Aceh News

Oil palm plantations continue to grow in Aceh, Indonesia's westernmost province on the island of Sumatra. Last March they covered 393,270 hectares of land, nearly 7 percent of Aceh's total area, according to…

As part of a campaign to eradicate illegal oil palm in an area of Aceh where elephants travel, a local official felled one of the rogue trees himself on Tuesday…

A wildlife trafficker who was caught trying to sell three baby orangutans on Facebook was sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined 50 million rupiah ($3,653) in Indonesia's Aceh province…

[This article has been updated to reflect Wilmar's November 19 response to a Mongabay inquiry of November 16.] Lowland forests and carbon-rich peat bogs, the most vital landscapes in Southeast…

Abdullah Rajab is not young. He has a shock of white hair. And when he laughs, it’s clear that many of his teeth are missing. But whenever a youngster asks…

Activists have documented a palm oil company destroying lowland rainforest in Sumatra's endangered Leuser Ecosystem. Last month, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) reported that PT. Tualang Raya was clearing rainforest in…

An alliance of concerned citizens in Aceh have prepared a class action lawsuit against Indonesia’s central government over an allegedly illegal spatial plan they worry will set the province on…

Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from oil palm developer PT Kallista Alam, which had been ordered to pay a staggering 366 billion rupiah ($26 million) in fines and…

A wildlife trafficker was arrested in a sting in Indonesia’s Aceh province after trying to sell three baby Sumatran orangutans through Facebook. Authorities apprehended the 29-year-old man, a student at…

Indonesian authorities caught a prominent wildlife trafficker with this baby orangutan in his bag in February, leading to his conviction last week. The sentence has been hailed as a win…

A forest is cleared for oil palm in Bulohseuma in Indonesia's Aceh province. Photo: Chik Rini Encroachers have been clearing forest at three locations in Aceh's biggest peat swamp since…

A Sumatran elephant of the sort that lives in the Leuser Ecosystem. Photo: Rhett A. Butler A new report provides evidence that a supplier of palm oil giants Wilmar and…

A large male Sumatran orangutan is released, some 50 kilometers from where he was rescued in the Leuser Ecosystem. Photo: Paul Hilton for OIC. Conservationists rescued another orangutan stranded in…

Small-scale forest clearing in Mount Leuser National Park. Photo: Rhett A. Butler The Indonesian government will take another stab at relocating thousands of squatters from Mount Leuser National Park, most…

A bull elephant was found dead in West Aceh on April 13. Its tusks were missing; its trunk was severed from its body. Photo: Khaidar A pair of critically endangered…

Felled oil palm trees in Aceh Tamiang. Photo: Junaidi Hanafiah A joint effort to eradicate illegal oil palm in an area of Indonesia's Aceh province that was devastated by flash…

A newly protected peat swamp in Tripa. Photo: Indonesian Nature Foundation As Indonesia's Supreme Court prepares to rule on an appeal from oil palm developer Kallista Alam, ordered to pay…

GLobal Forest Watch map showing protected areas and industrial concessions in and around the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh and North Sumatra on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The rate of…

Recent deforestation for palm oil production within Aceh's Leuser Ecosystem. Taken in May 2014 by Rhett A. Butler In the run-up to the tenth anniversary of the devastating 2004 tsunami,…

Illegal deforestation for oil palm within the Leuser Ecosystem. Photo by Rhett Butler. Palm oil giant Musim Mas Group has suspended purchases from the PT Pati Sari mill over allegations…

Agam, the baby elephant. Photo by Yuliannova Lestari/Indonesia Sahabat Gajah. Agam, an orphaned two year old Sumatran elephant, died over the weekend presumably from injuries suffered during a fall last…

Oil palm company PT. Kallista Alam has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court continuing the closely-watched legal battle set to redefine Indonesia's commitment to environmental justice. Lawyers for the…

Orphaned Sumatran orangutan Furthering Indonesia's renewed commitment to environmental justice, the High Court of Banda Aceh denied an appeal by PT. Kallista Alam, the oil palm company found guilty of…

An orphaned Sumatran orangutan at a rescue facility run by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme Activists have launched an urgent appeal calling upon outgoing Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to…

Rainforest stream near Jantho in Aceh, Indonesia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Aceh, Indonesia has found a new ally in the struggle to protect the province's remaining natural forests: Sharia…

Illegal gold mining operation in Aceh, Indonesia. Photo by Junaidi Hanafi. In the wake of massive fish die-offs and repeated calls from environmental groups to do more than just talk…

Illegal gold mining operation in Aceh, Indonesia. Photo by Junaidi Hanafi. The Governor of Aceh Province, Indonesia appears unwilling to implement a mining moratorium, despite repeated statements he intends to…

Singkil Swamp Forest Wildlife newly burned for palm plantations in Trumon, South Aceh District, Aceh. Photo: Chik Rini. Oil palm plantations and other developments are threatening Rawa Singkil Wildlife Preserve—Aceh's…

Environmental groups blasted a "lenient" sentence imposed on the director of a palm oil company that illegally destroyed an area of endangered peat forest in Indonesia's Aceh Province, reports the…

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS Eleven people were arrested on April 16 by West Aceh police for allegedly killing a Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), in a forest six kilometers away from…