Forest Carbon and EUDR in Aceh

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

Forest carbon in Aceh: Leuser and Ulu Masen forests, Tripa peat, Gayo coffee and palm oil, which project types fit and where EUDR exposure sits.

Aceh still holds some of the largest continuous rainforest in Sumatra, centred on the Leuser Ecosystem and the Ulu Masen forest block, which makes it a strong candidate for avoided-deforestation (REDD+) and peat projects. Its EUDR exposure comes mainly from Gayo arabica coffee in the central highlands and from oil palm on the coastal lowlands.

Forest and land cover profile

Aceh sits at the northern tip of Sumatra. The Bukit Barisan range runs down its spine, so the province moves quickly from coastal plains to lowland dipterocarp forest, then hill and montane forest above roughly 1,000 metres. Gunung Leuser National Park, shared with North Sumatra, is part of the UNESCO Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra and is one of the few places where orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos still share a landscape. The wider Leuser Ecosystem extends well beyond the park boundary into production and protection forest, and that unprotected edge is where most pressure falls.

Ulu Masen in the north-west is the other large forest block. It is mostly upland and protection forest that feeds the rivers used by Banda Aceh and the west coast districts.

Peat and mangroves

Aceh has deep peat swamps on its west and south-west coast. Tripa, in Nagan Raya and Aceh Barat Daya, and the Rawa Singkil wildlife reserve are the best known. Both have seen drainage for oil palm, and drained peat emits carbon continuously and burns easily. These areas fit peat rewetting and avoided peat conversion; see peatland REDD+ for how such projects are structured.

Mangroves line parts of the east and north coasts. Many coastal belts were replanted after the 2004 tsunami, with mixed survival. Restoring degraded mangrove and abandoned fish ponds is a realistic blue carbon option, though individual sites are usually small.

Main commodities and deforestation drivers

• Coffee. The Gayo highlands (Central Aceh, Bener Meriah and Gayo Lues) are one of Indonesia’s best-known arabica origins, grown mostly by smallholders under shade trees.
• Oil palm. Estates and smallholder palm dominate the east coast lowlands and have expanded into the west coast peat.
• Rubber and cocoa. Smallholder rubber persists in the lowlands; cocoa is grown in Pidie, Bireuen and neighbouring districts.
• Other crops such as patchouli and areca are locally important but are not EUDR commodities.

The main drivers of forest loss are smallholder and estate oil palm expansion, road building through the Leuser Ecosystem, small-scale logging and mining permits in the uplands. Our drivers of deforestation guide covers how these interact across Sumatra.

Which carbon project types fit

For new removals, VM0047 is the current Verra ARR methodology. Shade-tree planting on coffee farms often works better as a grouped project; see coffee agroforestry carbon.

EUDR exposure

Coffee is Aceh’s largest EUDR exposure by value. Gayo arabica moves through collectors, cooperatives and processors before export, and many farms are under 4 hectares, so a geolocation point is enough for each plot, though polygons are still useful evidence. The harder issue is that some coffee gardens sit inside or next to forest estate (kawasan hutan). Plots that were cleared from forest after 31 December 2020 cannot supply the EU, and plots inside forest estate face a legality question. Read EUDR and coffee for the full obligations.

Palm oil and rubber from Aceh carry the usual EUDR risks: mixed smallholder supply, collection through middlemen and incomplete plot registration. Mass balance is not accepted, so segregated or identity-preserved supply is needed.

Social forestry and customary land

Aceh has strong customary institutions. The mukim (a federation of villages) and the panglima uteun, a customary forest guardian role, are recognised in provincial law. Village forests (hutan desa) and community forests (hutan kemasyarakatan) have been granted under the national social forestry programme.

Permenhut 6/2026 names social forestry groups and customary communities as legitimate participants in forestry carbon trading. That gives Aceh’s forest-edge villages a clear route in, but projects must still secure free, prior and informed consent and fair benefit sharing. See social forestry carbon.

Practical next steps

Start by mapping each candidate area against forest estate status, peat depth and the primary forest moratorium map, then check land cover history back at least ten years. Our feasibility and eligibility service covers this screening. For exporters, the EUDR readiness check is a quick way to see where Gayo coffee supply chains fall short. West Sumatra, further down the Bukit Barisan range, shares many of the same highland agroforestry questions, and the forest carbon hub explains the project types in more depth.