Saving the Leuser Ecosystem – Indonesian Government Rejects Major New Dam Project

In a strong win against poorly-planned development projects that threaten the preservation of the Leuser Ecosyste, the Banda Aceh State Administrative Court’s Panel of Judges on August 28, 2019 granted WALHI Aceh’s lawsuit against permits for a major dam project. In its decision, the panel of judges determined that the Governor of Aceh had exceeded his authority in issuing the initial permits.

Global Conservation has supported legal and policy work by HaKA and other NGOs against poorly planned dam, mining and road projects in the Leuser Ecosystem, as well as against illegal palm oil plantations destroying The Last Place on Earth where rhino, tigers, elephants and orangutans live together in the wild.

"This decision is a stern warning for other project development plans based on problematic permits or which threaten the preservation of the Leuser Ecosystem.” said M. Nur, Director of WALHI Aceh as the plaintiff. "The Tampur hydropower development plan has been widely opposed by civil society organizations because the IPPKH issued by the Governor of Aceh violates permit rules and exceeds authority.”

“Besides that, the company PT. Kamirzu as the permit holder has also been proven to have failed to fulfill the obligations under the conditions of this permit," he added.

Lesten village in Gayo Lues district, part of the planned site of the Tampur dam. Image by Junaidi Hanafiah/Mongabay Indonesia.

The hydroelectric power plant was planned to be built with a 173.5 meter dam and a 697.4 million cubic meter reservoir to produce 428 megawatts of power. The reservoir area is estimated to flood over 4,000 hectares and be connected via a 275 KVA high-voltage air transmission network.

Purportedly being built to meet the increasing demand for electricity, the Aceh provincial government has launched several power generation projects such as the Peusangan Hydroelectric Power Plant (84 MW capacity), Nagan Raya Power Generation Units (200 MW capacity), the Combined Cycle Power Plant in Krueng Raya (50 MW capacity), and Jaboi Wind Power Plant in Sabang (15 MW capacity).

"If all these projects are successful, then Aceh will have excess energy. I wonder why the Aceh government still insists on building hydropower plants that will drown thousands of hectares of protected forest and villages. The Aceh government should focus on maximizing energy production from existing power plants so that it can produce around 400 MW of surplus needs, or develop alternative new energy programs outside forest areas where they will not have a negative impact on ecosystems and local communities ", M. Nur emphasized.

The Tampur Dam project saw serious problems in the governance of issuing permits and will have implications for those who neglect the principles of environmentally sustainable capacity for the sake of electricity business. If there are no immediate comprehensive improvement, permits for companies will become fertile ground for the development of political corruption practices in different districts.”

Activists, environmental experts and the public condemned the development of the Tampur dam due to the threat it poses to critical Sumatran elephant habitat as well as to the lives and livelihoods of residents living downstream of the Tamiang river. The use of forest areas in the Tampur hydropower project would have a major impact on the functioning of ecosystems, such as the disturbance of Sumatran elephant habitat which will be submerged by the Tampur Dam if allowed to go ahead.

As well, the location of the Tampur Dam located east of the Great Sumatran Fault puts the location of this dam in one of the mainland earthquake zones in Sumatra. The 193-meter high dam has the potential to collapse, causing mass fatalities and bringing disaster to the people downstream.

The Tampur Hydroelectric Mega Project would have opened access to primary forest areas, leading to forest clearing and poaching activities. This in retrospect will reduce the integrity of the protection of the Leuser Ecosystem as National Strategic Area which functions as a habitat for endangered Sumatran elephants among other wildlife.

The area is still heavily forested and, during the survey, the team found many elephant footprints along the Lesten River and at least 6 orangutan nests. The Tampur hydropower project is included in the last large elephant corridor (ie, the Lesten corridor) in the Leuser Ecosystem, and would likely split the last elephant populations in Aceh, pushing Sumatran Elephants closer to extinction.

This hydroelectric project will threaten the health of the community who has relied on fresh water from the Tamiang river that flows from the Leuser Ecosystem into the Malacca Strait for generations. This river is an important source of the community’s livelihood. They rely on it and the surrounding forests in the Tampur area to find fish and non-timber forest products such as rattan and honey.

The village of Lesten would have been flooded if the 173.5m mega-hydro dam went forward. Photo credit: Shayne McGrath

For MongaBay’s articles on the rejected Tampur Dam, see:

Indonesian court cancels dam project in last stronghold of tigers, rhinos

Study warns of dire ecological, social fallout from Sumatran dam

National Geographic article on the proposed Tampur Dam

Hydroelectric dam threatens to wipe out world's rarest ape