PanEco

One of the most precious natural habitats of the world is under threat: the peat swamp forest of Tripa is being burned down for palm oil plantations. PanEco developed a comprehensive programme to stop the destruction.

The coastal peat swamp forests of Aceh, Northern Sumatra, are among the most precious natural habitats in the world and are crucial for local livelihood. Nevertheless and although protected by laws, palm-oil plantations threaten this unique ecosystem. The situation is acute in Tripa, where five major oil palm concessions took over most of the peat area and are now in conflict with both the local government and local people. Only in 2009 more than 7'000 hectares of peat swamp forest have been literally converted into ash, bereaving orangutans of their habitat and destroying the livelihood of the local people.

PanEco and its local partner foundation YEL fight to conserve the peat swamp rainforests of Northern Sumatra. We have developed a comprehensive programme to improve local environmental governance and to provide alternative livelihood opportunities for the local people. The programme is fully supported by the local District Government, the Aceh Conservation Agency, and is implemented on a broad basis of stakeholders from associations, universities, private corporations and financial institutions. To date, some achievements have been made: Scientific information on Tripa and legal reviews have been compiled and published. We have gained a broad local and international support for Tripa. The major culprit, British-based Jardines, has been exposed, forcing the company to stop expansion. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil RSPO, a world body gathering more that 50% of oil palm actors, took a resolution to stop Tripa destruction. Last but not least, Indonesian authorities of all levels know and agreed about the importance of preserving Tripa.

2009 we achieved a key step forwards: The Biodiversity Agricultural Commodities Programme BACP partnered with PanEco in May to implement palm-oil plantations on degraded land and mineral soil as an alternative to the expansion of plantations in the peat swamp forests of Tripa.