Kerumutan’s carbon rich peat-lands are some of the largest remaining
carbon reserves in the world, which make the forest a key defense
against climate change. The area is composed of 75% peat and 25% dry
marsh, with much of the area’s peat reaching deeper than 3 meters,
making it illegal to clear under Indonesian law.
Kerumutan is well known as a haven to the critically endangered
Sumatran Tigers, Sumatran Elephants and Orangutans, and is also habitat
to Sunbears, Hornbills, Long-Tailed Macaque, White Egrets, Arowana Fish,
Wild Ducks and Crocodiles, to name a few. The forest has also become a
destination for a variety of migratory birds, and has been recognized as
an Important Bird Area (IBA,) and an Endangered Bird Area (EBA.)
In addition to migrants from other parts of Sumatra, Java and the
Malay coast, the area around the forest is inhabited by certain
indigenous people, such as the Duanu Tribe and the Petalangan Tribe.
Government census puts the population of the Kerumutan Forest Reserve at
about 27,000 persons.
Kerumutan was established as part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Network in 2009.
Biosphere Reserves are globally considered as sites used for the
conservation of biological and cultural diversity and economic and
social development between people and nature. These sites are also used
to demonstrate innovative approaches to sustainable development, both
locally and internationally.
The forest consists of three main types of soil, and is therefore
divided into three areas: Kawasan Inti, or Core Region, covering about
93,000 hectares, Peat Protected Areas, currently covering 52,000
hectares, but which may potentially be expanded, and the Non-Core
Regions, a group of preserved forest ecosystems, covering 1,178,000
hectares.
Despite being a National Reserve, much of this area has been
designated towards industrial plantation development and the landscape
is actively being drained and cleared. Source: Indonesia Destination
