Haven in peril: Aceh activists lose class action over Indonesia's Leuser rainforest

By Jewel Topsfield and Karuni Rompies
Updated November 30 2016 - 10:13pm, first published 9:27pm
Deforestation in the Leuser Ecosystem in August.  Photo: Paul Hilton for Rainforest Action Network/Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
Deforestation in the Leuser Ecosystem in August. Photo: Paul Hilton for Rainforest Action Network/Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
A river in the Leuser Ecosystem. Photo: Paul Hilton for Rainforest Action Network/Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
A river in the Leuser Ecosystem. Photo: Paul Hilton for Rainforest Action Network/Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
Freshly cleared forest inside the Leuser Ecosystem near Kuala Simpang in Aceh, March 2014. Local activists said this clearing for a palm oil plantation was illegal.  Photo: Michael Bachelard
Freshly cleared forest inside the Leuser Ecosystem near Kuala Simpang in Aceh, March 2014. Local activists said this clearing for a palm oil plantation was illegal. Photo: Michael Bachelard
An orang-utan in the Gunung Leuser National Park on Sumatra. Photo: Penny Stephens
An orang-utan in the Gunung Leuser National Park on Sumatra. Photo: Penny Stephens
A family in the village of Ketambe, beside Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra.   Photo: Penny Stephens
A family in the village of Ketambe, beside Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra. Photo: Penny Stephens
A Sumatran tiger in Gunung Leuser National Park. Photo: WWF-Canon Photo Database
A Sumatran tiger in Gunung Leuser National Park. Photo: WWF-Canon Photo Database

Jakarta: Activists warn the last place on Earth where elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses and orangutans coexist in the wild could be destroyed by mining and palm oil plantations after a Jakarta court ruled against their bid to protect a Sumatran rain forest.

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