CGI delegates: Save Aceh's forests!

CGI delegates: Save Aceh's forests!

Thousands of letters from all over the world have arrived on
my desk. Petitions opposing the construction of the Ladia Galaska
Road network through the last tropical rain forest in Aceh
province are approaching the one million mark.

Opposition is growing stronger, ever since the Governor of
Aceh decided to approve the construction of a network of roads
inside the Leuser forests. The Leuser Ecosystem, including a
national park, is the last intact tropical rain forest in
Sumatra. It is the last place on Earth where thousands of species
and five important species, such as the orangutan, Sumatran
tiger, Sumatran elephant, honey bear and the Sumatran
rhinoceros, can be seen living in the same habitat.

Leuser is also the source of life for four million people
living around it. It provides them with food and water for
consumption and irrigation and it is the world's carbon sink. Any
road construction inside this precious tropical rain forest would
destroy all these important sources.

I urge all donors supporting development aid in Aceh to
consider saving the last remaining pristine forest in Aceh.
Failure to do so would ignite a negative response from every
person in the world. Please allocate your aid wisely and save our
Leuser forests in Aceh. We are keeping an eye on your aid
activities.

DENI PURBA, Environmental Lawyer, Medan, North Sumatra