Borneo Bulletin Digital

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Features 24 TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020
ASEAN CENTRE FOR BIODIVERSITY
- Fiery-furred orangutans swing
effortlessly from tree to tree using
their long arms. Yearly, trekkers and
tourists visit the lush rainforest of
Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP)
for a close encounter with these
mighty tree-dwellingmammals. Due
to its rich biodiversity and critical
ecological value, the park has been
classi‡ied as an ASEANHeritage Park
(AHP) and part of the UNESCOWorld
Heritage Site Tropical Rainforest
Heritage of Sumatra.
GLNP is the only forest in the
world where four iconic species live:
the Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran
tiger, Sumatran elephant, and the
Sumatran rhinoceros. Aside from
these, the park is abundant with
fauna and ‡lora species: 130mammal
species, up to 380 bird species,
and iconic plants like the world’s
largest ‡lower species Raf lesia
arnoldii, and the tallest ‡lower,
Amorphophallus titanium. Other
known wildlife animals inhabiting
the 800,000-hectare park are the
slow loris, long-tailed macaques,
siamangs, white-handed gibbons,
Thomas’ leaf-monkeys, Grif‡ith’s
silver leaf-monkeys, clouded
leopards, Malay sunbears, and
sambar deer.
Gunung Leuser and its rich
biodiversity, however, arepersistently
hounded by threats such as illegal
logging and poaching.
As it spearheaded the drafting
the collaborative management plan
of GLNP, the Yayasan Orangutan
Sumatera Lestari–Orangutan
InformationCentre (YOSL—OIC) delved
into these threats through a series of
workshops, consultations and visits.
The plan, which was completed
in 2019, serves as a three-fold guide
for park authorities and the local
communityaliketo:conservethepark,
create livelihood opportunities, and
increase community involvement.
The crafting of the plan was
supported by the partnership
between the ASEAN Centre for
Biodiversity (ACB) and the German
Development Bank (KfW) through the
Small Grants Programme (SGP).
Early this year, the ACB and KfW
awarded civil society organisations
in GLNP and Way Kambas National
Park, another AHP in Indonesia, a
total of EUR446,227 in grants.
ADDRESSING THREATS
Data from the GLNP collaborative
management plan show that
encroachment, illegal logging, and
disasters have damaged 143,735
hectares of the park. In particular,
the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of
Sumatra, which GLNP is part of, has
been listed in the UNESCO’s World
Heritage Site in Danger.
Factors aggravating these
concerns were the opening of forest
roads coupled with encroachment,
land-use conversions, and the lack
of long-term planning.
The existing management plan
was established around the vision
of the park’s conservation and
sustainable development. However,
notable gaps in its implementation,
including limited community
involvement, have been observed.
Thus, the management and
stakeholders of GLNP decided
that community awareness and
participation has to be improved to
address threats to the park.
“Local communities are a crucial
partner in conserving biodiversity,”
ACB Executive Director Theresa
Mundita Lim said. “Considering their
familiarity with the area and their
experiences living in biodiversity-
rich areas, local communities usually
already are, or can be, the ASEAN
Heritage Parks’ natural stewards.”
The plan has also given attention
to community outreach and
conservation awareness. Findings
in the GLNP plan show that issues
like the removal and damage of park
boundary signs are brought about
by the lack of public awareness
and appreciation of GLNP. Key
solutions have been proposed to
address this: establishing a centre
of conservation for community
development and environmental
e d u c a t i o n , c o n d u c t i n g a
conservation education series for
stakeholders and for students,
and rolling out online media
promotional activities.
Good collaboration among
stakeholdersisexpectedtopositively
Indonesia’s GLNP community, stakeholders
craft conservation plan
contribute to the park rehabilitation
and wildlife conservation. The
p l a n r e c omme nded s h a r ed
responsibility between GLNP staff
and community leaders in the park
management and law enforcement.
Members of the community are
tapped to conduct patrols, monitor
biodiversity, and identify ‡lora
and fauna for conservation and
tourism purposes. Other proposed
ecosystem restoration activities in
encroached and degraded areas
in GLNP are also built around
strengthening partnerships with
several local non-government and
civil society organisations.
Penabulu Foundation, an organi-
sation that assists the grantees,
reported that wildlife monitor-
ing and research informed the
implementation of SGP-supported
initiatives such as improving the
conservation of important species
in these two parks.
LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES
The plan’s livelihood component,
meanwhile, focusses on community
development and ecotourism.
Among the proposed activities
are tree planting, establishing
sustainable forest enterprises like
beekeeping and medicinal plants,
and developing other products
like crafts and delicacies. The goal
for ecotourism, on the other hand,
is to diversify tourism experiences
in GLNP. Tourism, especially
orangutan and elephant tours,
serves as a signi‡icant source
of livelihood. Currently, visits
are concentrated in areas with
established tourism packages
focussedonorangutan andelephant
tours. For example, Langkat District,
where the orangutan and elephant
tours operate, reported 18,600
international and domestic tourist
arrivals in 2016.
Designing tourism plans and
packages, and training the local
community to implement tour
offerings in other areaswithpotential
will provide more attractions for
visitors and additional income for
the communities in these areas.
Experiencing the wonders of
Gunung Leuser, after all, goes
beyond watching orangutans
and elephant.
Head of the GLNP Jefry Susyafri-
anto envisions the positive effects of
the programmes on the communi-
ties living around the park.
“These programmes would
develop sustainable livelihood and
increase their awareness, which
can encourage them to become
involved in GLNP management,
speci‡ically in protecting the park
resources as their livelihood source,”
he said.
The implementation of the overall
planwill be piloted in a pre-identi‡ied
205,355-hectare area in the park.
The established plan can then be
replicated in other areas of GLNP.
COVID 19
The management of GLNP and their
communities remained sanguine
about the future of the park despite
the ongoing health crisis. Routine
patrolling and monitoring in GLNP
continue despite the COVID—19
pandemic, Susyafrianto said.
While GLNP remains closed to
tourists at themoment, conservation
partnership activities for ecosystem
restoration, and sustainable land
use for livelihood are still being
implemented. Thus, all park activities
are carried out while following the
health and safety protocols set by
the government.
“With the recently awarded SGP
grants and the ongoing conservation
initiatives, the park and the local
communities will be more prepared
whenGLNP opens again for tourism,”
Lim said.