Beyond orangutans: Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park local community, stakeholders jointly craft conservation plan

An orangutan and her young at Gunung Leuser National Park in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

 

Fiery-furred orangutans swing effortlessly from tree to tree using their long arms. Yearly, trekkers and tourists visit the lush rainforest of Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) for a close encounter with these mighty tree-dwelling mammals. Due to its rich biodiversity and critical ecological value, the park has been classified as an ASEAN Heritage Park (AHP) and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.

GLNP is the only forest in the world where four iconic species live: the Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, and the Sumatran rhinoceros. Aside from these, the park is abundant with fauna and flora species: 130 mammal species, up to 380 bird species, and iconic plants like the world’s largest flower species Rafflesia arnoldii, and the tallest flower, Amorphophallus titanium. Other known wildlife animals inhabiting the 800,000-hectare park are the slow loris, pig-tailed and long-tailed macaques, siamangs, white-handed gibbons, Thomas’ leaf-monkeys, Griffith’s silver leaf-monkeys, clouded leopards, Malay sunbears, and sambar deer.

Gunung Leuser and its rich biodiversity, however, are persistently hounded by threats such as illegal logging and poaching.

As it spearheaded the drafting the collaborative management plan of GLNP, the Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari–Orangutan Information Centre (YOSL-OIC) delved into these threats through a series of workshops, consultations and visits.

The plan, which was completed in 2019, serves as a three-fold guide for park authorities and the local community alike to: conserve the park, create livelihood opportunities, and increase community involvement.

The crafting of the plan was supported by the partnership between the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the German Development Bank (KfW) through the Small Grants Programme (SGP).

Early this year, the ACB and KfW awarded civil society organisations in GLNP and Way Kambas National Park, another AHP in Indonesia, a total of EUR 446,227 in grants.

 

Addressing threats

Data from the GLNP collaborative management plan show that encroachment, illegal logging, and disasters have damaged 143,735 hectares of the park. In particular, the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, which GLNP is part of, has been listed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site in Danger.

Factors aggravating these concerns were the opening of forest roads coupled with encroachment, land-use conversions, and the lack of long-term planning.

The existing management plan was established around the vision of the park’s conservation and sustainable development. However, notable gaps in its implementation, including limited community involvement, have been observed.

Thus, the management and stakeholders of GLNP decided that community awareness and participation has to be improved to address threats to the park.

“Local communities are a crucial partner in conserving biodiversity,” ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim said. “Considering their familiarity with the area and their experiences living in biodiversity-rich areas, local communities usually already are, or can be, the ASEAN Heritage Parks’ natural stewards.”

The plan has also given attention to community outreach and conservation awareness.

Findings in the GLNP plan show that issues like the removal and damage of park boundary signs are brought about by the lack of public awareness and appreciation of GLNP. Key solutions have been proposed to address this: establishing a centre of conservation for community development and environmental education, conducting a conservation education series for stakeholders and for students, and rolling out online media promotional activities.

Good collaboration among stakeholders is expected to positively contribute to the park rehabilitation and wildlife conservation. The plan recommended shared responsibility between GLNP staff and community leaders in the park management and law enforcement. Members of the community are tapped to conduct patrols, monitor biodiversity, and identify flora and fauna for conservation and tourism purposes. Other proposed ecosystem restoration activities in encroached and degraded areas in GLNP are also built around strengthening partnerships with various local non-government and civil society organizations.

Penabulu Foundation, an organisation that assists the grantees, reported that wildlife monitoring and research informed the implementation of SGP-supported initiatives such as improving the conservation of important species in these two parks.

 

Livelihood opportunities

The plan’s livelihood component, meanwhile, focuses on community development and ecotourism. Among the proposed activities are tree planting, establishing sustainable forest enterprises like beekeeping and medicinal plants, and developing other products like crafts and delicacies.

The goal for ecotourism, on the other hand, is to diversify tourism experiences in GLNP.  Tourism, especially orangutan and elephant tours, serves as a significant source of livelihood. Currently, visits are currently concentrated in areas with established tourism packages focused on orangutan and elephant tours. For example, Langkat District, where the orangutan and elephant tours operate, reported 18,600 international and domestic tourist arrivals in 2016.

Designing tourism plans and packages, and training the local community to implement tour offerings in other areas with potential will provide more attractions for visitors and additional income for the communities in these areas.

Experiencing the wonders of Gunung Leuser, after all, goes beyond watching orangutans and elephant.

Jefry Susyafrianto, head of the GLNP, envisions the positive effects of the programmes on the communities living around the park.

“These programmes would develop sustainable livelihood and increase their awareness, which can encourage them to become involved in GLNP management, specifically in protecting the park resources as their livelihood source,” he said.

The implementation of the overall plan will be piloted in a pre-identified 205,355-hectare area in the park. The established plan can then be replicated in other areas of GLNP.

 

COVID-19

The management of GLNP and their communities remained sanguine about the future of the park despite the ongoing health crisis. Routine patrolling and monitoring in GLNP continue despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Susyafrianto said.

While GLNP remains closed to tourists at the moment, conservation partnership activities for ecosystem restoration, and sustainable land use for livelihood are still being implemented. Thus, all park activities are carried out while following the health and safety protocols set by the government.

“With the recently awarded SGP grants and the ongoing conservation initiatives, the park and the local communities will be more prepared when GLNP opens again for tourism,” Lim said.

“As long as communication and collaboration among the stakeholders are sustained and local communities are empowered to participate in decision-making and implementation, the SGP projects will contribute not just to the good of the park’s wealth of biodiversity that goes beyond orangutans, but also to the good of the communities who call the areas around GLNP their home.”

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