Stretching across the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, Gunung Leuser National Park is one of Indonesia’s earliest established national parks and a cornerstone of conservation on the island of Sumatra. Encompassing more than 830,000 hectares of tropical rainforest within the Bukit Barisan, the park forms part of a vast and continuous forest landscape that is critical for ecological stability in northern Sumatra.
Gunung Leuser National Park holds global significance as the last remaining habitat where four of Sumatra’s largest terrestrial mammals coexist: the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran elephant, and Sumatran orangutan. These species are central to Indonesia’s conservation priorities and serve as indicators of the health of the broader ecosystem. Reflecting its exceptional biodiversity and ecological value, the park has been designated as a Biosphere Reserve and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites under the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.
As the largest remaining forest block in northern Sumatra, the broader Leuser Landscape faces a range of ongoing challenges. Pressures such as land conversion for plantations and settlements, illegal logging, and agricultural encroachment continue to threaten habitat integrity. At the same time, the park’s rich biodiversity makes it vulnerable to poaching, which poses risks to already endangered wildlife populations.
In response to these challenges, Wildlife Conservation Society Indonesia Program works in close collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry to support the management of the national park and its surrounding buffer zones. A key component of this effort is wildlife population monitoring, conducted through the use of camera traps. The data generated provides an evidence base for developing and refining conservation strategies. In parallel, the program supports routine patrols using the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, with a focus on strengthening the capacity of park management teams and enhancing field-based guidance.
Recognizing that conservation outcomes are closely linked to community dynamics, efforts also address human–wildlife interactions in areas surrounding the park. In buffer zone villages, instances of livestock predation by Sumatran tigers have highlighted the need for practical mitigation measures. To reduce these conflicts, WCS Indonesia supports the construction of tiger-proof enclosures and facilitates the establishment of community-based task forces dedicated to managing human–wildlife conflict.
Through these integrated and collaborative approaches, Gunung Leuser National Park continues to represent a critical landscape where biodiversity conservation, institutional strengthening, and community engagement are advanced together to ensure the long-term sustainability of one of Indonesia’s most important ecosystems.