Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry is denying the Aceh Provincial government's proposal to rezone part of Mount Leuser National Park for geothermal development.  It's a major victory for environmentalists and the orangutan and rhino populations they're trying to protect.

Aceh's Governor Zaini Abdullah had teamed with Turkish developer Hitay Holdings to push the project, which would have covered up to 100 hectares of the 8,000 hectares that Mr. Abdullah had wanted rezoned.  They said that the project would help President Joko Widodo's plans to increase teh country's electrical generation by 35,000 megawatts.  But they met with opposition from a local senator and a former environment minister, plus the conservation groups Friends of the Earth Indonesia and Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh (HAkA).

"What they were seeking to develop is prime habitat for the Sumatran elephant, orangutan and tiger," said HAkA Chairperson Farwiza Farhan, who says the project would have been "devastating for the wildlife" - particularly for the critically endangered Sumatran Elephant.

The opponents appealed their case to President Joko-Wi; after that, the environment ministry informed Aceh that this project would not be happening.  Earlier this year, Widodo said Indonesia was preparing a moratorium on new mines and palm oil plantations - two top causes of deforestation.