Road project threatens rare species in Leuser park

Road project threatens rare species in Leuser park

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

The Ladia Galaska highway project cutting through the world
famous Leuser Mountain National Park in Aceh is a threat to
protected animals, with the population of orangutans likely to be
the first casualties amid a shrinking habitat, according to a
park official.

Starting from the west coast of southern Aceh, the 1,586-
kilometer long highway would wind its way through Gayo and Alas
before it ends on the east coast facing the Straits of Malacca,
in North Sumatra. A section of the road, however, would cut
through the Leuser Park.

The resulting destruction could cover an area of between 200
to 400 kilometers of the park, said Denny Purba, a coordinator of
the Leuser Management Unit (UML) last week.

The park, meanwhile, is home to around 6,000 orangutans, 4,000
elephants, 200 tigers and 50 Sumatra rhinos.

"Orangutans are one of the species in the park that are very
sensitive to changes to their habitat," Denny told The Jakarta
Post.

"If the park is damaged or altered, the first species at risk
is the orangutan," he said.

Each group of orangutans, comprising five to 10 animals, needs
about 150 hectares of forest as their habitat.

If the Ladia Galaska project continued, he warned, hundreds of
orangutans could die.

But the development has "quietly" begun with a three-kilometer
section completed in Jamat Lokop, East Aceh.

Already the project has taken its toll on humans, Denny said,
citing a recent attack by an elephant herd on locals in Jamat
Lokop that injured three, apparently angered by the road
construction.

Denny added that the Ladia Galaska project had violated Law
No. 5/1990 on the conservation of nature and the ecosystem.

He said article 40 prohibited the killing of protected
species, or engaging in activities that could lead to the
extinction of a species, either directly or through damage to
habitat.

But law enforcement is weak even in national parks like Leuser
where illegal logging on the park's Aceh side is out of control.

Consequently, the level of forest destruction is great.

"The government must have the courage to enforce the law
against forest destruction," Denny said.

But Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh earlier denied charges that
the road project would damage the Leuser park, arguing the road
did not pass "entirely" through the park.

The local administration's Environmental Impact Control Agency
(Bapedalda), said it did not foresee any environmental threat
from the Ladia Galaska project.

In fact, it would benefit local people by opening up isolated
areas in West Aceh, said North Sumatra Bapedalda head Soangkupon
Siregar.

However, he admitted that he had yet to see whether the
highway would encroach on areas of the Leuser Park.

"I am not quite sure if the development of the Ladia Galaska
will pass the Leuser Park area or not," he said. "What's for sure
is that before the local government builds that road it will have
to conduct an environmental impact study first."

According to UML, the environmental impact study was already
completed and the project had the full support of Jakarta.

Since the implementation of the autonomy laws in 2001, natural
resource-rich provinces like Aceh have enjoyed a surge in their
revenue.

But more than two decades of war in Aceh, has ravaged most of
its infrastructure, rendering the province poor and
underdeveloped.

Now the Dec. 9 peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM), gives Aceh a real chance to rebuild without fear of
renewed destruction.

Indonesia's creditor countries agreed to help fund development
in a peaceful Aceh and Jakarta has already approved extra funding
for the Ladia Galaska project.

Governor Puteh said the Ladia Galaska project would benefit
the people with an increase of economic activities between
regions that before were largely isolated.