Indonesia relocates hundreds of families from critically endangered sumatran forest as new conservation model

Indonesia has launched a controversial relocation program to move families living illegally within Tesso Nilo National Park, one of Sumatra’s most heavily deforested protected areas. Hundreds of families have already been relocated under the initiative, which Indonesian Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni calls a potential “model for other locations in restoring national parks” across Asia’s largest remaining tropical forests.

Tesso Nilo National Park serves as critical habitat for two critically endangered species: the Sumatran elephant and Sumatran tiger, along with thousands of plant species. Despite receiving the highest level of state protection when designated as a national park in 2004, the 202,115-acre preserve has faced devastating deforestation. Satellite data from Global Forest Watch reveals that the park lost a staggering 78% of its old-growth forest between 2009 and 2023 – one of the most severe rates of destruction for any protected area in Indonesia.

The massive forest loss stems from complex challenges including illegal settlement, community encroachment, corruption, and organized criminal activity that successive governments have struggled to control. Local fieldworkers describe the situation as reflecting broader failures in enforcing environmental law across Indonesia’s vast forest territories.

The relocation program represents Indonesia’s latest attempt to halt the ecological crisis in Tesso Nilo, though the approach raises questions about community displacement and whether similar forced relocations could become standard practice across Indonesia’s network of national parks and protected forests.