Assessing costs of Indonesian fires and the benefits of restoring peatland

Deforestation and drainage has made Indonesian peatlands susceptible to burning. Large fires occur regularly, destroying agricultural crops and forest, emitting large amounts of CO2 and air pollutants, resulting in adverse health effects. In order to reduce fire, the Indonesian government has committed to restore 2.49 Mha of degraded peatland, with an estimated cost of US$3.2-7 billion. Here we combine fire emissions and land cover data to estimate the 2015 fires, the largest in recent years, resulted in economic losses totalling US$28 billion, whilst the six largest fire events between 2004 and 2015 caused a total of US$93.9 billion in economic losses. We estimate that if restoration had already been completed, the area burned in 2015 would have been reduced by 6%, reducing CO2 emissions by 18%, and PM2.5 emissions by 24%, preventing 12,000 premature mortalities. Peatland restoration could have resulted in economic savings of US$8.4 billion for 2004–2015, making it a cost-effective strategy for reducing the impacts of peatland fires to the environment, climate and human health.

Peatland Community Attitudes towards Conservation and Restoration Programs in Pelalawan, Riau, Indonesia

One of the priority areas for restoration and conservation of peatland after the 2015 fires in Riau is Pelalawan District. The community attitude around peatland will affect the success of conservation and restoration activities carried out by the government together with the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG). This research aims to determine the community attitude around peatland toward conservation and restoration programs using a descriptive method with a qualitative approach. The total number of respondents is 45 communities spread over two subdistricts in Pelalawan, Riau. The location determination was carried out by purposive sampling where two sub-districts were selected, the Bunut sub-district representing the mainland peatland area and the Pelalawan sub-district representing the coastal peatland area. The main results of this research indicate that conservation and restoration of peatland such as the establishment of Fire Concerned Community (MPA), the existence of re-vegetation, canal blocking as form of re-wetting, and re-vitalization of livelihoods in Pelalawan, Riau obtain a positive response from the community along with it, community participation programs organized by the government. This research shows to the public that local peatland communities have awareness and understanding of the importance of protecting peatland area ecosystem.

Village Fund for Peatlands Restoration: Study of Community’s Perceived Challenges and Opportunities in Muaro Jambi District

Peatlands conversion to dryland for plantation has caused environmental havoc and is more prone to natural disasters in Indonesia. Community engagements under village administration should be the main strategy for supporting peatlands restoration. Since the new law on villages was enacted in 2014, the village has gained authority and delegated responsibilities from the upper-level government to make rural development decisions in various sectors, including those connected to environmental management, such as peatland restoration. The recognition of authority is followed by the transfer of significant funds, called village funds, from the central government as a form of commitment to undertake the village law. Currently, applied regulations allow community engagement to utilize the village fund for supporting peatland restoration. This study investigated the community's perceptions of village fund utilization for peatland restoration through in-depth interviews and questionnaires with site-level stakeholders that influence village budget allocation-related policies. The investigated aspects included village budgeting and development planning mechanism, the capacity of the community, and rules of district government in supervising the villages. Based on our findings, the identified challenges include the absence of environmental aspects as a part of village development pillars for developing village planning and budgeting, lack of community's environmental-economical nexus knowledge, and lack of district government in supervising village fund utilization and management at the site-level. However, the opportunities to direct the village fund utilization for peatlands restoration are widely open by strengthening the roles of district government to improve village fund governance at the site level.

Opportunities and challenges for land use-based peatland restoration in Kayu Labu Village, South Sumatra, Indonesia

Restoration of degraded peatland has proven to be complex and many activities that have been initiated in recent years have not had a significant impacted on restoring peatland condition. Revitalization activities that have been carried out in several locations have not been effective. Likewise, rewetting actions were often poorly understood by the community. This research aimed to analyze land use-based peatland restoration opportunities and challenges in Kayu Labu village, South Sumatra. Survey methods and interviews with the stakeholders were applied to collect primary data in the field. The results showed that although Kayu Labu has been designated as one of the focus villages for restoration by the Peatland Restoration Agency, the restoration efforts to date have not significantly impacted on people’s lives. The community has not widely known the implementation of the programs, and only those who were directly involved in the activities were aware of the peatland restoration program. Several opportunities are available to support the implementation of land use-based peatland restoration in Kayu Labu: the community has a strong willingness and commitment to restore their peatlands because they have suffered badly from peatland fires in the past. The community also acknowledges the loss of their livelihoods due to peatland degradation, especially for purun craftsmen, gelam collectors, and fishers. There are also opportunities from government and research programs to be implemented in this area to support peatland restoration. However, there are still challenges that must be faced: the increasingly massive expansion of oil palm plantations by clearing the peatlands, the lack of knowledge about peatland, and there is a general feeling from the community that without peatland their lives would be better off because they could grow diverse crops with higher yields. Therefore, capacity building, communication and knowledge enhancement, and partnerships are needed for the success of land use-based peatland restoration in Kayu Labu.

Market development of local peatland commodities to support successful peatland restoration

Peatland degradation and community livelihood are often driven by market forces. Successful peatland restoration including community livelihood improvement programs is therefore highly correlated with market development of various local peatland commodities that are introduced to replace fire-using farming activities. However, since the development of local peatland commodities is often under subsistence marketplaces, investigation of their market is not attractive and has received little attention. This paper investigates the market structure of the local peatland commodities developed by the local community under peatland livelihood programs using Rapid Market Appraisal (RMA) technique and market structure analysis to quickly draw challenges and opportunities of market development of peatland commodities. We also analyze a business model applied by the local community, particularly their strategy to adapt to market dynamics and to secure market competition. The information is essential to serve as a basis for formulating appropriate interventions needed to develop a more established market of local peatland commodities, which as a consequence will prevent peat forest conversion. The investigation finds that at least three types of peatland commodity market structures are evolving in the research site. Each of them has different challenges and needs different interventions to make the livelihood programs more sustainable. Meanwhile, the local community is more oriented towards sales than the marketing of peatland products. They have not prepared a specific strategy yet to adapt to and win the dynamic market competition. It needs significant efforts to change its business culture if relevant stakeholders intend to develop the local peatland commodity market as a part of peatland restoration and community livelihood improvement programs.

Restoration of Degraded Tropical Peatland in Indonesia: A Review

Tropical peatlands are fragile ecosystems with an important role in conserving biodiversity, water quality and availability, preventing floods, soil intrusion, erosion and sedimentation, and providing a livelihood for people. However, due to illegal logging, fire and conversion into other land use, the peatlands in Indonesia are under serious threat. Efforts to restore Indonesia’s tropical peatlands have been accelerated by the establishment of the Peatland Restoration Agency in early 2016. The restoration action policy includes the rewetting, revegetation and revitalisation of local livelihood (known as the 3Rs). This paper summarises the regulatory, institutional and planning aspects of peatland restoration, in addition to the implementation of the 3Rs in Indonesia, including failures, success stories, and the criteria and indicators for the success of peatland restoration.

Economic ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION PROGRAM in ACHIEVING THE HAZE-FREE ASEAN TARGET 2020 by THE RIAU PROVINCE’S PEATLAND RESTORATION AGENCY

This study analyses the implementation of good governance principles for the economic revitalization program under Riau Province’s Badan Restorasi Gambut (Peatland Restoration Agency) supervision. One of the aims of this program is to support the haze-free ASEAN 2020 roadmap. Riau province is an area prone to forest fire disasters. Its peatland area, which is twice as large as Malaysia’s peatland, have a very high potential for damage due to forest fires. To mitigate the damages, BRG initiated the 3R program: Rewetting, Revegetation, and Revitalization. What makes this topic interesting is BRG emphasizes the aspects of economic empowerment of local communities to prevent further forest and peatland damages. To assess the implementation of BRG’s program, our research team conducted several interviews with representatives from Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, NGOs, academics, farmers, and villages’ facilitators who assisted local communities that received the BRG’s assistance packages. Our study shows that BRG’s economic revitalization program had succeeded in creating small scale economic activities such as honey industry, pineapple farming, and catfish farming. However, the ineffective coordination and communication between BRG and the local communities had prevented them from constructing an effective method to prevent future forest fires.

THE PEATLAND RESTORATION AGENCY’S ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION PROGRAM IN ACHIEVING THE TRANSBOUNDARY HAZE-FREE ASEAN 2020 IN RIAU PROVINCE

This study analyses the implementation of good governance principles for the economic revitalization program under the supervision of Riau Province’s Badan Restorasi Gambut (Peatland Restoration Agency). One of the aims of this program is to support the haze-free ASEAN 2020 roadmap. Riau province is an area prone to forest fire disasters. Its peatland area, which is larger than Malaysia’s total peatlands, have a very high potential for damage due to forest fires. To mitigate the damages, BRG initiated the 3R program: Rewetting, Revegetation, and Revitalization. What makes this topic interesting is BRG emphasizes the aspects of economic empowerment of local communities to prevent further forest and peatland damages. To assess the implementation of BRG’s program, our research team conducted several interviews with representatives from Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, NGOs, academics, farmers, and villages’ facilitators who assisted local communities that received the BRG’s assistance packages. Our study shows that BRG’s economic revitalization program had succeeded in creating small scale economic activities such as honey industry, pineapple farming, and catfish farming. However, the ineffective coordination and communication between BRG and the local communities had prevented them from constructing an effective method to prevent future forest fires.

Integrating ecological, social and policy aspects to develop peatland restoration strategies in Orang Kayo Hitam Forest Park, Jambi, Indonesia

Wulandari C, Novriyanti N, Iswandaru D. 2021. Integrating ecological, social and policy aspects to develop peatland restoration strategies in Orang Kayo Hitam Forest Park, Jambi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 4158-4168. Peatlands play an essential role in delivering various ecosystem services, yet in many areas in Indonesia, peat forests have been deforested, degraded, and threatened by repeated fires. As such, restoration efforts need to be done. But these require various considerations, including ecological aspects such as type degradation conditions, water table, species selected for planting, and climates, socio-economic aspects like community's involvement, and policy aspects such as regulations and institutions at national and local levels. This study aimed to analyze peatland restoration strategies in Orang Kayo Hitam (OKH) Forest Park, Jambi using the Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, and Opportunities (SWOT) framework. The analysis was done by integrating multiple aspects such as policy, biodiversity conservation, and surrounding community participation. Data were collected using virtual ethnographic techniques due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key informants (i.e., OKH Forest Park Unit area managers, NGOs, staff of national government, and university academics) and selected respondents were interviewed to identify and determine factors considered as internal (i.e., Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (i.e., Threats and Opportunities). This qualitative data was then analyzed using a SWOT approach through the IFE (Internal Factor Evaluation) and EFE (External Factor Evaluation) Matrix. The research findings showed that from 12 internal factors and 11 external factors, efforts to restore peatland ecosystems in Orang Kayo Hitam (OKH) Forest Park had obtained very strong values in the biodiversity aspect. The SWOT matrix analysis showed values of S-W = 0.43 and O-T = 0.16 positioned in quadrant I. This result suggests that the most powerful strategies can be developed aggressively from the factors of strengths and opportunities.