HAkA Foundation: Deforestation in Aceh Must Be Halted to End Recurrent Flooding. The environmental carrying capacity and capacity after the major floods of November 2025 will no longer be the same as before the floods. Currently, the carrying capacity and capacity in the affected areas are lower and weaker. Even with lower rainfall intensity than Tropical Cyclone Senyar, flooding can occur. Worse impacts are likely in the future.
Aceh, January 18, 2026 – The devastating floods that struck various regions in Aceh in late November 2025 were not an isolated event. This disaster was the result of ongoing ecological damage, primarily due to massive and prolonged deforestation. The loss of forest cover has disrupted the natural balance and eliminated the forests’ function as natural protection against hydrometeorological disasters.
Raja Mulkan, a Forest and Wildlife Campaigner for the HAkA Foundation, is calling for an end to deforestation as an urgent step to break the chain of disasters in Aceh. The “Stop Deforestation” campaign serves as a reminder that today’s forest destruction will lead to future suffering for communities.
This call is not only directed at the government and business actors, but also at all levels of society. Forest protection cannot be left to one party alone. Without collective awareness and the courage to stop forest destruction, Aceh will continue to face recurring ecological crises and the potential for them to worsen.
Aceh’s forests are the last remaining forest stronghold on the island of Sumatra, serving a strategic role as a life support system, a source of biodiversity, and a natural barrier against disasters. Losing them means losing protection, losing living space, and losing a future. Therefore, development must no longer come at the expense of forests, and policies that weaken environmental protection must be halted.
Raja Mulkan – Although Aceh has the largest forest area on the island of Sumatra, this does not guarantee that the region is free from hydrometeorological disasters. In fact, approximately 47 percent of Aceh’s land area is located on steep to very steep slopes. As a reflection, “Will the flood disasters we’ve experienced be able to prevent humans from further forest destruction?”
The current flooding should be a turning point for restructuring humanity’s relationship with nature. The HAkA Foundation encourages everyone to view forests not as mere commodities, but as determinants of the safety and sustainability of our shared lives.
Stop Deforestation Now. Save Aceh’s Forests. It’s Not Too Late! Stop Now. Save the Future.
Contact Person:
Forest, Nature And Environment Aceh Foundation
Email: rajamulkan@haka.or.id
