14 DAY TRIAL // An online petition on Change.org is asking that the local governor of Indonesia's Aceh Province nominate the Leuser Ecosystem as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Leuser Ecosystem is an area of forest that sits in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and, according to reports issued by conservationists, it is one of the last places on the planet where rhinos, elephants, tigers and orangutans still live together.
“The Leuser Ecosystem (often referred to just as ‘KEL’) is the last place on earth where tigers, orangutans, elephants and rhinos roam together in the wild.”
“In total, it’s 2.6 million hectares of protected forests, of which 80% and the vast majority of Sumatra’s remaining biodiversity is in the Province of Aceh, Sumatra Indonesia,” the petition reads.
According to Mongabay, environmentalists are now asking that the Leuser Ecosystem be declared a World Heritage Site in an attempt to protect it against logging, mining and other industrial activities that would destroy it and the biodiversity it houses.
Thus, new legislation that is yet to be voted on in Indonesia would make this region vulnerable to logging, mining and palm oil companies that plan to carry out large-scale land conversion campaigns.
The legislation in question is a spatial plan concerning land use in Indonesia's Aceh province and, as far as the environmentalists behind said petition are concerned, including the Leuser Ecosystem in this plan and allowing various companies to toy with it is illegal.
More precisely, the environmentalists argue that, since it is currently a National Strategic Area with Protection Functions, the Leuser Ecosystem has no business being included in the revised spatial plan.
It is hoped that, should this region also be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it would benefit from more protection and thus be safe from the companies that wish to exploit it.
“Nationally and internationally KEL plays a critical role in climate regulation and carbon storage.”
“Authority over the KEL is respectfully in the hands of Mr. Governor, and policies on KEL will affect the lives of local Acehnesse communities and also the international community,” the environmentalists say.
The petition asking that the Leuser Ecosystem be nominated to become a World Heritage Site has thus far been signed by over 8,000 people. Its goal is to raise at least 10,000 signatures.