"Current Status of Tripa Peat Swamp Destruction and Fires" | 27 March
The pace of destruction of the Tripa peat swamps in Aceh has escalated dramatically in the last few weeks, possibly as the companies take of Aceh's status as having an "interim" Governor. We are extremely alarmed that if the current pace of destruction is allowed to continue, there will be no HCVF forest and no more Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan, or any other protected wildlife, in Tripa by the end of 2012.
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"Aceh Judge slammed over Indonesian court's inability to make a just ruling over simple legal case." | 03 April
Today Tuesday 3rd of April, the Council of Judges of the Banda Aceh National Administrative Court announced it was the inappropriate body to make a ruling on the challenge mounted by the Aceh branch of WALHI / Friends of the Earth Indonesia against legality of an oil palm concession permit granted by the former Governor of Aceh to PT Kallista Alam in the protected Tripa peat swamps.
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"Former Aceh chief denies orang-utans died in burn" | 06 April
THE man who signed the permit allowing 1600 hectares of carbon-rich peat forest and orang-utan habitat to be razed and turned into a palm oil plantation agrees his decision was ''morally wrong''. However, Irwandi Yusuf, the former governor of Aceh who is seeking a second term in Monday's election, said he had done it as a wake-up call to the international community over its failing climate change policies.
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"SOCP angered by betrayal of justice by Aceh Judges" | 09 April
Having studied the outcome of the Judge's ruling at the National Administrative Court in Banda Aceh, the staff of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) hereby express our anger at the court's lack of a ruling on the case challenging the legality of a plantation permit in Aceh's Tripa peat swamp forests, given to the palm oil company PT Kallista Alam by the former Governor of Aceh province in contravention of National Spatial Planning Law (No. 26/2007). The case had run for 5 months before the judges simply decided that they were not qualified to judge it, thus attempting to brush the case under the carpet. This decision would be laughable, were it not such a tragic betrayal of the Indonesian public, the environment, and the very principles of justice.
We fully support the plan of the Coalition to Save the Tripa Peat Swamps and WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia to appeal this non-‐decision, and will play an active role in supporting their efforts.
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"SBY Aide Vows to Probe Aceh Forest Concession" | 12 April
An aide to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed concern over a recent court ruling that cleared the outgoing Aceh governor's action in granting a plantation concession in an ostensibly protected forest.
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Investigation Team of REDD+ Task Force Press Release | 13 April
Towards the end of March 2012, the government of Indonesia was alerted over reports from the province of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam about deliberate and systematic attempts at land clearance though forest fires in a certain area of Rawa Tripa that appeared to be not only in direct violation of the two-year suspension or Moratorium on new forest concessions but also included, more alarmingly, the deep part land area of Leuser Ecosystem (KEL) close to the Leuser National Park.
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Trapped orangutan rescued from snare in Indonesian rainforest | 13 April
An orangutan trapped in a snare for ten days was rescued by International Animal Rescue (IAR). The rescue team sedated the young male, freed him from the snare and gave him fluids for sever dehydration before transporting him back to IAR's clinic in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Read the full article. Please note there are graphic photos in the article.
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Indonesia to Investigate Forest Concession | 17 April
The Environment Ministry has said it will launch an investigation into the issuance of a plantation concession inside the Tripa peat swamp forest in Aceh province. The ministry's announcement came in response to findings by the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation forest carbon reduction task force.
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Wild Orangutan rescue taking place in Tripa Peat Swamp Forest | 18 April
A specialist team including orangutan vets and government staff, made up of members of SOCP (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program) YEL (Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari) and the Nature and Natural resource Conservation Agency of Indonesian Government (BKSDA) has just left the Tripa base camp in two 4WD vehicles, and is heading into the forest to rescue and relocate an Orangutan who is trapped in a small pocket of protected forest surrounded by encroaching palm oil plantations.
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Action Not Words Needed to Save Orangutan Population in Tripa Swamp Forest | 18 April
Today a specialist Orangutan rescue team from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari (YEL) and BKSDA Aceh (the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's nature conservation agency in Aceh) successfully rescued a large adult male orangutan trapped in a small pocket of forest in the Tripa peat swamps, surrounded by encroaching palm oil plantations.
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Palm Oil Plantations Push Unique Orangutan Population to Brink of Extinction. | 18 April
A manmade inferno inside the globally renowned Tripa rainforest in Aceh, Indonesia is pushing this forest's unique population of Sumatran orangutans to the brink of extinction. Destruction inside palm oil plantation leases is driving the end of this great lowland forest, despite years of efforts by local communities to defend their forests and livelihood.
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Confiscation of illegally held orphan Sumatran Orangutan | 19 April
Following the successful rescue of an adult male Sumatran Orangutan yesterday, an Orangutan confiscation team from Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program supported by local police, specialist orang-utan staff from YEL (Yayasan Ecosistem Lestari) and BKSDA (Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's nature conservation agency in Aceh) is right now making final preparations to confiscate today an illegally held 3 year old orphan Sumatran Orang-utan from a location where it is currently being chained up as a pet.
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Confiscation of illegally held orphan Sumatran Orangutan | 20 April
Today an Orangutan confiscation team comprising staff and a veterinarian from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP: PanEco Foundation and Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari), local armed police, and field staff from BKSDA Aceh (the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's nature conservation agency in Aceh), successfully confiscated a 2 year old orphan Sumatran orangutan from a location where it is was being detained illegally as a pet in a rural village in Aceh Barat Daya District, close to the Tripa peat swamp forests in Aceh Province, Indonesia.
