Peatland Conversion Research Articles

Gambut Muslim Community and Their Environmental Conservation; Intertwin among Fiqh, Economy, and Policy Factors

Islamic eco-theology doctrines encourage believers to care for the environment and forbids destructive actions that could harm or degrade the environmental condition. However, in recent years, many paddy fields and peatlands in Banjar Regency, which should have been preserved for environmental restoration, have been transformed into residential areas. Therefore, this research aims to explore factors influencing the conversion in the Gambut Subdistrict, Banjar Regency, ranging from a religious perspective or fiqh, the economic situation of local people, and relevant regulation enforcement. The research is a field study with a mixed-method approach. Data collection involved 120 respondents residing in the Gambut Subdistrict. Additionally, interviews were conducted with community leaders, organizational representatives, and local government officials. Using a multiple regression approach, the study found that since 2000, 55 new residential complexes have been constructed in the region. The research findings reveal that although economic factors have a minimal impact on environmental conservation variables, fiqh perspectives, and policy variables do affect significantly. These three factors, namely fiqh perspectives, economic factors, and policies collectively exert a significant influence on environmental conservation. Qualitatively, the primary cause of the conversion of paddy fields and peatlands into residential areas is the lack of environmental fiqh literacy. This deficiency has resulted in low awareness of the importance of preserving paddy fields and peatlands as environmental support areas, leaving them vulnerable to encroachment by capital owners eager to develop residential areas. Furthermore, weak oversight by authorities and policymakers has exacerbated this situation.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF OIL PALM PLANTATIONS IN MALAYSIA: A REVIEW OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

Oil palm has a significant role in the Malaysian economy, contributing 2.7% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. This crop creates job opportunities, produces stable income, and improves the socio-economic status of the farmers. Despite the good impacts on economic and social perspectives, oil palm upstream activities were linked to various environmental impacts such as deforestation, fragmentation of tropical forests, soil erosion, wildlife habitat destruction, carbon and methane emissions, and peatland conversion. The goal of this study is to review the existing studies and findings on the impacts of oil palm plantation activities on Malaysian socio-economic status for the last decade (2011 - 2024). This paper focuses on the economic and environmental impacts of oil palm plantation activities. We applied the desktop study method to search for secondary data such as academic papers and reports from online databases. Most papers opined that oil palm upstream activities have positive impacts on the economy of Malaysia but are linked with negative impacts from environmental perspectives. Most papers also proposed that sustainable practices and certification in oil palm upstream activities are important approaches to reducing and managing environmental impacts. Strong commitment from the government and stakeholders was needed to tighten the policies on oil palm expansion, sustainable plantation practices, and forest conservation.

Preliminary Assessment of Selected Physico-chemical Properties of Peat Water in Relation to Land Use Conversion in Leyte Sab-a Basin Peatland, Philippines

Tropical peatlands are unique wetland ecosystems that provide various ecosystem services such as carbon and water storage. However, these ecosystems have been significantly altered by anthropogenic activities. In this study, the impact of land use conversion on the selected physico-chemical properties of surface water in the Leyte Sab-a Basin Peatland was investigated. Surface peat water was collected from peat swamp forest, peatland converted to grassland and peatland under cultivation. The surface peat water temperature was measured on-site and the collected water samples were analyzed for turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate (NO3-N), phosphate (PO4), and total dissolved solids (TDS). It was found that the physico-chemical properties of water such as temperature, pH, and TDS were significantly higher in disturbed land use (cultivation) areas. The direct relationship between the temperature of surface peat water to both phosphate and TDS suggests that increasing temperature brought by peatland conversion may directly lead to increasing phosphate and total dissolved solids concentration in water. Strong relationships were also found between TDS and phosphates as well as between pH and dissolved oxygen. Finally, the increasing trend of values of the examined peat water physico-chemical properties with land use disturbance (cultivation) indicates peatland degradation.

Analisis Kebijakan Restorasi Ekosistem Gambut di Indonesia dengan Discourse Network Analysis

After the forest fires in 2014-2016, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) placed the restoration of the peatland ecosystem (RPE) as one of its priority policies in the environmental sector. This study seeks to analyze RPE in Indonesia using a discourse network analysis approach. Researchers utilize Twitter as primary research data. This data was processed with R, rDNA, and Gephi. Researchers found three network patterns that are connected to RPE efforts in Indonesia. First, affiliate networks connect actors and the concepts voiced by the actors. This network involves various actors such as government institutions, civil society organizations, private corporations, universities, research institutes, foreign governments, international organizations, and local citizens. The dominant concept in the affiliate network is peatland restoration and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Second, the actor congruence network assigns Mangrove and Peatland Restoration Agency (Badan Restorasi Gambut dan Mangrove or BRGM) as the dominant and central actors. However, some actors are not connected to the core network and create separate sub-groups. Third, a network of conflicts between actors involving four conflict themes: Government Regulation Number 57/2016 concerning Amendments to Government Regulation Number 71/2014 on Protection and Management of Peatland Ecosystems, peatland conversion, horizontal conflicts between the local community and plantation corporations, and prevention and law enforcement related to forest fires. The researcher recommends BRGM to: (a) strengthen collaborative practices with the various parties involved in RPE; (b) beware in converting peatland so it does not damage the peatland ecosystem landscape; (c) integrate community conflicts with plantation corporations as part of the RPE agenda in Indonesia. The researcher also recommends NGO activists in Indonesia who care about peatlands to continue monitoring and criticizing the RPE process in Indonesia, and fight for local community groups that have been marginalized by the RPE process. Researchers also encourage plantation corporations, both oil palm plantations and industrial timber plantations, to jointly guard RPE in Indonesia by not opening up new land as part of the actual contribution of the Indonesian people to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

30 years trend of peatland utilization in Riau Province

The peatland was a type of wetland ecosystem that was easily damaged. Damage to peatlands is generally caused by various types of unmanaged land use. The linear increase in the number and needs of the population has triggered the conversion of peatlands every year. This study reveals facts in an exploratory descriptive manner on the trend of peatland use in Riau Province from 1990-2020. The determination of the type of land use is based on changes in the condition of the peatland cover derived from Landsat images in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. The analysis was carried out with a spatial approach with overlay techniques using geographic information system applications. The results of the analysis found that the area of forest cover on peatlands in Riau Province has experienced a very large decrease from 71.71% to 35.93%. The rate of decline in forest cover area to non-forest is around 59,311.65 ha/year. The use of peatlands for cultivation activities continued to increase over the previous 30 years, from 28.29% to 64.07%. The largest utilization came from plantation activities by 44.48%. This value is very large compared to other activities such as dry land agriculture, rice fields, open land, settlements, infrastructure, mining, swamps, scrub bushes, and transmigration. This shows that plantation activities have dominated the use of peatlands, even faster than other types of land cover. Plantation activities in Riau province are dominated by oil palm, both company plantations and smallholder plantations. The increase in the area of oil palm plantations was triggered by an increase in demand and a very high economic profit value compared to other types of agricultural commodities. So that the ability to manage plantations on sustainable peatlands is very important.

Uncertainty in the Management of Tropical Peatlands for Oil Palm Plantations due to Drainage Practices

The conversion of tropical peatlands to oil palm plantations has affected the long-term storage stability of water and carbon. The conversion requires a drainage system that results in land subsidence and, in turn, reduces the carrying capacity of water storage and carbon stocks. This study aims to analyze subsidence from long-term observations (2004-2020) to obtain an appropriate water management measure for three scenarios of drainage depths at the oil palm plantations in Jambi Province. It is found that the reduction is quite variable depending on the level of drainage depths. The subsidence was 55 cm, 49 cm, and 34.7 cm for deep, moderate, and shallow drainage conditions. The groundwater level was deeper than 100 cm, which is far below the threshold of 40 cm, as stated in the government regulations. However, the regulations are still debated since subsidence must occur in drained peatlands regardless of the water level. The observed large subsidence implies that better water management in a new site is crucial and necessary to reduce the impact of peatlands degradation relative to current conditions and that high rates of land subsidence should be accepted as an inevitable change from the conversion of tropical peatlands to oil palm plantations.

Spectroscopic Analysis and Dynamics of Dissolved Organic Carbon from an Oil Palm Plantation Peatland

Drainage following conversion of peatlands to oil palm plantations is always associated with carbon (C) loss, one of which is dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Analytical procedure commonly used to determine DOC is the high-temperature combustion (HTC) method, which requires an expensive instrument. An alternative low-cost method has been developed. The objectives of this research were to determine and validate the most suitable UV-Vis spectrophotometer’s wavelength for estimating DOC concentration and evaluating its dynamics from an oil-palm plantation Indonesian-peatland. The DOC concentrations were measured on ground water and canal water samples at wavelengths of 254, 270, and 350 nm and the analytical results were then validated against those reference values resulted from the use of HTC method using Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOC Analyzer), based on simple regression analysis. The results showed that the most suitable wavelength for estimating DOC concentration using UV-Vis spectrophotometer was 350 nm. The DOC concentration in groundwater (35.67 ± 8.40 mg L-1) were around two times greater than in canal water (16.26 ± 4.15 mg L-1). The DOC flux from the research area were at the range of 0.66 ˗ 1.15 g C m-2 month-1, with an average of 0.85 g C m-2 month-1.

Perspective: What might it cost to reconfigure food systems?

Even an approximate estimate of the amount of investment required globally to reconfigure food systems for resilience and sustainability in the face of climate change could help to catalyse the urgent action that is needed. A report published in 2020 set out eleven actions that were identified as being needed to reconfigure food systems. Here we estimate the annual cost of implementing these eleven actions to be USD 1.3 ± 0.1 trillion. Half of this is needed to halt conversion of forests and peatlands for agriculture, with the remainder used to reduce producer risk, lower emissions and strengthen the policy, finance and innovation enablers of change. This cost, though large, is equivalent to less than 7 percent of the negative externalities generated annually by current food systems. The costs of inaction will far outweigh the benefits.

Food security prospects of rural community in the change and degraded peatland landscape of South Sumatra

There has been a dramatical change in Indonesia’s tropical peatland ecosystem in the last three decades due to various causes and climate change issues. This decreases the function of peatland ecosystem to support ecosystem balance and the rural livelihoods, including influencing the food systems. This paper highlights the prospects of food security in the changed and degraded peatland landscape in South Sumatra. A case field study was conducted in this research, followed by qualitative analysis. Peatland degradation, mainly from peatland conversion, illegal logging, and recurrent fires, lead to the decline of food availability from the peatland, such as, fish, honey bee, vegetable, and fruit. To deal with, several field actions are taken: (1) Local initiative in vegetable and fruit production on degraded peatland; (2) Government initiative in developing rice fields as part of food estate program; (3) Community, non-government organization (NGO) and government collaboration in introducing adaptive and prospective agroforestry. More prospective food security on the peatland can be achieved through the commodity diversification, improvement of the techniques, infrastructures, market access, and capacity of rural community. Harmonizing the policies between peatland management and food estate potentially can improve food security in tropical peatland landscape in Indonesia.

The Impact of The European Union’s Environmental Policy towards Competitiveness in Malaysia’s Palm Oil Industry

Palm oil can’t be isolated from the environment and sustainability issues. The consumption of edible palm oil has decreased in recent years due to increased environmental problems. Unfortunately, palm oil has also been portrayed negatively by some groups who claim that palm oil production would cause higher global GHG emissions than conventional fossil fuels due to the conversion of forests and peatlands. The European Union has aimed to increase its use of renewable energy from biofuels, with one of the potential feedstock being palm oil. However, European countries appear to have the most stringent requirement on certified palm oil despite such pros. The growing environmental and sustainability concerns of oil palm farming may adversely affect palm oil’s import demand and hence the Malaysian economy. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of environmental policy on Malaysia’s competitiveness in palm oil products. The relative trade advantage (RTA) index is used to measure the competitiveness index, and the dynamic generalized method of moment (DGMM) is employed in the study. The data used for this study spans from 2009 to 2016. The results indicate that environmental regulations in the EU positively impact palm oil industry competitiveness, which is technically consistent with the Porter Hypothesis, which argues that more stringent environmental regulations can trigger innovation that may offset the costs of complying among the producers. The progress of palm oil downstream is crucial to improving the overall competitiveness of the palm oil industry and the national economy. As per the findings of this study, the Malaysian government should implement appropriate environmental intervention models to meet international standards. Environmental protection, in general, necessitates significant capital expenditure and long-term investment decisions to fund innovation, which may offset the costs of regulatory compliance and eventually improve trade competitiveness, particularly in the downstream industry.

Land use and land cover changes in coastal and inland wetlands cause soil carbon and nitrogen loss

AbstractAimNatural wetlands are widely considered important for mitigation of climate change, but they have been impacted by land use and land cover change (LULCC), often resulting in ecosystem degradation and significant changes in soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. However, the impact of various LULCC types on wetland soil C and N dynamics remains unclear.LocationGlobal.Time period1982–2021.Major taxa studiedWetland.MethodsWe present a global meta‐analysis using a database of 487 sites compiled from the literature, demonstrating the response of soil C and N concentrations and stocks in coastal wetlands, riparian wetlands and peatlands to various types of LULCCs, including agricultural lands, drained wetlands, aquaculture ponds, pastures and constructed wetlands.ResultsThe conversion of coastal wetlands, riparian wetlands and peatlands to most LULCC types decreased the mean soil C and N concentrations and stocks by 17.8 ± 10.3, 25.3 ± 13.4 and 23.2 ± 6.3%, respectively. The loss of wetland soil C owing to LULCC is estimated to cause a potential CO2 emission of 1.8–22.8 Mg CO2 equivalent emission/ha/year, except for conversion to constructed wetlands. The soil C and N contents were more sensitive to LULCCs, relative to the stocks. We also found that the patterns of soil C and N variations were closely related to the conversion time since completion of LULCC. After LULCC, the response of soil C and N variables was sensitive to changes in plant biomass, soil water conditions, bulk density, pH and NH4+‐N concentration, with the major controlling factors varying with the conversion age.Main conclusionsOur results highlight the important role of LULCC in triggering soil C and N loss in natural wetlands, which enhances the greenhouse effect. As such, our study calls for sustainable land management strategies aiming at wetland conservation as a powerful tool to mitigate climate warming.

Rising dissolved organic carbon concentrations in coastal waters of northwestern Borneo related to tropical peatland conversion.

Southeast Asia’s peatlands are considered a globally important source of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the ocean. Human disturbance has probably increased peatland DOC fluxes, but the lack of monitoring has precluded a robust demonstration of such a regional-scale impact. Here, we use a time series of satellite ocean color data from northwestern Borneo to show that DOC concentrations in coastal waters have increased between 2002 and 2021 by 0.31 μmol liter−1 year−1 (95% confidence interval, 0.18 to 0.44 μmol liter−1 year−1). We show that this was caused by a ≥30% increase in the concentration of terrigenous DOC and coincided with the conversion of 69% of regional peatland area to nonforest land cover, suggesting that peatland conversion has substantially increased DOC fluxes to the sea. This rise in DOC concentration has also increased the underwater light absorption by dissolved organic matter, which may affect marine productivity by altering underwater light availability.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emission based on land use types of peatland in Kinali, West Pasaman Regency

Carbon dioxide gas which is one of the greenhouse gases stated at Kyoto Protokol in 1997 can come from peatland. Conversion of peatland into farming land can accelerate the decomposition process of OM which will emit carbon dioxide gas (CO2) into the atmosphere. This study was aimed to measure CO2 emission from several types of peatland in Kinali District, West Pasaman Regency, West Sumatra Province. The research was conducted using a survey method based on the land use type (purposive sampling). The measurement of CO2 was conducted in the field using an infrared non-dispersive sensor (NDIR) found in the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Monitor tool. Soil properties analyzed were organic-C, total N, and C/N ratio. The results showed that the different use in peatland has no significant effect on the value of CO2 emission. Carbon dioxide emission has a positive correlation (r = 0.68) with soil organic carbon content. The highest average of CO2 emission was 0.92 g/m2/d (under oil palm plantation) from soil surface and 1.56 g/m2/d (under seasonal cropland) from the surface of soil on 30 cm depth. The lowest CO2 emission was 0.68 g/m2/d (under mixed garden) from both soil surfaces.

Comparison of dissolved organic carbon and nutrients content in Papua peatland

Indonesia’s peatlands degrade due to land conversion and land development. Peatland conversion affects nutrient content in peat soil and peat water, including dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Research on the comparison of DOC and nutrient content was conducted in Papua peatland. It was carried out at Kaliki and Marga Mulia in Merauke, and also at Khanami and Yame in Mappi. This research aimed to determine DOC, soil, and water nutrients, then compare them among peatlands in Merauke and Mappi. At each location, three replications of peat water and peat soil were sampled by digging to a depth of 20 cm. The peat water was estimated for DOC concentration and nutrients, but peat soil was analyzed for nutrients only. The DOC concentration at Yame was the highest among the sites, followed by Khanami, Marga Mulia, and Kaliki. Soil carbon stored was estimated highest at Khanami, followed by Kaliki, Yame, and Marga Mulia. It was concluded that the DOC and soil carbon stored were higher in Mappi peatland than in Merauke peatland because it was still preserved by the community and no peatland conversion in Mappi.

The Chemical Properties of Burnt Peat Soil in Teluk Bakung Village, West Kalimantan

Peatland is one of Indonesia’s unique ecosystems and has various functions in maintaining environmental stability. The increasing demand for land in various sectors has led to activities in peat areas. Land conversion and sub-optimal management of peatland can affect the properties of the peat. This study aims to analyze the chemical properties of peat soil on four land management areas in Teluk Bakung Village, West Kalimantan. The areas were rubber stand, burnt land, taro plantation with non-burning land management, and taro plantation with burnt land management. The method used was purposive sampling with a set of five points as soil sampling within the plot measuring 20 m x 100 m. Soil samples were taken at a depth of 0 – 10 cm at each site. Then, the soil samples were evenly composited for further analysis in the laboratory. The results of the study showed that the parameters of the chemical properties at each site had various values. Burnt land had higher N, P, K, Na, and CEC values. Meanwhile, the highest pH, Ca, and Mg values were in taro plantations with non-burning land management. Then, the highest ash content values were in taro plantation with burnt land management. For the value of C-organic, rubber stand had the highest percentage compared to the other land conditions.

Diplomasi Lingkungan Norwegia kepada Indonesia: Analisis Skema REDD+ tahun 2015-2020

Environmental issues have become a fairly important topic of discussion in the last few decades. These environmental issues have attracted a lot of attention from local to global levels. REDD + contains measures designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation in the presence of financial incentives. In environmental diplomacy between Indonesia and Norway, the REDD + scheme aims to reduce pollution levels according to targets and within a certain time period. In analyzing Norway's environmental policy and its involvement in global environmental cooperation, market-based environmental policy instruments can be used. In market-based environmental policy instruments there is a carbon trading mechanism to evaluate the REDD + mechanism in 2015-2020. REDD + implementation in Indonesia is carried out with the existence of a carbon market that uses a cap and trade mechanism, which results in the form of carbon credits that can be disbursed into financial incentives. The funds can be used to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, as well as for the conversion of peatlands in Indonesia.

Climate change mitigation on tropical peatlands: A triple burden for smallholder farmers in Indonesia

The agricultural use and conversion of tropical peatlands is considered a major source of land-based greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the protection and restoration of tropical peatlands has recently turned into an important strategy to mitigate global climate change. Little research exists that has investigated the impacts and dynamics that such climate mitigation efforts evoke in local communities living in and around peatlands. We present insights on this from Sumatra, Indonesia and use a climate justice lens to evaluate local outcomes. We show how an increasingly transnational network of state and non-state actors has become involved in developing new laws, policy programs and land-use agreements on Sumatra’s coastal peatlands, aiming at supposedly win–win low-carbon development pathways. We argue that such efforts are open to much of the same criticism that has been raised regarding previous policies and projects aimed at reducing GHGE from deforestation and forest degradation. These projects disregard local perspectives on development, fail to deliver the promised benefits and, through a reconfiguration of local land-use rights, reduce the capabilities of smallholder farmers to benefit from their land. In sum, our analysis suggests that recent policies and projects aimed at mitigating GHGE from tropical peatlands contribute to a redistribution of the global climate mitigation burden onto smallholder farmers in Indonesia. This occurs through their threefold assignment to protect forests, prevent fires and help restore degraded peatlands.

Impact of land management on available water capacity and water storage of peatlands

Peatlands around the world have been drained for agriculture and forestry practices over the last century, leading to carbon loss, water loss, and soil degradation. Soil available water capacity (AWC, the amount of water a soil can provide for plants) is one of the most important soil properties regulating the water balance and plays a pivotal role in plant growth. Compared to most mineral soils, our understanding of the impact of land management on the AWC (applies to the root zone of 0.7 m) and water storage of peat (the amount of water that is stored over the whole peat profile) is limited. In this study, we aimed to deduce possible alterations of the AWC and water storage of peat following peatland drainage and rewetting. We analyzed a comprehensive dataset (676 measurements from boreal and temperate peatlands) to seek relations between bulk density (BD) as a proxy for soil degradation, and field capacity, wilting point as well as AWC. The analyses showed that the AWC increases with BD up to a value of 0.2 g cm−3, and a further increase in BD leads to a considerable decrease in AWC. The function between BD and AWC enables to upscale the AWC to a regional scale using readily available peat BD data. The average AWC of agricultural peatlands in Germany was estimated to be 37.8 ± 11.3 vol% (mean ± standard deviation). Currently, the average water storage of agricultural peatlands in Germany is approximately 19.3 km3 (1.3 m3 per m2), which is less than half of the overall water storage in the natural peatlands in Germany prior drainage (39.6 km3). The conversion of pristine peatlands into agricultural land through artificial drainage resulted in a water storage loss of approximately 20.3 km3, which roughly corresponds to 27 times the volume of the lake Müritz (largest lake entirely within German territory). We conclude that several decades of peatland rewetting would have a limited role in water storage recovery due to a substantial peat thickness loss prior rewetting and low porosity of (formerly) degraded peat.

Soil carbon balance of afforested peatlands in the maritime temperate climatic zone

Drainage and conversion of natural peatlands into forestry increases soil CO2 emissions through decomposition of peat and modifies the quantity and quality of litter inputs and therefore the soil carbon balance. In organic soils, CO2 net emissions and removals, are reported using carbon emission factors (EF). The choice of specific default Tier 1 EF values from the IPCC 2013 Wetlands supplement depends on land use categories and climate zones. However, Tier 1 EF for afforested peatlands in the temperate maritime climate zone are based on data from eight sites, mainly located in the hemiboreal zone, and the uncertainty associated with these default values is a concern. In addition, moving from Tier 1 to higher-Tier carbon reporting values is highly desirable when large areas are affected by land use changes. In this study, we estimated site-specific soil carbon balance for the development of Tier 2 soil CO2 -C EFs for afforested peatlands. Soil heterotrophic respiration and aboveground litterfall were measured during two years at eight afforested peatland sites in Ireland. In addition, fine roots turnover rate and site-specific fine root biomass were used to quantify belowground litter inputs. Our findings found that draining of peatlands, and planting them with either Sitka spruce or lodgepole pine, resulted in soils being net carbon sources. The soil carbon balance at multi-year sites varied between 63 ± 92 and 309 ± 67 g C m-2 year-1 . Mean CO2 -C EF for afforested peatlands was 1.68 ± 0.33 tCO2 -Cha-1 year-1 . The improved CO2 -C EFs presented here for afforested peatlands are proposed as a basis to update national CO2 -C emissions from this land-use class in Ireland. Furthermore, new data from these sites will significantly contribute to the development of more reliable IPCC default Tier 1 CO2 -C EFs for afforested peatlands in the maritime temperate climate zone.

The future of Southeast Asia's tropical peatlands: Local and global perspectives

• People have occupied Sarawak’s coastal peatlands for c . 200 years. • In the last century deforestation & peatland conversion have been widespread. • Local stakeholders perceive few challenges & many opportunities in using peatlands. • This conflicts with the international community promoting peatland conservation. • Differences in knowledge between local & global communities need to be addressed. The effective conservation and sustainable management of tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia is a major challenge. Pervasive deforestation, drainage and conversion to agricultural land, is disrupting these ecosystems’ ability to sequester atmospheric carbon. Conserving peatlands in an intact state has been described as a “low hanging fruit in tackling climate change” by the international conservation community. Yet, peatland drainage and land conversion continue unabated. Focusing on Malaysia’s coastal peatlands, this study interrogates local and global perspectives on peatland conversion. We combine diverse datasets obtained using palaeoecological and social science research methods to provide a comprehensive context to this conservation challenge. We also identify where the local and global perspectives are in conflict and where they align. To do this, we employ a literature review and qualitative analysis of the interview data, enabling us to draw out key themes of local versus global discourses on the current management and future prospects of these peatland ecosystems. Palaeoecological data, derived from cores collected from three peatlands in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, provide a quantitative assessment of long-term ecological changes in these environments; qualitative surveys of local stakeholders provide complementary detail on the history of and future perspectives on human-peatland interaction. Finally, a comparison of interview data with key themes in the international discourses on peatland conservation, illustrates conflicts between the two. The coastal peatlands of Sarawak serve as a case study to explore the fragile context of sustainable tropical peatland management, illustrating the diversity of datasets and knowledges that can be integrated. This approach enables a more effective dialogue amongst the multiple stakeholders involved in the management of these globally important ecosystems.