Activism Leonardo DiCaprio: Action Of Hollywood Actor Criticism Of Forest Damage In Indonesia

Leonardo DiCaprio when he invited all Indonesian people and the world to save the Leuser ecosystem. (Instagram/@Leonardodicaprio)

JAKARTA - No one doubts the poor exploitation of forests in Indonesia. Take for example in Gunung Leuser National Park. Entrepreneurs with large capital compete to do business in Leuser. Some are in the palm oil business. There are also those who want to exploit geothermal energy.

As a result, animals such as orangutans, elephants, and tigers are threatened with extinction. This fact made Leonardo DiCaprio furious. Hollywood actors who are also humanitarian activists then come to Sumatra Island. He is increasingly concerned about forest damage in Gunung Leuser National Park.

The Gunung Leuser National Park area on the island of Sumatra is often considered the best Indonesian forest that still remains. The national park's argument brought blessings to flora and fauna. Leuser is home to tigers, orangutans, elephants, and rhinos.

The national park is also a source of welfare for Acehnese. All because there are at least five districts near the South Aceh National Park, Aceh Singkil, Subulussalam, Southeast Aceh, and Gayo Lues.

The blessing brought the Gunung Leuser National Park recognized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO as a world heritage. This means that the National Park is not only a development for the people of Aceh, but also all Indonesian people.

Problems arise. The opening of excess land for palm oil is a bad trend. National park land was annexed. As a result, the Leuser forest area was badly damaged. The signator of the damage began to be seen in the 2010s.

Many animals such as tigers and orangutans began to descend into residential areas. This condition is like proving that Leuser's condition is not doing well. Slowly Leuser, who is considered to have the most complete flora and fauna in Indonesia, was disturbed.

The forest is blocked. This condition made the forest area of Leuser get a lot of attention from the international community. The Indonesian government has been heavily criticized. Conflicts in forest exploitation have created conflicts between humans and animals. Not to mention the government plans to grant permission for large projects. Even if it doesn't happen.

Taman Nasional ini lolos dari dua proyek besar: Ladia Galaska dan Panas Bumi. Ladia Galaska merupakan proyek pembangunan jalan yang menghubungkan Aceh bagian barat hingga tidur. Berkat perusakan dari banyak pihak, proyek pembangunan jalan itu terlalu. Proyek kedua adalah pengembangan panas bumi di dalam park nasional.

The project is based on field surveys and studies, the geothermal content in this park is very large. One private company is attracting investment. Moreover, power plants from geothermal include environmentally friendly energy. This is the dilemma. One side wants to maintain forests. On the other hand, want renewable energy," said Pungky Widiaryanto in the book Indonesian National Park: Permata Warisan Bangsa (2021).

Environmental damage in Gunung Leuser National Park cannot be silenced. News of land clearing for massive palm oil and disrupting the Leuser ecosystem to the vicinity of Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor who is also a humanitarian activist plans to come to Indonesia.

Leo's arrival to Indonesia brought a stir. Instead of spending a lot of vacation time like tourists in general, he scheduled a direct visit to Sumatra Island on March 26-27 2016. Two otherminton actors, Adrien Brody and Fisher total also joined the Conservation Response Unit (CRU) Serbajadi, East Aceh Regency, Aceh.

Leo and his friends want to see firsthand the Sumatran elephant whose life has begun to be disrupted by the opening of oil palm land in Gunung Leuser National Park. Leo tries to understand firsthand how the conflict between humans and elephants is because forests are starting to damage.

After that, the star of the filmANG went to the Quarantine Center of the Orang Utan in Sibolangit, North Sumatra. He saw the existence of orangutans who began to decline there while witnessing the damage to the forest due to land clearing. Leo was angry with the arbitrary act of the authorities who gave permission to open the land.

He appealed to all parties to maintain the Leuser National Park so that it would not get worse. He asked the leader of Indonsia Joko Widodo to take important action to save the Leuser ecosystem.

As a center of world-class biodiversity, the Leuser Indonesia Ecosystem is one of the most important fully rainy forest areas left in Southeast Asia. The forest is home to the most populous population of endangered Sumatran orangutans.

However, the expansion of oil palm plantations destroyed this unique place. Now is the time to save the Leuser Ecosystem. We must develop a permanent solution to protect and restore this valuable natural asset," Leo said via his Instagram account @leonardodicaprio, March 29, 2016.

Instead of getting attention from the Indonesian government, Leo's issue was threatened with deportation by the power of attorney because it was noisy to emerge. Leo while disturbing national stability. This condition is because Leo came to Indonesia as a tourist, but there were noisy criticisms and threats from the government.

The issue of deportation has recently been denied by the government. Leo is considered not to have violated immigration rules. However, the emergence of the issue of delinquency has made criticism to the government. They consider the damage to the ecosystem in Leuser to be closely related to the government's failure to protect the environment.

The threat of deportation doesn't make sense, because Leo has been home since last week. As long as Leo is in Indonesia, there has never been a threat of deportation. He did come as a tourist, then is it wrong for a tourist to want to support the local community movement to preserve the environment."

"Any tourists can come and express their opinion. When Leo arrived in Medan alone, he was confused because the smoke was so thick and he asked, is this smoke or clouds?" said the head of the Aceh Forest, Nature and Environment Foundation (HAKA), Farwiza Farhan as quoted by the Indonesian BBC page, April 1, 2016.