Spatial model of peatland fire control strategies through peat maturity level approach: Case Study of the Kepulauan Meranti District

Abstract

Tropical peatland in Indonesia is the largest in the world. Approximately 30% of the area potentially can be converted into agriculture and plantations. However, it is very susceptible to forest fires due to agricultural land preparation. The practice of burning forests is done because of some reasons namely fast, inexpensive, and produced ash that will fertilize the soil. The impact of land and forest fires is very large both in terms of economic, social, and environmental. Fires on peat lands consist of crown fire, surface fire, and ground fire which have a severe impact on environmental, social and economic impacts. In terms of management, it is also more difficult and longer time compares to fires on mineral land. The main objective of this paper is to use spatial modeling to provide an early warning system for forest fires on peat lands based on peat maturity level approaches. Physical data, which include the level of maturity, peat thickness, land unit, and land cover will be considered as an independent variable. Meranti Islands District, Riau Province is selected as a case area. The spatial analysis was carried out on physical aspects and the distribution of hotspots that had a level of confidence greater than 80%. The results showed that identification of potential fires through peat maturity levels, cannot be used optimally because peat areas that have different levels of maturity are not separate polygons or still in atribut form., The land cover of shrubs should be a major concern in the identification of potential fires.