Location: Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
Forum Konservasi Leuser is a grass-roots non-government organisation that strives to protect the Leuser Ecosystem and its biodiversity for the sake of Aceh's future. Their goal is to protect the Leuser Ecosystem for the following reasons:
The Leuser Ecosystem on the island of Sumatra consists of some 2.6 million hectares of diverse landscapes, 80% of which is in the province of Aceh. This globally unique ecosystem boasts Sumatra's most significant tropical rainforest remnant and is one of the richest representations of the biodiversity of Southeast Asia. Millions of people rely on the environmental services, particularly the water supplies, that the Leuser ecosystem provides. It is a major carbon sink, and the last place on earth where orangutans, rhinos, elephants and tigers still co-exist in the wild.
Despite its special legal status as a National Strategic Area for its Environmental Protection Function, the Leuser Ecosystem is under severe threat from illegal oil palm and other plantations, logging, encroachment, mining and fires - all of which exacerbate the poaching pressure on critically endangered species.
Forum Konservasi Leuser has over 100 people in their team who patrol and work with local communities and law enforcement agencies to stop illegal plantations, logging and wildlife poaching. The focus of their work is:
The Orangutan Project has provided financial support and partnered with Forum Konservasi Leuser since 2012.
