Indonesian Environment Ministry reject opening National Park for geothermal project

Indonesian Environment Ministry reject opening National Park for geothermal
project

Indonesia's Ministry for the Environment has denied a proposal by provincial
government for Aceh to rezone parts of a national park, which would have
allowed geothermal development to move ahead.

With insufficient electricity available to meet demand, the province of Aceh
in Indonesia is trying to see development of energy projects moving ahead.
Last month, the governor of the province asked the Indonesian government to
rezone part of a national park for geothermal development.

The country's Ministry for the Environment has now denied the Aceh
provincial government's proposal to rezone part of Mount Leuser National
Park for geothermal development, reacting to opposition from
conservationists who argued the project would threaten key Orang Utan and
Rhino populations.

The ministry's director for protected areas told local news that the
ministry had rejected a letter from Aceh Governor Zaini Abdullah asking that
a section of the park's "core zone" be changed to a "utilization zone" so
that a Turkish company, Hitay Holdings, could develop geothermal there.

"The minister received the letter but from socialization and [public]
consultation, the result was disagreement with the rezoning, so that's that.
[The plan] stops there," Tachrir Fathoni told Mongabay last week on the
sidelines of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Honolulu.

The project would have covered 50-100 hectares of land, but Abdullah had
asked for the rezoning of nearly 8,000 hectares in the Kappi Plateau, where
hundreds of critically endangered Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus
sumatrensis) live.

The House of Representatives would have also had to sign off on any proposal
to rezone a national park, Fathoni added.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Ref:
http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/indonesian-environment-ministry-reject-opening
-national-park-for-geothermal-project/?utm_source=ThinkGeoEnergy+List&utm_ca
mpaign=2ff5f171fd-TGE_Newsletter_RSS1_12_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65
7e42f767-2ff5f171fd-415237525

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com