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Tangkahan: Between logging and tourism, sustainability hangs in the balance
The development of ecotourism in Tangkahan village on the edge of Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatra has managed to stop illegal logging activities in the area. However, the question now is about sustainable and balanced tourism.
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Guesthouses are seen along the Bambu River bank in Tangkahan village, Langkat regency, North Sumatra. Many guesthouses are now overlooking the river after the Bambu River Guesthouse was established as a way to combat illegal logging in the early 2000s. (JP/Camilla Lowe)
T
he village of Tangkahan, perched on the border of Gunung Leuser National Park in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, is a rare conservation success story. Before tourists began to flock to the park via the newly paved road, the area that is now protected was under threat.
In the 1990s, logging was common and harming Tangkahan’s natural environment. Although logging was illegal, it was still quite profitable. Trees were turned into valuable hardwood lumber and the newly cleared areas created a perfect environment to grow monocrop oil palm.
Illegal logging is difficult to prevent in part because of the magnitude and scale on which it was occurring. Logging was and continues to be an issue across Indonesia. Because of its 7,927 square kilometer size, Gunung Leuser is a challenging place to stop illegal logging. But perhaps the greatest difficulty is that trying to stop illegal logging is dangerous.
People who confront loggers can be threatened, have their property destroyed, or even be killed.
With little to no reinforcement of logging laws, the danger of opposing logging, and the difficulties of earning a living, it was clear that illegal logging in Tangkahan, which is located some 120 kilometers from provincial capital of Medan, would not end unless something changed.
In 1998, Muhammad Syukur “Sugeng” Al Fajar, an environmental activist from Medan met Raniun, affectionately known as “Wak Yun”, a forest guide and conservationist born in nearby Bukit Lawang, and his wife Jane Baker-Kassim.
