MAINTAINING ONE OF ASIA’S LARGEST CARBON SINKS
“THE LEUSER ECOSYSTEM”
1
Deni Purba, SH, LL.M
2
I. LEGAL STATUS OF THE LEUSER ECOSYSTEM
1.1.
The legal history of Leuser areas
The first legal conservation area in the Leuser is the Leuser Wildlife Sanctuary Wildreservaat of
. ha endorsed by the Governor of Netherland ndie‐
Aceh, Mr. A. Ph. Van Aken in under decree No.
. The initial legal request was proposed by the local Acehnese Leaders Datoek and Oeloebalang or
Zelfbestuurders by the Tapaktoen Declaration requesting protection area in , which was supported and forwarded by a Dutch Geologist dr. F.C. van
eurn to the Governor. This first legal Leuser Wildlife Sanctuary to include lowland areas of Bengkung,
lake of Bangko, upper Kluet, upper Krueng Kluet, Mamas Valley and mountain complexes of Leuser, Kemiri, Simpali and Bandahara. n
, Kluet Swamps of d
. ha were adde .
The importance of Leuser as one of the world’s greatest rainforest has determined the increased of further Wildreservaat Wildlife Sanctuary
in North Sumatra with the establishment of
. ha of Wildreservaat Langkat
Selatan and Langkat Barat and . ha of Sikundur.
n , Wildreservaat Kappi of
. ha was established. Further a Forest
Recreation Area of . ha Lawe Menggurah was established in
. The legal status of the Gunung Leuser National Park has been determined by the
issuance of the Minister of Agriculture Decree No. KptsUM
. This Park was determined to cover all the above
Gunung Leuser National
This legal research report was prepared in for PEM Gmb, a consulting company based in
Germany. A credit was also provided to KFW German Development Bank for the support of this l
of egal research. The substance provided in this legal report does not necessary is the opinion
PEM Gmb and KFW. Legal Expert, graduated from University of North Sumatera in
, University of Kent at C
tions for anterbury, UK in
and trained in arvard Law School, USA for Program of nstruc l
. awyers in
.D. Rijksen, et al, Masterplan: Leuser Development Programme, CDP, , page .
Jan Wind, Gunung Leuser National Park: History, Threats and Options, in the Leuser: Sumatran Sanctuary
edited by Carel P. van Schaik and Jatna Supriatna , YABS, Perdana Ciptamandiri
page.
Universitas Sumatera Utara
conservation areas into a national park The Gunung Leuser National Park with the total area of 792.675 ha. This total area has also included the Sembabala
Barat and Serbolangit. n
, Grand Forest Park Taman utan Raya Bukit Barisan was established adjacent to the national park to include Sinabung, Sibayak as well as Langkat
Selatan, east of the Wampu River in the North Sumatra. The legal status of the Gunung Leuser National Park has been revised by the
government with the issuance of the Minister of Forestry Decree No. Kpts‐
V to cover the total area of 1.094.892 ha in the provinces of North
Sumatra and Aceh.owever, up to the present time the delineation of this new ppointment has not been gazetted.
a
Proposed of Intervention:
Without proper delineation, it would be difficult to enforce the laws inside the
National Park. The Gunung Leuser National Park needs to be gazetted and
demarcated in the field for the law enforcement purpose.
Activities: The
newly Boundary delineation to follow the 1996 Ministerial Decree needs to be demarcated.
1.2.
Legal Development of the Leuser Ecosystem
The evolution of the Leuser Ecosystem has not ended in the Gunung Leuser National Park TNGL area alone, but rather a milestone to the real conservation
of the world’s most important remaining low land forest. One of primary
reasons, in addition to its importance for the ecological services for communities, is that the most viable population of importance biodiversity remains in the low
land forests outside of the TNGL. n contrast to the TNGL which most of the parts
are mountainous areas. Several previous programmes in the Leuser among others;ntegrated
Conservation and Development Programme CDP and Leuser Development Programme LDP have accelerated the issuance two important legal statuses
for the Leuser Ecosystem.
The Minister Decree No. year
has determined the increasing areas of L. This is the first time that the term Leuser
Leuser outside of the TNG
nterviewed with the ead of TNGL, arijoko, dated
th
October . Because this boundary
h ed the
as not been gazzetted, some organizations even Ministerial decree No. has us
old national park map. LDP was a cooperation programme between Government of ndonesia Bappenas and
European Union which ended in .
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Ecosystem was introduced.The Leuser Ecosystem under this decree was determined to cover the total areas of ,
, .ha. The area to cover various
conservation areas to include the TNGL, Wildlife Sanctuary Rawa Singkil, unting Park, Nature Reserves, and other utilization areas. This decree was a
conservation concessionaire decree for the Leuser nternational Foundation Yayasan Leuser nternasionalYL .
Three years afterwards, the government issued a Presidential Decree no. year concerning the Management of the Leuser Ecosystem. This Presidential
Decree was to revoke the previous Minister of Forestry Decree No. year
. Under this Presidential Decree, the management of the Leuser Ecosystem is executed in cooperation between government and YL for thirty years since
. Under this Presidential Decree, the Leuser Ecosystem covers the area of
. .
.‐ ha. This Presidential Decree contained an attachment map of the E
Leuser cosystem with the coordinate number in it. Within the period of three years from
, the boundary demarcationfor the Leuser Ecosystem has been completed by the LDP in accordance to the
Presidential Decree assignment. The coordinate numbers in the Presidential Decree attachment map has been demarcated in the field with poles and
billboards. The Leuser Ecosystem demarcation activities in Aceh have been coordinated by
the Governor of Aceh under the Governor decree No. .
. The Governor further formed technical teams from Provincial and Kabupaten experts
under governor decree no. .
. Upon the completion of the activities, the Governor of Aceh has sent letters to the Minister of Forestry to
legalize the Leuser Ecosystem boundary demarcation with letters No. .
, dated
th
September and No.
. dated
th
March .
Under the Minister of Foresty Decree No. Kpts‐
, dated
th
June , the government has legalized the boundary delineation of the Leuser
Ecosystem in Aceh into the following descriptions: I.
The Forestry Areas 1.
Wildlife Sanctuary Rawa Singkil ; 102,370 ha 2.
National Park TNGL ;
602.582 ha 3.
Hunting Park Lingga Isaq ;
29,090 ha 4.
Protection Forest ;
941,713 ha
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5. Limited Production Forests
; 8,066 ha
6. Permanent Production Forests
;245,676 ha
II. Other Utilization Areas
;326,080 ha
Total ;2.255,577
ha.
The legal status for the Leuser Ecosystem in the North Sumatra has also been demarcated. Under similar process conducted in Aceh, the Governor of North
Sumatra under the Decree No. .
K had also coordinated the
boundary demarcation of the Leuser Ecosystem. Another decree for the technical teams had also been issued by Governor Decree No.
. BPSU
. Following the completion of the demarcation with poles and billboards in the
field, Governor of North Sumatra has sent a letter to the Minister of Forestry requesting the legalization the boundary demarcation under the letter No.
dated
rd
August .
Minister of Forestry Decree No. Kpts‐
dated
st
November ,
has legalized the Leuser Ecosystem Demarcation Boundary in the North Sumatra with the following description:
I. The Forest Areas
1. National Park TNGL
; 226,903 ha
2. Nature Reserves Areas Hutan Suaka Alam
; 394 ha
3. Protection Forests Hutan Lindung
; 106,801 ha
4. Limited Production Forests HPT
; 28,164 ha
II. Other Utilization Areas APL
; 22,032 ha
Total ;384,294
ha
The legalization of the boundary demarcations in Aceh and North Sumatra from the Minister of Forestry has provided the legal certainty towards the existence of
the Leuser Ecosystem in both provinces. Up to the present time, the above
legalization also to confirm that the Leuser Ecosystem is legally exist with the total areas of 2, 639,871 ha in North Sumatra and Aceh Provinces.
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Proposed of Intervention
‐ Although the national regulations have legalized the Leuser Ecosystem , however,
the local decree at the provincial level of Perda and or Qanun is required
to further strengthened the Leuser Ecosystem status. The need of this
Perda and or Qanun is to ensure that all activities and policies at the local levels
will ensure to refer to this Leuser Perda and or Qanun. ‐ An awareness programme is required to ensure that all government officials
and communities aware of the legal status of the Leuser Ecosystem in the
field. Activities:
‐ Academic study should be made. Meetings with executivesgovernment to propose
the Qanun is required. The public hearing is to consult with communities
and other stakeholders. The meetings with parliaments should be
made to ensure that the Qanun is accepted and endorsed. ‐ The awareness programmes is required to be made at the 17 kabupatens in
North Sumatra and Aceh. The target groups, means of documents, and tools
of information for awareness need to be established.
II. CURRENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK
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