Towards sustainable management of Indonesian tropical peatlands

Saritha Kittie Uda,Lars Hein,Elham Sumarga

doi:10.1007/s11273-017-9544-0

Abstract

Large areas of Indonesian peatlands have been converted for agricultural and plantation forest purposes. This requires draining with associated CO2 emissions and fire risks. In order to identify alternative management regimes for peatlands, it is important to understand the sustainability of different peatland uses as well as the economic benefits peatlands supply under different land uses. This study explores the key sustainability issues in Indonesian peatlands, the ecosystem services supplied by peatlands, and potential responses to promote more sustainable peatland use. A literature review and spatial analysis were conducted. Based on predominantly government data, we estimate the amount of Indonesian peatlands that has been converted between 2000 and 2014. We quantify increases in oil palm and plantation forest crop production in this period, and we analyse key sustainability issues, i.e. peat fires and smoke-haze, soil subsidence and flood risk, CO2 emissions, loss of habitat (in protected areas), and social conflicts that influence sustainability of Indonesian peatlands management. Among others we show that CO2 emissions from peatlands in Indonesia can be estimated at between 350 and 400 million ton CO2 per year, and that encroachment of oil palm and plantation forestry (acacia, rubber) has taken place on 28% of protected areas. However, as we examine, the uncertainties involved are substantial. Based on our findings, we distil several implications for the management of the peatlands.

Highlights

In the last twenty years, large areas of Indonesian peatland have been converted, mainly into agricultural lands for estate crop production, and plantation forest areas for pulp production (Rehman et al 2014; Gunarso et al 2013; Miettinen et al 2011; Koh et al 2011; Murdiyarso et al 2010)
We acknowledge that there are many more ecosystem services provided by Indonesian peatlands but due to a lack of data we focus on the aforementioned services
We present the results of our spatial analysis on peatland use and ecosystem services as well as our literature review on sustainability issues related to Indonesian peatlands

Summary

Introduction

In the last twenty years, large areas of Indonesian peatland have been converted, mainly into agricultural lands for estate crop production, and plantation forest areas for pulp production (Rehman et al 2014; Gunarso et al 2013; Miettinen et al 2011; Koh et al 2011; Murdiyarso et al 2010) This conversion brought short-term economic gains, but poses major environmental and economic risks, resulting from health and economic damages due to peat fires, soil subsidence potentially leading to flooding of millions of hectares of coastal peat lands in the course of the decades, the very large CO2 emissions from burning and oxidising peat, and from the loss of globally significant biodiversity contained in natural peat swamp forests (Wosten et al 2008; Page et al 2011; Joosten et al 2009; Turetsky et al 2015; Hooijer et al 2012). This may increase the chance for a transition to sustainability

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion