With its two mountain ranges and widely varying habitats the Leuser Ecosystem provides many ecological functions or services, the most important of which is a constant supply of water to the surrounding regions and the regulation of local climate. Other services include the mitigation of erosion and flash floods, the prevention of pest outbreaks, carbon sequestration (for global climate regulation),

natural beauty and spectacular biodiversity (for tourism), hydropower potential, germ plasm (for horticulture), pollination of commercially important crops, airborne dust filtration (leading to soil fertility) etc.

These ecological services sustain and support development in the areas that surround the Leuser Ecosystem – the home to approximately four million people. Water for instance is a vital for both agriculture and industry, as well as domestic needs.

The Leuser Ecosystem is an essential life support system for Aceh and North Sumatra. Its ecological services have been valued at 600 million dollars per year. Protecting these forests and the three peat swamps that lie along the Leuser Ecosystem’s western side would also alleviate the build up of CO2 in the atmosphere.