The project impacts habitats with critically endangered species including the Tapanuli orangutan (the rarest great ape species in the world), Sumatran tiger and pangolin, among others.
The project will destroy primary tropical forests.
The project will dam the Batang Toru River, a free flowing river.
The project will impact areas with culturally significant, irreplaceable importance to traditional and indigenous communities, such as the Batak people.
The Batang Toru ecosystem can be considered an iconic ecosystem due to its superlative value as an irreplaceable in-situ conservation site for the Tapanuli orangutan and calls for it to be nominated as a World Heritage site.
The Batang Toru Hydropower project is located in one of the most biodiverse, primary forests left in North Sumatra. Notably, the project’s environmental impact assessment contained fundamental flaws and inaccurate information, including failing to recognize key critically endangered species such as the Tapanuli orangutan, which was only discovered in 2017. According to scientists, fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans are estimated to be left. This species has only been documented to live in the Batang Toru forest.
However, the dam’s location would essentially cut its remaining population areas into three smaller, unviable groups, which scientists have said would essentially doom the entire Tapanuli species to extinction. In addition to the Tapanuli orangutan, numerous other endangered species are located in this biodiversity hotspot, including the Sumatran tiger and pangolins, among others.
In addition to the biodiversity impacts, the Batang Toru Dam has triggered widespread opposition among local communities, including many indigenous and traditional communities who have lived in the area for generations. If the dam is developed, it would fundamentally shift the natural flow of the Batang Toru River and lead to loss of local livelihoods and farmlands. The project is also mired in legal and reputational problems. For instance, the EIA contained the alleged forged signature of an Indonesian scientist. The EIA also did not identify key endangered species put at risk by the project, such as the Tapanuli orangutan, as required by Indonesian law. Furthermore, in 2019 an Indonesian lawyer involved in the court case against the Batang Toru Dam died under strange conditions. Due to his longstanding and vocal opposition to the project, the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death are believed to be linked to his work advocating against the dam.
The various environmental, biodiversity, social, and reputational risks of this project have prompted banks such as Bank of China to re-consider their involvement in the project. Since 2017, WALHI, the largest and oldest environmental network in Indonesia, have called for the project to be cancelled due to its negative impacts, and banks should be extremely wary of investing in sensitive areas such as the Batang Toru ecosystem.
