Leuser Sub-District

Location & Total Area

Orangutan Information Center (OIC) covering 14,859 hectares is situated in close proximity to the esteemed Gunung Leuser National Park, a reknowned sanctuary of biodiversity. 

Project background

The Community Forests are located in the buffer zone of Gunung Leuser National Park which is designated as the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) by UNESCO and holds the greatest potential for long-term conservation of the distinctive and diverse biota of Sumatra, including many endangered species. However, human-wildlife conflicts, especially with elephants, have occurred rampantly with local communities living in close proximity of the project area. Incidents have occurred when croplands, especially corn fields, and settlement areas were damaged by elephants.

It is projected that such human-wildlife conflict cases will increase and threaten the biodiversity of the area in the future if no interventions are taken.

How we add value to this project

Project interventions are designed to prevent potential agricultural expansion and protect the exceptionally high biodiversity value of the project area. Together with the Rimba Collective, OIC will conduct multi-stakeholder biodiversity protection and monitoring.

Another key issue is the lack of capacity and incentives for the license holders and local communities living near the project area to engage in its conservation and restoration. This issue will be through capacity building, infrastructure support, provision of community benefits, compensation and incentives, as well as direct employment of members of the license holders and local communities.

Together with OIC, Rimba Collective will also support net income increase in these local communities surrounding the community forests through livelihood support for growing agricultural commodities that are both profitable and, ideally, disliked by elephants.

This strategy aims to mitigate the attraction of elephants to human settlements and agricultural areas, thereby diminishing instances of human-elephant conflicts and the risk of elephants being harmed or killed. Instead, the focus is on redirecting their attention towards community forests, where they can inhabit their natural habitat and receive adequate protection.

The community will also receive specific tailored support in terms of mitigating human-elephant conflict in their respective villages.  

Efforts to redirect elephants away from settlement areas and into the naturally established home range of the elephants through the establishment of power fencing and/or bio-barriers (subject to expert's analyses) to avoid more human-wildlife conflicts will also be taken.

Aside from that, through support from Rimba Collective, OIC will build a research station to accommodate researchers wishing to conduct research about the biodiversity within the project area.