Aceh, Indonesia’s most northern province, boasting 3.34 million hectares of forest and some of the world’s richest biodiversity, is a prime and compelling case for the world’s transition to a sustainable future. Hosting the most important nesting site for the vulnerable Leatherback Turtles, and serving as the last place on Earth where the critically endangered Sumatran tiger, Orangutan, Rhino, and Elephant exist, the reasons for this region’s conservation are obvious, clear, and compelling.
However, despite these important global environmental assets, Aceh’s environmental future is threatened by destructive mining, logging, and road and palm oil plantation development.
Aceh’s environmental threats are undeniably linked to a dearth of sustainable local economies. Previously existing developmental problems, worsened by Aceh’s 30 year long separatist movement, and further exacerbated by regional destruction caused by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, helped create one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, suffering from high unemployment and a large portion of the population subsisting just above the poverty line.
After the Boxing Day tsunami, a wave of $6 billion in international aid poured into Aceh to rebuild its infrastructure. However, after the receding of this post-tsunami aid, the livelihoods of Aceh residents remained largely unchanged, with aid efforts failing to provide sustainable employment opportunities, leaving the most rural areas with a poverty rate of 20%.
Simply put, Aceh’s investment climate is poor. A collusion of weak governance and legal institutions, coupled with under capitalized manufacturing and service sectors, leaves Aceh vulnerable to short-sighted, extractive investments that harm Aceh’s environmental assets.
This situation is what Healthy Islands and its partners seek to positively transform.
However, despite these important global environmental assets, Aceh’s environmental future is threatened by destructive mining, logging, and road and palm oil plantation development.
Aceh’s environmental threats are undeniably linked to a dearth of sustainable local economies. Previously existing developmental problems, worsened by Aceh’s 30 year long separatist movement, and further exacerbated by regional destruction caused by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, helped create one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, suffering from high unemployment and a large portion of the population subsisting just above the poverty line.
After the Boxing Day tsunami, a wave of $6 billion in international aid poured into Aceh to rebuild its infrastructure. However, after the receding of this post-tsunami aid, the livelihoods of Aceh residents remained largely unchanged, with aid efforts failing to provide sustainable employment opportunities, leaving the most rural areas with a poverty rate of 20%.
Simply put, Aceh’s investment climate is poor. A collusion of weak governance and legal institutions, coupled with under capitalized manufacturing and service sectors, leaves Aceh vulnerable to short-sighted, extractive investments that harm Aceh’s environmental assets.
This situation is what Healthy Islands and its partners seek to positively transform.
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