Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

Mark E Harrison ,I Nyoman Sudyana ,Alue Dohong ,Shari Mang ,Juliarta Bramansa Ottay ,Laura D'arcy ,Caroline Upton ,Simon J Husson ,Eduarda M Santos ,Sara Thornton ,Siti Maimunah Soebagio ,Bernat Ripoll Capilla ,Ted R Feldpausch ,Claire M Belcher ,Rudy Priyanto ,Yunsiska Ermiasi ,Viola Schreer ,Adib Gunawan ,Supardi Bin Bakeri Taman ,Helen C Morrogh‐Bernard ,Angela Gallego‐Sala ,Susan Page ,Ici P Kulu ,Andrea Höing ,Susan M Cheyne ,Serge A Wich ,Lydia Cole ,Anggodo ,Lina M Mercado ,Lucy Rowland ,F J Frank Van Veen

doi:10.1002/pan3.10060

Abstract

Abstract Tropical forests and peatlands provide important ecological, climate and socio‐economic benefits from the local to the global scale. However, these ecosystems and their associated benefits are threatened by anthropogenic activities, including agricultural conversion, timber harvesting, peatland drainage and associated fire. Here, we identify key challenges, and provide potential solutions and future directions to meet forest and peatland conservation and restoration goals in Indonesia, with a particular focus on Kalimantan. Through a round‐table, dual‐language workshop discussion and literature evaluation, we recognized 59 political, economic, legal, social, logistical and research challenges, for which five key underlying factors were identified. These challenges relate to the 3Rs adopted by the Indonesian Peatland Restoration Agency (Rewetting, Revegetation and Revitalization), plus a fourth R that we suggest is essential to incorporate into (peatland) conservation planning: Reducing Fires. Our analysis suggests that (a) all challenges have potential for impact on activities under all 4Rs, and many are inter‐dependent and mutually reinforcing, implying that narrowly focused solutions are likely to carry a higher risk of failure; (b) addressing challenges relating to Rewetting and Reducing Fire is critical for achieving goals in all 4Rs, as is considering the local socio‐political situation and acquiring local government and community support; and (c) the suite of challenges faced, and thus conservation interventions required to address these, will be unique to each project, depending on its goals and prevailing local environmental, social and political conditions. With this in mind, we propose an eight‐step adaptive management framework, which could support projects in both Indonesia and other tropical areas to identify and overcome their specific conservation and restoration challenges. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Highlights

Tropical forests and peatlands provide globally important ecological and climate benefits, plus national to local scale socio‐economic ben‐ efits for people in countries such as Indonesia
The original idea and content outline for this paper originated at a workshop convened by the University of Exeter (UoE) and Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF), which was held at the UoE’s Cornwall campus, UK, on 18–19 October 2017 (Harrison & van Veen, 2017)
With the exception of 2016 and 2017, when wetter conditions prevailed and fire incidence was subsequently reduced in Indonesia (MoEF, 2018a), recent histor‐ ical trends relating to forest and peatland loss and degradation in the region are not encouraging with regard to the overall effectiveness of interventions implemented to date (Gaveau, Sloan, et al, 2014; Miettinen et al, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Tropical forests and peatlands provide globally important ecological and climate benefits, plus national to local scale socio‐economic ben‐ efits for people in countries such as Indonesia. The Indonesian gov‐ ernment recognizes 149,056 km of peatland in the country, with ex‐ tensive deposits covering both remote areas and neighbouring major population centres on its three largest islands (Kalimantan: 28–‐32% of the total Indonesian peatland area; Sumatra: 34%–43%; Papua: 25%–38%; Warren, Hergoualc’h, Kauffman, Murdiyarso, & Kolka, 2017) These forests store vast amounts of carbon locked away in their trees and peat, with the Indonesia peat carbon store estimated to range between 13.6 and 57.4 Gt (Page, Rieley, & Banks, 2011; Warren et al, 2017). Peatlands deliver numerous import‐ ant ecosystem services to local people, including maintaining air and water quality, providing timber and non‐timber forest resources, and supporting fish populations for local consumption (Dommain et al, 2016; Harrison, 2013; Thornton, 2017)

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Discussion

Conclusion