Banda Aceh, Ekuatorial – After years of legal battle, Aceh government finally declared Tripa peat swamp as protected areas, on Saturday (21/3), as stated in a press release by Coalition to Save the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest.
In 2012, Tripa peat swamp made international news headlines after massive fires raged throughout the area questioning Indonesia’s high profile commitment in protecting its forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As a result, environmental groups filed a law suit against the permit issued by the Aceh government for PT Kallista Alam to open oil palm plantation.
The law suit was successful leading to Aceh Governor to revoke the company’s permit in 2012.
The protection of the 1,445 hectares of peats is marked not only by installing signboard as the boundary of the area and planting trees but also planning to block 18 illegal canals by the government.
Husaini Syamaun, head of Aceh forestry agency, said that Aceh government was committed in protecting all peats deeper than three meters.
“As the Governor has stated, the law must be enforced,” said Syamaun. “That also means that even though the illegal PT Kallista Alam concession has been withdrawn, other people cannot now claim this land. On the contrary, the court’s decision states very clearly that it must be restored to its former condition.”
Over 60,000 trees have already been planted in the newly protected area, with another 120,000 scheduled to be planted over the next month.
Nyoman Suryadiputra, head of Wetlands International Indonesia, said that it was critical to block illegal canals not only protecting local people from disasters, providing livelihoods, but also preventing release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
“In natural conditions, peat swamps like Tripa are essentially 80-90% freshwater. Drainage canals destroy water regulation function of the swamp, causing flash floods and droughts, seriously jeopardizing biodiversity and community livelihoods, said Suryadiputra as quoted in the release.
Meanwhile, Ian Singleton of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, underlined protection for biodiversity which has been devastated by plantation.
“Back in the early 90’s Tripa’s forest covered more than 60,000 ha and probably harbored over 3000 orangutans, not to mention tigers and countless other rare and endangered species, many of which depend entirely on swamp forest habitats for their survival,” said Singleton adding that there were only 100 to 200 orangutans remaining in Tripa.
Despite of praising the major step of blocking canals and restoration, Rudi Putra of the Leuser Conservation Forum, criticized Aceh spatial planning which potentially could open Leuser Ecosystem for palm oil plantations and mining concessions.
“We must applaud Governor Zaini Abdullah and Husaini [Syamaun] for supporting the restoration today,” said Putra. “But we must also urge them and the government to immediately review this remarkable province’s spatial land use plan, and not allow any further destruction of the Leuser Ecosystem, to prevent many entirely new, totally avoidable environmental disasters in the future.” Ekuatorial