Sumatra often appears in old stories as a place overflowing with natural wealth. A land wrapped in gold, at least in the eyes of travelers and ancient civilizations that wrote about a shining island far across the sea. That image feels heavier now, because the same island once praised for its blessings is facing deep sorrow.
Floods have swept through Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra since late November. Many lives were lost. Countless homes vanished under water. Families now struggle through days filled with uncertainty. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya explained that this disaster was not shaped by weather alone. Environmental destruction played a part too, a factor that worsened the impact of the storms. His words were clear: “So the cause of this disaster has become a concern and apart from extreme weather, there is also the factor of environmental damage that made the disaster worse.”
For centuries, different cultures painted Sumatra as a treasure island. Ancient Indian texts spoke of Suvarnabhumi. Greek and Roman writers during the first century described a golden land near the equator. Chinese records from the Ming Dynasty called San Fo Tjai a place filled with gold. Each story pointed to a region where the soil itself held precious metal.
Explorers in the 15th century confirmed these legends when they discovered that the golden island told in countless tales was in fact Sumatra. Historian O.W. Wolters, in The Fall and Rise of Sriwijaya in the 3rd-7th Centuries (2017), considered these ancient records as evidence of Southeast Asia’s long-standing reputation as a source of gold.
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Colonial documents supported that image as well. William Marsden wrote in The History of Sumatra (1811) that Padang received around 283 kilograms of gold from 1,200 interior mines in the 19th century. Denys Lombard, through his work The Kingdom of Aceh (1986), noted that Aceh had around 300 mines producing gold of remarkable purity. Some European accounts even described Aceh’s soil as if it could produce lumps of gold.
This wealth encouraged the Dutch colonial government to expand mining activities. They mapped major locations such as Batang Gadis in West Sumatra and Lebong in Bengkulu. These regions were already known for pepper and spices, but they also held some of the earliest colonial-era gold mines.
Mining successes pushed the colonial administration to cut deeper into Sumatra’s forests. The volcanic formations of Bukit Barisan, rich in andesite, lava, and tuff, carried large clusters of primary and secondary gold deposits. That geological richness became the starting point of widespread forest decline.
After independence, the consequences showed themselves. One of the significant events happened in 1953 when Aceh was hit by a major flood. It took many lives, destroyed homes, and damaged infrastructure. A report from de Locomotief on 3 February 1953 stated: “Authorities explained that this major flood occurred because forests and mountains around Aceh Besar had been heavily logged by residents who ignored government warnings.”
Today, Sumatra’s blessing has turned into a warning. Palm oil plantations now cover areas once protected by natural forests. These plantations do not hold water the way native ecosystems do. Alleged mining and illegal logging also continue, creating weak points across the landscape. Each of these pressures increases the island’s vulnerability, leaving communities exposed to disasters that grow more severe with every passing year.
