Wildlife Conservation in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra
WHAT IS SUMECO?
SUMECO was not established to seek profit; SUMECO was established to spend part of the profits from its several ecotourism businesses that were implemented with the aim of increasing environmental awareness, especially of endemic species of Sumatra, Gunung Leuser National Park. Founded in 2012 and formally recognized in 2014, the private financial strength that was gained from private ecotourism earnings has helped save 525 animals.
Particularly in Gunung Leuser National Park and Karang Gading Wildlife Reserve, ecotourism activities developed by SUMECO, such as orangutan jungle trekking, herping, birdwatching, mangrove boat tours, and seeing wild elephants, will always center on the process of raising environmental awareness and preservation. The pressure and expansion of deforestation in Sumatra is increasing, so it is very necessary to work together with local communities to form a caring group.
In addition to establishing ecotourism to raise environmental awareness and preservation, SUMECO has several major work programs, including animal rescue, wildlife crime investigation, and educating forest edge communities about conservation-based ecotourism. All of these work programs are funded solely by the profits from its private ecotourism business in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra.
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN BUKIT LAWANG THROUGH ECOTOURISM
SUMECO (Sumatra Ecoproject) is based in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Focused on preserving the biodiversity of Gunung Leuser National Park through its wildlife conservation work by rescuing the animals, which were mostly held in illegal captivity or as pets. It was officially established in 2014 with a strong intention to protect the local environment and animals belonging to Gunung Leuser National Park as their natural habitat. Having a role in the ecotourism business in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, its founder has committed to utilizing his company profits to support SUMECO wildlife rescue mission.
Gunung Leuser National Park is well-known to be a region with the highest concentration of Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii). The Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) ecosystem is also considered to be the most important conservation area on earth. Leuser is located in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, situated on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Covering more than 2.6 million hectares, the area is one of the richest expanses of tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia. It is the last place on earth where Sumatran elephants, Sumatran rhinoceroses, Sumatran tigers, and Sumatran orangutans are found within one area. As of 2003, the Gunung Leuser National Park was declared by UNESCO to be one of the world heritage sites.
BUKIT LAWANG, CONSERVATION STRATEGIC AREA
Bukit Lawang is a village located directly bordering the Gunung Leuser National Park forest area, and it has to be categorized as a buffer zone village for the park. This tourist village was formed in 1972 because of its WWF-funded conservation project to open the Sumatran orangutan rehabilitation center. Bukit Lawang cannot be separated from conservation values and efforts because it is also a village utilizing the biodiversity of Gunung Leuser National Park as its regional income.
We must be honest and admit that we must coexist with the animals in Gunung Leuser National Park, which are frequently in conflict with human settlements; this will not be possible unless their habitat is degraded. Any idea that promotes environmental awareness will be the best strategy for developing Bukit Lawang into a conservation-based ecotourism village.
BUKIT LAWANG ECOTOURISM
SUMECO’s expansion and implementation of its conservation-based ecotourism performance began with Bukit Lawang Ecotourism. The proceeds of SUMECO’s private ecotourism venture are the only source of funding for the organization’s ongoing efforts to save wildlife and preserve Leuser and mangrove forests.
SUMECO has gained a great deal of knowledge to continue researching the current issues and coming up with solutions in a small scope, having been involved in this activity since 2012 and formally since 2014. SUMECO, a small organization situated in Bukit Lawang, is made up of a number of locals who are aware enough to value Sumatra’s remaining biodiversity despite lacking academic background or conservation education.
Through ecotourism activities in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra, since 2012, SUMECO remains committed to continuing to save protected animals around Bukit Lawang. SUMECO continues to contribute its best abilities despite the obvious limitations in operations. SUMECO’s gratitude for Sumatra’s biodiversity, particularly in Gunung Leuser National Park, is what drives the organization to continue operating.
TUALANG GEPANG ECOTOURISM
SUMECO’s ecotourism activities in Tualang Gepang will significantly contribute to conservation initiatives aimed at reducing wildlife exploitation in the area. It is imperative to acknowledge that SUMECO planned to be in Tualang Gepang in the future.
SUMECO chose Tualang Gepang, which is only 15 minutes by motorbike from crowded Bukit Lawang, to establish its Wildlife Conservation Camp and ecotourism base due to its ideal location and capacity to prioritize its conservation performance in rescuing and rehabilitating the animals of Gunung Leuser National Park.
Tualang Gepang can serve as an alternative to Bukit Lawang and a non-touristy location for exploring Gunung Leuser National Park’s biodiversity. Tualang Gepang Ecotourism’s animals are fully wild, with wild Sumatran orangutans being an icon in this area.
HALABAN ECOTOURISM
Halaban Ecotourism is a new tourist destination and was designed in mid-2023 to create more awareness about protecting the Gunung Leuser National Park area from encroachment and is expected to become the only place to see wild elephants in Sumatra.
A little community of wild elephants flanked by multiple oil palm plantation firms need special attention and maintenance. Halaban Ecotourism has approximately 20 unique wild Sumatran elephants, with no more than 1400 wild Sumatran elephants remaining on the entire island of Sumatra.
The establishment of Halaban Ecotourism is the result of a long journey that began in Tenggulun to promote local awareness about the need to maintain the biodiversity of the Gunung Leuser National Park, which is located on the boundary between North Sumatra and Aceh.
MANGROVE ECOTOURISM
It should be highlighted that our mangrove ecotourism supports the community, which has been referred to as local warriors who favor mangroves over palm oil farms. The idea of this mangrove ecotourism was the result of a collaborative effort between the local community and SUMECO following a long dead end in conserving the mangroves in their villages.
This ecotourism effort was developed because ecotourism is the only long-term solution for protecting mangroves, given the existing complexity. Ecotourism necessitates the preservation of mangrove forests and their wildlife. Looking at Bukit Lawang, ecotourism plays a critical role in protecting and maintaining the Gunung Leuser National Park.
In the future, mangrove ecotourism on the coast of Langkat will be planned as a destination after Bukit Lawang, as a place for boat tours in Sumatra, looking for wild crocodiles and dolphins in Sumatra, birdwatching/birding, and herping in mangrove forests, within the title “From Leuser to Mangrove.”
PHILOSOPHY OF SUMECO (SUMATRA ECOPROJECT)
We are here to try a new breakthrough by making conservation efforts with our own money. They are part of the money we earn from the profits of the ecotourism business that SUMECO has established in several places. SUMECO will not tell or claim that we are saving the earth; we prefer that we are aware that we live from ecotourism that requires forests and animals to remain sustainable and protected.
We will ensure that the ecotourism tour packages we offer will always be closely related and contribute directly to conservation efforts, such as animal rescue, public awareness of the importance of a protected environment, and most importantly, maintaining our seriousness in our commitment. Of course, this is not an easy thing to do, as realizing good conservation performance requires large finances, but we are still convinced that:
SUMECO was conceived in 2010, developed in 2012, and formally registered and established in 2014. Trying to make it happen was a lengthy journey. Naturally, it takes a lot of consistency to share the company’s income in order to keep the ecotourism business going, hiring staff, save animals, and support law enforcement. Since SUMECO was founded by me, Bobi Handoko, to spend some of my own money and demonstrate to the public that we are working, although on minor projects, it cannot be manipulated since it is not an NGO set up to solicit donations and grow its reputation only.
CONSERVATION, & ECOTOURISM THROUGH ETHICAL JUNGLE TREKKING IN BUKIT LAWANG
Wildlife-exploited tourism in Indonesia began in the 1980s. In reality, this tourism model was initiated to reduce the number of hunts that reduced the population of wild animals on a large scale; not a few even became extinct. Along with the development of technology, especially social media, tourism models such as the use of animals as tourist attractions or entertainment have begun to be abandoned for a breakthrough in tourism that is more ethical and more acceptable to those who have a high concern for animal welfare in the 2000s.
Even now it has arrived at a different phase again, SUMECO (Sumatra Ecoproject) which continues to learn and has a high environmental awareness has been able to see foreign tourists with a new perspective and one that is more directed towards wildlife conservation. This process has given birth to a new civilization in the world of tourism that promotes ecotourism with a high conservation background, making it very possible to save animals during the ecotourism activities.
The transition of modern society’s interests from general tourism or mass tourism to special interest tourism and conservation-based ecological tourism has been utilized by people who want to learn and adapt as an opportunity to increase wildlife conservation through ecotourism. Sustainable wildlife conservation based ecotourism development utilizes natural habitats with the aim of reaping several benefits, especially in terms of conservation, economy, education, and social and cultural development for the better future.