The first Women Ranger Team in Aceh

The village, bordering the Leuser Ecosystem, recently became the location of a pioneering women initiative. Damaran Baru has formed the first women’s ranger team in Aceh! The village is surrounded by forests and sits on the foothills of a mountain. In 2015, the village was hit by devastating flash floods. Post-recovery, the village realized forests must be protected. Protecting the forest is often associated as “a man’s job”. Not in Damaran Baru, where women are leading initiatives to protect and manage their forest, and even obtained a Village Forest (Hutan Desa) permit from the MoEF of Indonesia. HAkA assisted Damaran Baru in their efforts to obtain the permit and formation of the women’s ranger team. The ranger team will patrol the forest for 5 days every month to collect illegal forest activities as well as biodiversity data. Women often feel the biggest impact from environmental loss and climate change, especially those living in rural areas. Empowering women to take part in forest protection and creating a positive impact against climate change is a step forward.