Using New and Long-Term Multi-Scale Remotely Sensed Data to Detect Recurrent Fires and Quantify Their Relationship to Land Cover/Use in Indonesian Peatlands

Indonesia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gases emissions by 29% (potentially up to 41% with international assistance) by 2030. Achieving those targets requires many efforts but, in particular, controlling the fire problem in Indonesia’s peatlands is paramount, since it is unlikely to diminish on its own in the coming decades. This study was conducted in Sumatra and Kalimantan peatlands in Indonesia. Four MODIS-derived products (MCD45A1 collection 5.1, MCD64A1 (collection 5.1 and 6), FireCCI51) were initially assessed to explore long-term fire frequency and land use/cover change relationships. The results indicated the product(s) could only detect half of the fires accurately. A further study was conducted using additional moderate spatial resolution data to compare two years of different severity (2014 and 2015) (Landsat, Sentinel 2, Sentinel 1, VIIRS 375 m). The results showed that MODIS BA products poorly discriminated small fires and failed to detect many burned areas due to persistent interference from clouds and smoke that often worsens as fire seasons progress. Although there are unique fire detection capabilities associated with each sensor (MODIS, VIIRS, Landsat, Sentinel 2, Sentinel 1), no single sensor was ideal for accurate detection of peatland fires under all conditions. Multisensor approaches could advance biomass-burning detection in peatlands, improving the accuracy and comprehensive coverage of burned area maps, thereby enabling better estimation of associated fire emissions. Despite missing many burned areas, MODIS BA (MCD64A1 C6) provides the best available data for evaluating longer term (2001-2018) associations between the frequency of fire occurrence and land use/cover change across large areas. Results showed that Sumatra and Kalimantan have both experienced frequent fires since 2001. Although extensive burning was present across the entire landscape, burning in peatlands was ~5- times more frequent and strongly associated with changes of forest to other land use/cover classes. If fire frequencies since 2001 remain unchanged, remnant peat swamp forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan will likely disappear over the next few decades. The findings reported in this dissertation provide critical insights for Indonesian stakeholders that can help them to minimize impacts of environmental change, manage ecological restoration efforts, and improve fire monitoring systems within Indonesia

The High Potential of Peatland Fires Management for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction in Indonesia

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) melaporkan bahwa peningkatan emisi GRK hutan dan lahan Indonesia pada tahun 2019 terutama disebabkan oleh pembakaran lahan gambut yang kaya karbon. Sekitar 1,65 juta ha terbakar dan setengah juta ha gambut terbakar dalam peristiwa kebakaran hebat pada tahun 2019, namun emisi GRK (gas rumah kaca) yang dihasilkan hampir mendekati dibandingkan dengan kebakaran tahun 2015 di mana 2,6 juta ha area terbakar. Ribuan hektar lahan yang secara ekologis penting dibakar, mengakibatkan kabut asap beracun yang mengancam kesehatan manusia serta mengganggu hutan alam dan habitat satwa liar. Lahan gambut terdiri dari bahan organik yang terdekomposisi, dan degradasi gambut akan menghasilkan emisi GRK dalam jumlah yang signifikan, terutama jika areal tersebut terbakar. Penurunan muka air tanah (GWL) di lahan gambut akan meningkatkan kepekaan terhadap kebakaran karena kondisi permukaan gambut yang lebih kering. Upaya restorasi yang dilakukan di ekosistem gambut yang terdegradasi (yaitu: pembasahan dan revegetasi) tampaknya merupakan solusi terbaik, jika dan jika kegiatan manajemen pencegahan kebakaran benar-benar dilaksanakan dengan baik. Pemadaman kebakaran memiliki potensi tinggi untuk mengurangi emisi GRK akibat kebakaran gambut ke atmosfer. Keberhasilan pemadaman kebakaran lahan gambut akan sangat bergantung pada keterampilan petugas pemadam kebakaran, strategi, dan ketersediaan peralatan, baik langsung maupun tidak langsung di lapangan. Kurangnya pengetahuan dan pengalaman untuk memerangi kebakaran gambut akan menyebabkan lebih banyak kebakaran dan berpotensi menimbulkan kebakaran yang tidak terkendali. Terakhir, kondisi ini akan menghasilkan emisi GRK yang signifikan karena gambut kering yang terbakar sulit dikendalikan. Kata kunci: CAMS, GRK, kebakaran gambut, pemadaman, restorasiThe Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reported that increasing of GHG emissions from Indonesia in 2019 was mainly due to carbon-rich peatlands burning. About 1.65 million ha were burnt and a half million ha of peat were burned in devastating fire events in 2019, yet GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions released was almost nearly compared to the 2015 fires where 2.6 million ha areas were burnt. Thousands of acres of ecologically significant land were burned, resulting in toxic haze which threatening human health as well as disrupting natural forests and wildlife habitat. Peatlands consists of decomposed organic matter, and peat degradation will produce significant amount of GHG emissions, especially when the areas are burnt. The lowering ground water level (GWL) on peatlands will increase the sensitivity to the fires because of the drier condition of peat surface. The restoration efforts implemented in degraded peat ecosystem (i.e: rewetting and revegetation) seem like the best solution, if and if the fire prevention management activities are really well implemented. Fire suppression has high potential to reduce GHG emissions resulted from peat fires into the atmosphere. The success of peatland fire suppression will depend on the skill of fire brigades, strategy, and the availability of equipment, direct and indirectly in the ground. Lack of knowledge and experience to combat peat fires will spread more fires and potentially out of control fire break outs. Finally, this condition will produce significant amount of GHG emissions as dry peat burnt is difficult to control. Key words: CAMS, GHG, peat fires, suppression, restoratio

Contributor and Victim - Indonesia's Role in Global Climate Change with Special Reference to Kalimantan

Through rapid deforestation, forest fires, degrading peatlands, and diminishing carbon ‘sinks' Indonesia is one of the main contributors to the phenomenon of Global Climate Change. On the other hand, Indonesia will also be a major victim of Climate Change. The combination of high population density on some islands and high levels of biodiversity, together with 80,000 kilometres of coastline and 17,500 islands, makes Indonesia one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of Climate Change. Experts expect a warming from 0.2 to 0.3°C per decade in Indonesia during this century, together with an increase in annual precipitation across the majority of the Indonesian islands. Additionally there will be a change in the seasonality of precipitation; Borneo may become 10 to 30% wetter by the 2080's during December-February. As rainfall decreases during critical times of the year this translates into higher drought risk, consequently a decrease in crop yields, economic instability and drastically more undernourished people. On the other hand, increased rainfall during already wet times of the year will lead to high flood risk. Rising sea levels and many more extreme weather events will contribute to the many problems caused by Global Climate Change. Indonesia, and Kalimantan in the first instance, has to take up the challenge of climate change in taking actions at all levels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including promoting sustainable use of land and water resources, and putting adaptation into the development agenda

Biophysical and anthropogenic contributions to fire disturbance dynamics on the peat-swamp landscape, Indonesia

Fires have been increasing in size and frequency across the tropics in recent decades, particularly in tropical peatland areas. Indonesia has the largest amount of tropical peat carbon globally. Fires in fuel-rich tropical peatlands are a major source of carbon emissions, have serious consequences for human health, destroy or degrade habitat, and result in high economic costs. There have been many calls for a better understanding of the relative contributions of the biophysical and anthropogenic factors that drive fire, as this understanding would contribute to the success of efforts to reduce these fires. This dissertation uses remote sensing, fieldwork, and modeling to explore the dynamics of fire disturbance in Indonesia and investigates this disturbance from the framework of coupled human and natural systems, where complex interactions between the social and the biophysical are explicitly considered. Chapters One and Two assess both the influence of various human and biophysical factors to fire probability (Chapter One) and ignitions (Chapter Two) on a peat-swamp forest area in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, equivalent to a third of Kalimantan's peatland area. A Bayesian modeling approach is used in Chapter One to estimate the effects of atmospheric dryness, human access, vegetation, and hydrology on the probability of fire occurrence. The potential for peatland restoration to offset the impacts of climate on fire occurrence is also explored. I find that climate is the most important factor driving fire occurrence, which is consistent with the findings in many other parts of the tropics. However, two human-driven factors are almost as significant as the influence of climate: drainage canals, which were put in place as part of a failed agricultural project and have lowered the water table; and woody vegetation, which has decreased over time. Chapter Two inspects the oft-asserted claim that escaped fires from oil palm concessions and smallholder farms near settlements are the primary sources of fire ignitions. We evaluate fire origin and spread, and find that most fires originate in non-forest, compared to oil palm concessions, and relatively few originate close to settlements. Moreover, most fires started within oil palm concessions and in close proximity to settlements stay within those boundaries. However, fire ignition density in oil palm concessions and close to settlements is high. Furthermore, increased anthropogenic activity in close proximity to oil palm concessions and settlements produces a detectable pattern of fire activity. These results refute the claim that most fires originate in oil palm concessions, and that fires escaping from oil palm concessions and settlements constitute a major proportion of fires in this study region. However, there is a potential for these land use types to contribute more substantially to the fire landscape if their area expands. Chapter Three examines the potential for the financial incentive mechanism of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification, which prohibits the use of fire on certified concessions, to reduce fire activity on oil palm concessions. We examine if RSPO-certified concessions have reduced fire activity in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the leading producers of oil palm both within Indonesia and globally. We also evaluate if this pattern changes with increasing likelihood of fires. These questions are particularly critical in fuel-rich peatland areas, of which approximately 46% was designated as oil palm concession as of 2010. We find that fire activity is significantly lower on RSPO certified concessions than non-RSPO certified concessions when the likelihood of fire is low (i.e., on non-peatlands in wetter years), but not when the likelihood of fire is high (i.e., on non-peatlands in dry years or on peatlands). These chapters advance our understanding of how anthropogenic factors influence the controls of fire in Kalimantan and Sumatra, both directly (i.e., human-caused ignitions) and indirectly (i.e., changing the susceptibility of the landscape to ignitions and to burning). The findings presented in this dissertation indicate that oil palm concessions are associated with high fire probability (Chapter One) and a substantial amount of ignitions and relatively high ignition density (Chapter Two). One of the more pointed ways to target fire on oil palm concessions is through RSPO certification; however, we find that certification is only effective when fire likelihood is already low, suggesting that, in order for this mechanism to reduce fire, more assistance may be needed to control fires in dry years and on peatlands (Chapter Three). Non-forested, degraded areas contribute much more to fire activity than oil palm on this landscape; these areas experience the greatest number of ignitions, have highest ignition density, and are the primary source of forest fires (Chapter Two). Furthermore, the declines in vegetation and the hydrological alteration in these degraded areas contribute substantially to fire occurrence (Chapter One). Effective fire management in this area, including fire prevention and suppression efforts, should therefore target not just oil palm concessions and smallholdings around settlements, but should also focus strongly on non-forested, degraded areas – and in particular those near oil palm concession boundaries and outside the immediate vicinity of settlements – where fire probability is high and where ignitions and fires escaping into forest are most likely to occur. Rehabilitation of the degraded landscape through restoring hydrology and replanting will be key to fire reduction, and can offset the effects of climate on fire in this landscape. The methodological approaches in this dissertation demonstrate ways in which remote sensing and analytical technologies can be used to answer complex questions about coupled human and natural systems that fuse social and environmental data, for both theoretical and management applications. Chapter One uses biophysical information from remotely sensed products and fieldwork with information about human access on the landscape and integrates them together with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Active Fire detections under a Bayesian framework. Chapters Two and Three use a novel technique to cluster remotely sensed data on fire occurrence (MODIS Active Fire detections) into fire events so that ignitions can be isolated. This technique allows us to answer questions related to fire origin, spread, and impact that cannot be investigated by evaluating fire detections alone. This dissertation addresses a gap in knowledge regarding the anthropogenic contributions to increased fire probability and to ignitions in peat swamp, and the approaches could be applied to other degraded peatland areas in Indonesia that are candidate sites for restoration (e.g., under the newly established Peatland Restoration Agency), and to degraded peatlands that experience a novel fire regime in other parts of the tropics. Furthermore, this dissertation evaluates the capacity for RSPO certification to reduce fire activity on oil palm concessions across Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia, and the analyses conducted could be applied to landscapes in other parts of the tropics experiencing oil palm development. In conclusion, the research findings presented in this dissertation are a product of combining social and environmental data and evaluating this data with a suite of classic and novel modeling approaches. This dissertation is presented in the hope that it contributes to our understanding of fire dynamics in the globally important peat-swamp forest, Indonesia, and thus our capacity to manage these disturbances

Land Degradation and Landslide in Indonesia

Land degradation is one of the causes of lack of success of agricultural activities in Indonesia because of a decline in land productivity continuously and ultimately reduce the level of income / welfare of farmers. Land degradation can occur either on dry land or in wetlands, so prevention and / or rehabilitation of degraded land is very important that the agricultural area can be used on an ongoing basis. Land degradation is the loss or reduction of utility or potential use of land, loss of or changes in land features that are not hindered replaced. According to FAO (1993), soil degradation is a process that describes the phenomenon which lower the capacity of soil to support life. Land degradation is a process of decline of soil productivity, temporary or permanent, so that eventually the land can lead to a certain critical level (Dent, 1993). The process includes various forms of land degradation levels

Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

1. 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. 2.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. 3.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. 4.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.Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council; Borneo Nature Foundatio

Scholarly Interest in Forest Fires in Indonesia: A Bibliographical Review

Forest fires in Indonesia have attracted much attention among researchers over the past few decades. This paper aims to systematically map the existing corpus of scientific knowledge on forest fires in Indonesia. The systematic maps visualize which areas of significant activity and indicate specific interests and motives. The systematic analysis is also helpful in improving the understanding of current issues, problems, and challenges. From the scientific database of Scopus, we found 209 peer-reviewed journal articles directly related to forest fires in Indonesia published between 1989 and 2021 (July). In general, the number of publications rose after major fire events, notably in 1997/1998. The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related big fires seem to be the primary driver of more scientific inquiries. The present review shows that although fires occurred throughout the year, they mainly occurred in the dry season, indicating the crucial role of weather even though it is not the direct cause of fire ignition. Our research shows that all types of forest functions in Indonesia have experienced fires, but approximately half of the studied fires occurred in conservation areas. More specifically, previous studies have been more dedicated to secondary forests. The studies generally pointed out that secondary forests are more prone to fires. More than a half of the existing scientific work was looking at human-induced fires, although natural hazards drove that came close. Regarding human-induced drivers, most research was dedicated to the links between fires and the use of fires in land preparation for both small-scale agricultural activities and commercial plantations. The impacts of forest fires have been the most studied topic among scholars on fires in Indonesia. More specifically, the existing research was focused on the ecological/ environmental effects dominated by studies on the impacts of air quality and biodiversity. Interestingly, the existing research rarely addressed other issues, such as local livelihoods and how they adapt to environmental changes