linked to a conflict over a local mangrove forest.
- Civil society organizations in North Sumatra allege that local elites have established oil palm plantations on scores of hectares zoned as protected forest.
- They also allege that these individuals have hired thugs to intimidate local residents who oppose the clearing of mangrove forests to plantations.

Analysis: Michelin’s no-deforestation claims in Indonesia rubber plantation a stretch
- Rubber manufacturer Michelin claims to have avoided millions of tons of carbon emissions and saved thousands of hectares of primary forest in a sustainable rubber plantation project in Indonesia.
- Michelin joined the project in 2014 after buying a stake in the Indonesian rubber company RLU, which in 2018 raised $95 million in green bonds. In 2022, Michelin became RLU’s sole shareholder, and repaid the green bonds raised by the project.
- Reporting by independent media outlet Voxeurop, published in 2022, revealed that deforestation in the RLU concession surged immediately before the company made no-deforestation commitments in 2015, resulting in the loss of critical wildlife habitat.
- In this analysis, Voxeurop reporter Stefano Valentino looks at what has happened with the project since Michelin made its no-deforestation commitments, finding ongoing loss of forest within the company’s concessions.

Floods set to worsen on Sumatra peat as landscape gives way
- A major flood at the turn of the year in Indonesia’s Riau province caused long-term traffic gridlock affecting thousands, with attendant knock-on effects for economic activity in the region.
- One of Riau’s leading experts on peat hydrology told Mongabay that deterioration of the province’s carbon-rich peatland increases risks of disastrous flooding owing to reduced drainage, among other factors.
- Indonesia’s peatland restoration agency said it had worked to rehabilitate 223,258 hectares (551,683 acres) of peat in Riau by end-2023, although large areas requiring urgent restoration work can’t be accessed because they’re located in private plantation concessions.

Mysterious, at risk, understudied flat-headed cat lacks conservation focus
- Little is known about the elusive flat-headed cat, a cryptic Southeast Asian felid that’s found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and southern Thailand.
- This cat is endangered due to its habitat being converted to agricultural lands (including oil palm plantations), pollution and hunting. The small felid confounds researchers who struggle to capture it on camera traps, leaving huge knowledge gaps about its distribution and ecology.
- But collaring of the cat and tailored research is helping fill data gaps, with conservationists now planning range-wide targeted surveys and tagging efforts. Innovative research techniques, such as eDNA, could shed further light on populations, but these methods face their own implementation challenges.
- Protecting the flat-headed cat in the face of multiple threats requires more targeted research, much better funding, and specific targeted conservation action that is currently lacking.

Hold my ointment: Wild orangutan observed healing wound with medicinal plant
- Researchers observed a wild orangutan in Sumatra treating a facial wound with a plant known for its healing properties, marking the first documented case of such behavior in a wild animal.
- The adult male Sumatran orangutan was observed chewing on the plant Fibraurea tinctoria, which has pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects, and rubbing the resultant ointment on the wound, which later healed without infection.
- This finding supports the idea that orangutans might self-medicate, demonstrating their cognitive abilities and drawing parallels to human practices.
- Conservationists have welcomed the finding, highlighting its significance for understanding forest biodiversity and the urgency of protecting orangutan habitat amid declining populations and persistent threats.

Borneo and Sumatra megaprojects are carving up clouded leopard forests
- Massive infrastructure projects currently underway on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra are set to severely erode forest connectivity across key habitats of the Sunda clouded leopard.
- Two major highway networks and the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city to Borneo will further fragment the domain of the arboreal predator that has already experienced steep population declines in recent decades due to the expansion of oil palm and poaching.
- Experts say the findings will help to target conservation actions, but they add that road design standards and development planning processes remain woefully inadequate in the region.
- The authors call for improved development strategies that seriously consider sustainability and include data-based environmental assessments and mitigation measures, such as wildlife crossings and avoidance of sensitive ecosystems.

Indigenous community fights to save its lands on Indonesia’s historic tin island
- The Lanun Indigenous community of Indonesia’s Belitung Island have responded to increasing environmental damage by building their capacity in skills such as advocacy and mediation.
- At issue is the growth in illegal mining and forest clearing by the plantation industry on land that the Lanun consider to have long been theirs.
- In 2021, UNESCO announced this area of Indonesia would become an international geopark, which required joint applications by government and local communities to conserve a landscape of global significance.

Study challenges use of charismatic wildlife as umbrella species for conservation
- A new study from Indonesia’s Leuser forests challenges the traditional use of charismatic “umbrella species” like tigers and rhinos to represent ecosystem biodiversity.
- Researchers found that focusing on these well-known species neglects other important wildlife and may not accurately represent overall biodiversity.
- Instead, the study proposes a data-driven approach using camera-trap data to identify the most suitable umbrella species based on their association with higher levels of community occupancy and diversity.
- The study identified the sambar deer and Sunda clouded leopard as better umbrella species than tigers and rhinos in the Leuser Ecosystem, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive approach to wildlife conservation that includes multiple species, not just the most charismatic ones.

Sumatra villages count cost of deadly river tsunami swelled by illegal logging
- Several days of extreme rainfall beginning March 7 triggered fatal flash flooding across Indonesia’s West Sumatra province, resulting in at least 30 deaths and devastating villages on the fringe of Kerinci Seblat National Park.
- Deforestation upstream of the affected areas has exacerbated the risk of landslides and flash floods, according to officials.
- The Indonesian Forum for the Environment, a national civil society organization, called for government action to address illegal logging and land management practices to prevent future disasters.

Rainwater reserves a tenuous lifeline for Sumatran community amid punishing dry season
- Kuala Selat village lies on the coast of Indragiri Hilir district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
- In the first half of the year, residents of the village arrange buckets and drums to collect rainwater to meet their daily needs.
- They will then stockpile water to last through the dry months from June-September, but a longer dry spell has led to an acute shortage of water.
- Residents say they believe the water crisis in the village was linked to bouts of diarrhea, and that many fled the village during an outbreak.

Palm oil deforestation persists in Indonesia’s Leuser amid new mills, plantations
- Deforestation for palm oil persists in Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, including inside a national park that’s supposed to be off-limits to plantation activity, a new investigation has found.
- The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) characterizes the current deforestation trend as a “death by a thousand cuts,” with a large number of small operators hacking away at the ecosystem, in contrast to past deforestation carried out by a small number of large concession holders.
- RAN’s investigation also identified two new palm oil processing mills near the deforesting concessions, indicating that the presence of the mills, which need a constant supply of palm fruit, may be a driver of the ongoing deforestation.
- There’s a high risk that mills in the area may ultimately be supplying deforestation-linked palm oil to major global consumer products companies, including those with stated no-deforestation policies.

Norway pension fund breaks with U.K. conglomerate Jardines over endangered orangutan habitat
- Norway’s state pension fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, has cut ties with Jardine Matheson (Jardines) due to concerns that the conglomerate’s gold mining activities in Indonesia could damage the only known habitat of the world’s most threatened great ape, the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis).
- The fund joins 29 financiers that have excluded Jardines and/or its subsidiaries from financing due to climate and environmental concerns, according to data from the Financial Exclusions Tracker.
- The Tapanuli orangutan was only first described in 2017, and its estimated population numbers fewer than 800 that survive in a tiny tract of forest; 95% of the ape’s historical habitat has been lost to hunting, conflict killing and agriculture.
- The Martabe mining concession in northern Sumatra lies in the portion of the orangutan’s habitat, the Batang Toru forest, with the largest orangutan population, where the probability of the species’ long-term survival is highest; the fund worried that further expansion of the mine would increase threats to the ape.

Indonesian gold mine expanding in ‘wrong direction’ into orangutan habitat
- A gold mine in the only known habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan is expanding, prompting alarm from activists and conservationists.
- The Martabe mine on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, run by a company associated with the U.K.’s Jardine Matheson Holdings, already cleared 100 hectares (about 250 acres) of forest from 2016 to 2020, and looks set to clear another 100 hectares.
- Advocacy group Mighty Earth says the expansion will impact an area recently established to help protect the orangutan and other threatened species.
- Jardines says an independent forestry and sustainability assessment concluded that the long-term impact of the planned exploration and development work was minimal.

Sumatra firefighters on alert as burning heralds start of Riau dry season
- On the northeast coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, the first of two annual dry seasons led to a spike in wildfires in some peatland areas in February.
- In the week ending March 2, Indonesian peatland NGO Pantau Gambut said 34 hotspots, possibly fires, were identified by satellite on peatlands in Riau province.
- Emergency services in the province have been concentrated to the east of the port city of Dumai, where a fire started in the concession of a palm oil company, according to local authorities.

Sumatra community faces up to ‘plasma’ disappointment after palm oil policy shift
- A 2022 investigation by Mongabay, the BBC and The Gecko Project found that hundreds of thousands of hectares of land had not been handed to communities by palm oil companies despite provisions in a 2007 law.
- In 2023, Indonesia’s Directorate-General of Plantations published updated rules stating that companies with licenses issued prior to 2007 would not be required to hand 20% of their concession to local farmers, although companies licensed after 2007 would still be required to do so.
- In Tebing Tinggi Okura on the island of Sumatra, a community is coming to terms with this change after a near two-decade dispute from which they hoped to win rights to farming land for hundreds of families.

Bid to mitigate gold mine’s impact on orangutans hit by stonewalling, data secrecy
- An international conservation task force says a gold mine operator in Indonesia resisted its efforts to carry out an independent review of the project’s impact on Tapanuli orangutans, the world’s most threatened great ape species.
- The ARRC Task Force, which had been engaged by the Martabe gold mine in early 2022 to advise on minimizing its impacts on the critically endangered species, said the task force was expected to carry out a mere “tick box exercise.”
- U.K. conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd., which ultimately owns the mine, said the reason the engagement fell through was Indonesian legal restrictions on data sharing, which meant the ARRC couldn’t access the government-held data it needed.
- Part of the Martabe concession overlaps onto the Batang Toru Forest, the only home of the Tapanuli orangutan; advocacy group Mighty Earth says most of the deforestation detected recently in the concession occurred in orangutan habitat and carbon-rich landscapes.

Indonesian utility PLN ordered to disclose coal plants’ emissions data
- Indonesia’s Public Information Commission (KIP) has ordered state-owned utility PLN to disclose emissions data for some of the country’s biggest coal-fired power plants.
- Civil society groups have hailed the decision as a victory against government opacity and a major step toward accountability for public health.
- The KIP’s decision isn’t the end of the story, however; there’s a long history of various government ministries simply refusing to comply with its orders for data disclosure, and it’s not clear whether PLN will buck that trend.

Indonesian palm oil firm fined for fires sues expert a second time over testimony
- Environmental law experts say palm oil company PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa (JJP) is attempting to shirk its liability and fines for a forest fire by suing an expert witness who testified against it.
- The lawsuit is the second that JJP has filed against Bambang Hero Saharjo, an expert on fire forensics at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB); the company dropped its previous lawsuit against him in 2018.
- The company blames Bambang, who testified about the extent of the fire damage on JJP’s concession, for the high amount that it was fined, saying his testimony was “false and exaggerated.”
- Bambang and fellow experts refute this, saying JJP’s repeated lawsuits are a frivolous attempt to avoid having to take responsibility or to pay; to date, the company hasn’t paid any of the $36.7 million that it was fined for the fire.

Sumatra coffee farmers brew natural fertilizer as inflation bites
- Farmers in Indonesia’s Lampung province are making their own organic fertilizer in order to lessen reliance on volatile external supply chains.
- They’ve also diversified the number of crops they grow, interspersing avocado and candlenut trees among crops like coffee and vanilla.
- Advocates of organic farming maintain that techniques like those on display in Lampung can boost yields while countering some of the costs and negative impacts of chemical products.

Sumatran dugong hunter struggles to adapt to changing times
- The herbivorous dugong was classed as a vulnerable species in 1982 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- Hunters like Munsa in Bintan, a cluster of islands between Sumatra and Singapore, have retired from hunting the mammal in response to conservation initiatives.
- However, Munsa complains that the family’s income has plummeted, and that he needs government to provide alternative livelihoods.

Newly described tree species from Sumatra could be vital for threatened orangutans
- A new species of stone oak has been described from the forests of northern Sumatra, the first of its kind found on the island in more than 10 years.
- The two lone trees are located in the remote Batang Toru forest, the only known habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan, which was itself only described in 2017.
- The new stone oak’s acorns seem to be an important part of the orangutans’ diet, but ongoing habitat destruction means this tree is also likely to be critically endangered.
- Urgent conservation action is needed to save the remaining Batang Toru forest and establish cultivated populations of the rare oak to prevent its extinction, researchers say.

Indonesian districts trial a shift from commodity monocrops to sustainable produce
- A network of district governments across Indonesia is working on transitioning away from commodity-based economic development to sustainable, nature-based solutions.
- Many of these districts are heavily reliant on monoculture plantations like palm oil, or other extractive industries like oil and gas, and are making the shift to better preserve forests and peatlands, as well as indigenous Indonesian forest commodities.
- Among those making progress is the district of Siak in the palm oil heartland of Riau province, where large palm oil and pulpwood companies are supporting the development of nature-based commodities by local communities.
- The national government is also involved in this search to “innovate economic models outside of plantation commodities that can support forest conservation and are locally based.”

Indonesia remembers Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, rare policymaker who stood for nature
- Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a respected Indonesian policymaker and environmentalist, passed away earlier this month, leaving behind a legacy of dedicated and direct leadership.
- Kuntoro’s lifelong dedication to environmental causes, including his support for Indigenous rights, was rooted in his early years as a nature lover.
- His former colleagues and collaborators recall Kuntoro’s integrity and commitment to balancing developmental and environmental interests.
- His ability to find common ground among diverse stakeholders, address challenges with innovative solutions, and emphasize the well-being of Indigenous communities showcased a practical leadership style with a lasting impact.

Smallholders and loggers push deeper into Sumatra’s largest park
- Kerinci Seblat National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has lost more than 4% of its primary forest cover over the past 20 years, satellite data from Global Forest Watch show.
- Much of the deforestation is driven by nearby communities logging and farming, in particular potatoes, and possibly also illegal gold mining.
- The park hosts a diversity of wildlife like nowhere else — tigers, elephants, helmeted hornbills and barking deer, among others — but these are now threatened by loss of habitat and poaching.
- Kerinci Seblat was at one point a stronghold of the Sumatran rhino, but this critically endangered species has since gone extinct from the park.

New calf brings new hope, and new concerns, for embattled Sumatran rhinos
- A male Sumatran rhino calf was born Nov. 25 at Indonesia’s Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, marking the second birth at the facility in as many months.
- Independent estimates put the species’ wild population at no more than 47 individuals, so each new birth increases hopes the species can be saved from extinction; the new calf brings the captive population up to 11.
- However, the birth also highlights weaknesses of the captive-breeding program: the father and mother of the new calf are related, a consequence of all the male rhinos currently in captivity being descended from a single genetic line.

Indonesia welcomes new Singapore regulation to help curb lobster smuggling
- A new reexport regulation in Singapore could help stem the smuggling of lobster larvae from neighboring Indonesia.
- The city-state is a key destination for the contraband and a transit point for lobster larvae reexported to third countries like Vietnam and China.
- Under the new regulation, reexporters in Singapore will have to get health certificates for live animals from the country of origin, which in theory should be impossible for smugglers.
- Indonesian authorities have cautiously welcomed the plan, but say both countries must work more closely on the long-running problem.

Calls for FSC to drop Canada’s Paper Excellence over ties to deforester
- Green groups have gathered mounting evidence that Canada’s biggest pulp and paper company, Paper Excellence, is effectively controlled by notorious Indonesian deforester the Sinar Mas Group, via its subsidiary, Asia Pulp & Paper.
- They are now calling on the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies millions of hectares of Paper Excellence-managed forests as well as 42 of the company’s mills, to cut ties with it.
- APP was in 2007 “disassociated” from the FSC and remains barred from membership due to “destructive forestry practices”; its control of Paper Excellence should lead to the same outcome for the Canadian company, activists say.
- Both companies have denied allegations of controlling ties — despite the fact that Paper Excellence’s sole shareholder is the son of the APP chair and previously directed APP’s China business, among other revelations.

Burn now, pay later: Fines trickle in from Indonesia’s crackdown on forest fires
- Ten years since a landmark lawsuit over forest fires, the palm oil company at the center of the case has finally begun paying its $23 million fine in installments.
- The case against PT Kallista Alam (KA) was supposed to set an example for how the government is cracking down on companies that allow burning in their concessions, but has instead highlighted the difficulty of collecting on the fines.
- KA has paid just $3.6 million of its total fine, and despite a 2021 regulation barring fine payments in installments, the company has been allowed to stagger its payments over time.
- The company is one of 22 sued by the government since 2013 for fires; 14 of these have been found liable and ordered to pay a combined 5.6 trillion rupiah ($353 million), but only one has paid in full.

Indonesian activist Gita Syahrani wins $3m award for work on sustainable growth
- Global philanthropy Climate Breakthrough has awarded Indonesian environmental activist Gita Syahrani $3 million in grants along with capacity-building resources to support her projects in developing alternative economic models for local governments across Indonesia.
- Gita has for many years focused on supporting district governments protect peatlands and forests while developing policies for sustainable economic growth.
- Gita said she is keen to explore and include approaches that are more mindful and spiritual in encouraging more people to be active in protecting, rehabilitating and recovering the balance between people and the environment.
- Gita is the second Indonesian awardee of Climate Breakthrough grants, following environmentalist Arief Rabik in 2019; her fellow awardee this year is Jane Fleming Kleeb of the U.S., a prominent activist against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Report alleges APP continues deforestation 10 years after pledge to stop
- A new Greenpeace report alleges that pulp and paper giant APP continues to clear forests and develop peatlands 10 years after adopting its landmark 2013 pledge to stop destroying natural forests for its plantations.
- The report identifies 75,000 hectares (185,300 acres) of deforestation in APP supplier concessions or companies connected to APP between February 2013 and 2022 — an area the size of New York City.
- APP has also changed the start date of its no-deforestation policy from 2013 to 2020, which would allow the company at some point in the future to accept new suppliers that deforested between 2013 and 2020.
- APP denies allegations of continued deforestation and says its suppliers have ceased forest conversions since 2013; the company also says it has committed to peatland restoration.

For 1st time, Indonesia government recognizes ancestral forests in Aceh — but only some
- The Indonesian government has recognized 22,549 hectares (55,700 acres) of ancestral forests in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra — the first time for the region.
- In total, Indigenous communities in Aceh seek recognition of 144,497 hectares (357,060 acres) of customary forests, and thus activists are calling for the government to recognize the rest of the forests.
- The communities welcome the recognition, saying it will give them legal protection to manage their forests in a sustainable manner.

Sumatran Indigenous seafarers run aground by overfishing and mangrove loss
- Many among Indonesia’s Duano Indigenous community have hung up their fishing nets in response to recent environmental and economic shifts.
- A study published in October found that intact mangroves were associated with up to a 28% increase in fish and shellfish consumption among coastal communities.
- Duano elders say young people from the community are increasingly retiring from the community’s traditional livelihood to take up poorly paid casual work.

Report: Half of plantations in Indonesia’s palm oil heartland are illegal
- Nearly half of plantations in Riau province, Indonesia’s palm oil heartland, are illegal, according to a new report by the Eyes on the Forest, a coalition of NGOs based in Sumatra.
- With the illegal plantations spanning 2.52 million hectares (6.23 million acres) of land — an area nearly the size of Hawai‘i — Riau is home to more than half of illegal oil palm plantations in Indonesia.
- EoF has called on the government to focus its amnesty program, which gives operators of illegal plantations a grace period of three years to obtain the proper permits, in Riau.
- It has also called for greater transparency in the amnesty program to avoid corruption in the process.

‘Wasn’t us,’ fire-hit Indonesia claims as Malaysia chokes on poor air quality
- Malaysia has blamed forest fires in neighboring Indonesia of causing smoke that has sent air quality levels to unhealthy levels across much of the country.
- Air quality in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia have worsened in recent days, with more than a dozen regions recording unhealthy air quality.
- Indonesian officials have denied that fires in their jurisdiction are to blame, and accused their Malaysian counterparts of misreading the data.
- Indonesia dismissed that same source of data in 2019, however, when fires in Sumatra and Borneo also spread to Malaysia and Singapore.

Indonesian children locked out of school as El Niño haze chokes parts of Sumatra & Kalimantan
- Poor air quality over several Indonesian cities and outlying rural areas has forced local authorities to cut class times or close schools altogether.
- Air pollution on Oct. 5 in one area of Palangkaraya far exceeded the level at which air quality is classified dangerous to human health.
- The government of Jambi province has closed schools until Oct. 7, after which it will review whether to reopen for in-person teaching.

Sumatran rhino birth is rare good news for species sliding to extinction
- On Sept. 30, the Indonesian government announced the birth of a female Sumatran rhino at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary.
- The new birth brings the captive population of the species to 10; estimates put the wild population at 34-47 individuals, making Sumatran rhinos one of the world’s most endangered species.
- Each new calf born in captivity signals hope that the species will persist for another generation, but serious problems remain: All of the captive males are closely related, plans to capture more rhinos have stalled, and the existing wild populations are slowly disappearing.

Indonesian village forms coast guard to protect octopus in Mentawai Islands
- An island community in Indonesia’s Mentawai archipelago has responded to dwindling octopus stocks with a seasonal fishing closure to enable recovery.
- Global demand for octopus is expected to outpace supply over the medium term, implying higher dockside prices for many artisanal fishers, if stocks can be managed sustainably.
- Maintenance of local fishing grounds also offers crucial nutritional benefits for remote coastal communities in the Mentawais, where rates of child stunting exceed Indonesia’s national average.

Sumatran province hangs on for late rain as El Niño fires bring heat and sickness
- Wildfires have returned to Indonesia as the country enters its dry season amid an El Niño year.
- In Palembang city, new respiratory infections will likely soon eclipse the total diagnosed in 2022.
- Meteorology officials expect the monsoon to begin in parts of Sumatra and Borneo islands in October, but warn dry conditions will persist in much of Indonesia until November.

Experts slam massive ‘discount’ in fines for Indonesian palm oil billionaire
- Environmental experts have criticized an Indonesian court ruling that extends a palm oil billionaire’s sentence for corruption by just one year while slashing his fines by nearly 95%.
- The country’s highest court of appeal upheld the initial conviction of Surya Darmadi for conspiring with a local official to illegally obtain licenses for his oil palm plantation, but cut his fines from $2.7 billion to just $144 million.
- Experts who testified in Surya’s prosecution say the latest ruling sets a bad precedent for future law enforcement against corruption and environmental crimes in the country.
- And without fines, they warn, there can be no efforts to recover the carbon-rich and biodiverse peat ecosystems in Sumatra that Surya’s plantations destroyed.

Deforestation for palm oil continues in Indonesia’s ‘orangutan capital’
- Carbon-rich peatlands continue to be cleared and drained in an Indonesian protected wildlife reserve known as the “orangutan capital of the world,” with 26 kilometers (16 miles) of new canals dug so far in 2023, up from 9 km (5.6 mi) in 2022, according to an investigation by the advocacy group Rainforest Action Network (RAN).
- While new plantations appeared to have not been established yet along the new canal channels, there is a mosaic of illegal oil palm around the locations of the new canal, indicating a future development of palm oil.
- As new canals continue to be dug, deforestation has also picked up, reaching 372 hectares (919 acres) in the first six months of 2023, a 57% increase from the same period in 2022.
- RAN has called on global brands like Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever to address the development of new canals and illegal plantations as their supply chains are tainted with illegal palm oil from the wildlife reserve.

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