BPKEL Keeps Pressure on Illegal Loggers

BPKEL have busted another illegal logging operation in Aceh Tamiang District, with local police intercepting and confiscating a large truck containing some 40 logs originating from inside the Leuser Ecosystem. BPKEL's local community based information network were responsible for alerting the local police.

Over the previous year, BPKEL have cooperated with local police and NGOs to initiate some 30 operations against illegal logging. Some of these have involved large scale logging operations, resulting in the closure of all saw mills in Aceh Tamiang District and in a significant reduction in the most visible aspects of illegal logging.

BPKEL Begins Elephant Corridor Restoration in Leuser Ecosystem

As a result of the recent successful closure of illegal palm oil plantations in Aceh Tamiang, Badan Pengelola Kawasan Ekosistem Leuser (BPKEL) is now commencing the restoration of a vital elephant corridor linking major elephant populations to the north and south of Tamiang district (see map). BPKEL is working with the local police, NGOs, and local government officials to complete the task of felling oil palms and to establish the conditions under which natural regeneration of the corridor can take place.

Mike Griffiths, Coordinator for Conservation and Rehabilitation for BPKEL, estimates elephant populations of approximately 80 to the south of Aceh Tamiang and about 300 in the forests to the north, on the eastern lowlands of Aceh. Both populations provide crucial ecological services to the Leuser Ecosystem. Mike articulates the adverse outcomes faced by these populations had BPKEL not been able to reclaim land planted with illegal palm oil. "If the elephant corridor had ceased to function due to illegal palm oil plantation encroachments, many problems would have arisen for the elephants. In the forests to the south of Tamiang district, the 80 elephants there are not sufficient to constitute a viable elephant population. By reconnecting this isolated herd with the larger population to the north - through the restoration of the Tamiang Corridor - the herd will not only be able to survive in the long term but will boost the health of the elephant population 100km to the north."