Indonesia can boast some of the oldest and most biodiverse forests on the planet, but we may soon find ourselves having to write that sentence in the past tense. Every year, 800,000 hectares of forest are razed to the ground; between 2000 and 2012, more than six million hectares of primary forest were felled. Now the Gunung Leuser park, one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, which is home to unique and endangered species such as orangutans (Pongo abelii), elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae), is also threatened by the uncontrolled expansion of palm oil cultivation.

The Leuser ecosystem at risk

In 2016, the government issued a moratorium specifically to protect the Leuser ecosystem, under which all companies managing plantations must immediately halt deforestation activities, even in areas for which they had previously obtained permission, while the government reviews their licences. Despite the government ban, companies are expanding and have begun clearing land within the protected area. During the first seven months of 2017, the park lost 3,941 hectares of forest cover, according to a local conservation organisation, Forest, Nature and Environment of Aceh (HAkA).

The culprits identified

The moratorium is therefore being ignored and the destruction of the forest continues unabated. In order to monitor and more effectively counter this phenomenon, the US rainforest protection organisation Rainforest action network (Ran) has drawn up a report on the deforestation of the park by palm oil plantations, in which it identifies those responsible, and has created a website called Leuser Watch to provide ongoing updates on the companies identified in the report. According to Ran, some companies operating within Leuser are complying with the moratorium, but others continue to destroy rainforests and peatlands (contributing to the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere).

The criminal companies

The companies responsible, as evidenced by the proof gathered by the environmental organisation, are PT Tualang Raya, PT Tegas Nusantara, PT Agra Bumi Niaga, PT Surya Panen Subur II, PT Aloer Timur, PT Putra Kurnia, PT Indo Alam, PT PNI Blang Tualang, PT Kallista Alam, PT Dua Perkasa Lestari, PT Indo Sawit Perkasa and PT Agro Sinergi Nusantara (Asn), formerly known as PT Perkebunan Nusantara I. Among these companies, guilty of what amount to crimes against humanity, the worst offender is PT Agra Bumi Niaga, which since June 2016 has razed 366 hectares of rainforest to the ground, including the habitat of the Sumatran elephant.