Their former hero recently gave a palm oil company a permit to develop land in one of the few places on earth where orangutans, tigers and bears still can be found living side-by-side – violating Indonesia's new moratorium on concessions in primary forests and peatlands.

"Why would he agree to this?" said Ibduh, a 50-year village chief, days after filing a criminal complaint against Aceh Gov. Irwandi Yusuf. "It's not just about the animals," he said, men around him nodding. "Us too. Our lives are ruined if this goes through."

Irwandi – a former rebel whose life story is worthy of a Hollywood film – maintains the palm oil concession is by the book and that he would never do anything to harm his province.

But critics say there is little doubt he broke the law. The charges against him illustrate the challenges facing countries like Indonesia in their efforts to fight climate change by protecting the world's tropical jungles – which would spit more carbon when burned than planes, automobiles and factories combined.

Ibduh, the village chief, sits on the floor of a house rolling a cigarette as he and other men try to understand why – after years of stalling – Irwandi agreed on Aug. 25 to give P.T. Kallista Alam a permit to convert 4,000 acres of peat swamp forest in the heart of the renowned Leuser Ecosytem.

In addition to being home to almost every large animal found in Disney's adaptation of "The Jungle Book," it's teeming with thousands of plant and insect species, many yet to be identified.

Irwandi says there's nothing amiss with the concession. "I know what I have to do for the people of Aceh," the 51-year-old says, alleging that political opponents in coming provincial elections are trying to turn the tide against him. But Ahmad Fauzi Mas'ud, spokesman for the Forestry Ministry, agrees with critics. "We haven't received the documents for this license yet," he said. "But if it's inside peatland, it can't be converted."