Gold miners breach a crucial refuge for rescued Sumatran orangutans

Illegal gold miners have breached the Jantho reintroduction forest in Indonesia's Aceh province, a site where nearly 200 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans have been released since 2011. Walhi's Aceh chapter estimates 14 hectares of the nature reserve were damaged by mining between 2023 and May 2026, a period in which gold prices more than doubled to over $4,600 an ounce.

Local activists and a coalition of 13 villages have demanded the government halt mining they say originates from the neighboring Tangse area, warning of mercury contamination in the Krueng Aceh river basin that supplies drinking water, irrigation, and fisheries. Community leader Darwin said residents have already struggled to catch fish or draw clean water.

A joint police, conservation, and forestry-ministry operation inspected the sites in June, confirming damage across three locations but finding no heavy machinery present. Officers instead posted warning signs and destroyed a mining encampment and some light equipment, while the broader Sumatran orangutan population — last formally assessed in 2017 at under 14,000 — continues to face habitat loss from logging, mining, and agriculture.

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