International notoriety around the plan to undermine Leuser's protected status increased earlier this year when actor Leonardo DiCaprio visited the area and was threatened with deportation after calling for its conservation on social media. The rainforest was featured in DiCaprio's recent documentary about climate change, Before the Flood.

Aceh governor Zaini Abdullah's administration has characterized the protected status as an imposition from Jakarta that undermines the province's right to develop. The plaintiffs argued that the Aceh government had broken the law by failing both to obtain Jakarta's approval for the plan and to legitimately consult with the public before pushing it through. Conservation groups such as the Nature and Environment of Aceh (HAkA) say the forest is home two four endangered species of orangutans, rhinos, elephants and tigers. The group pledged to appeal the decision. (Jurist, Nov. 30; Mongabay, Nov. 29)

For those of us who were rooting for the Aceh rebels before the 2005 peace deal, this is especially painful news. The local autonomy instated by the deal seems to have been usurped by clerical reactionaries—although Aceh merely appears to be emulating Malaysia. Or Brunei, where the sultan's new implementation of extreme sharia measures has sparked celebrity protests in Hollywood over his ownership of a posh Beverly Hills hotel. Celebrity activists are also calling for Brunei to be iced from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. (Politico, May 7) This should give pause to advocates of a "peace-for-sharia" deal in Pakistan and Afghanistan…