Carbon emissions from oil palm development on deep peat soil in Central Kalimantan Indonesia

Of the 44 million hectares of peatland in the tropics, Indonesia has proportionately the largest area (45%) and carbon content (64%). These carbon-rich peat ecosystems play an important role in regional climate stabilization and biodiversity conservation. The Indonesian Government has enacted numerous regulatory measures since the 1990s aimed at boosting protection of the remaining intact peatland, with a threshold that peat deeper than 3 m must be conserved and cannot be cultivated. Despite these regulatory measures, extensive conversion of peatland to other land uses has occurred, especially large-scale palm oil plantation. This study shows that over 40% of palm oil plantations located in the former Ex-Mega Rice Project area (of some 1.04 million hectares) in Central Kalimantan in Indonesia are situated in deep peat areas. We estimate that continuing the present palm oil development practices on deep peat in the Ex-Mega Rice Project area will result in the release of between 93 and 217 megaton carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) over the next 25 years

Interannual climate variation, land type and village livelihood effects on fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia

The increasing extent and frequency of fires globally requires nuanced understanding of the drivers of largescale events for improved prevention and mitigation. Yet, the drivers of fires are often poorly understood by various stakeholders in spatially expansive and temporally dynamic landscapes. Further, perceptions about the main cause of fires vary amongst stakeholders, which amplify ongoing challenges from policies being implemented inconsistently across different governance levels. Here, we develop a spatially and temporallyexplicit typology of fire prevalence across Kalimantan, Indonesia, a region with significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Based on livelihood information and data on climate, soil type and forest degradation status, we find that in intact forest the density of fires in villages that largely coincide with oil palm concessions was twice as high as in villages outside the concessions across all years. Fires occurring in degraded land on mineral soil across all years were also most prevalent in villages with industrial plantations (oil palm or timber). On the other hand, in degraded peatland, where fires are most intense during dry years induced by the El Niño episodes, occurrence rates were high regardless of village primary livelihoods. Based on these findings we recommend two key priorities for fire mitigation going forward for policy across different governance levels in Kalimantan: degraded peatland as the priority area and industrial plantations as the priority sector. Our study suggests a fire prevention and mitigation approach, which accounts for climate, land type and village livelihood, has the potential to deliver more effective means of management

Denial of long-term issues with agriculture on tropical peatlands will have devastating consequences

Non peer reviewe

A review of the drivers of tropical peatland degradation in South-East Asia

The world's largest area of tropical peatland ecosystems is found in South-East Asia. These peatlands have globally significant carbon stocks and play an important role in regional and global climate systems. Despite the valuable social and economic services and ecosystem biodiversity these tropical peatlands provide, misguided land use policies have resulted in widespread peatland degradation in the region during the past 20 years. This paper reviews the drivers of peatland degradation in South-East Asia and confirms that logging, conversion to industrial plantations, drainage, and recurrent fires are the principal direct drivers of peatland degradation in South-East Asia, and that these drivers are compounded by a complex mix of indirect socioeconomic, policy- and climate change-related factors. The review concludes by noting that in order to address the problem of peatland degradation, we first need to know more about how to design and assess “successful” peatland restoration initiatives, and what regulatory and policy interventions are likely to improve peatland conservation and restoration outcomes in the South-East Asian region

A review of techniques for Effective Tropical Peatland Restoration

Indonesia's peatlands have been subject to extensive deforestation and degradation resulting from logging, drainage, fires and conversion to other land uses. A number of restoration initiatives have been attempted to address this degradation yet, to date, there has been little coherent or rigorous reflection on the effectiveness of these interventions. This paper examines the barriers to peatland restoration in Indonesia and reviews the techniques so far used to restore degraded peatland in the tropics. Direct barriers to peatland restoration in Indonesia include altered peat topography, peatland drainage, the presence of invasive ferns and shrub species, repeated fires, and flooding risks. Indirect barriers include climate change, inconsistent land-use policy and lack of alternative livelihood options. We highlight that most restoration activities carried out to date have been small-scale trials and the restoration techniques used have included canal blocking, seedling transplantation, and promotion of seed dispersal. We suggest that successful peatland restoration in Indonesia is as much dependent on meaningful land use policy and governance reform as it is on the technical effectiveness of specific restoration methods

The healing and bioeconomic prospect of tropical ecosystems due to the Covid-19 pandemic

The Coronavirus-19 (Covid-19) disease pandemic has caused a widespread, tragic, human, and life disaster and reduced the activity of billions of people on this earth. However, it has also been able to heal the earth's environment in our universe. The decline in human activity has resulted in a sharp reduction in pollution and marked clean air. This effect is far more dramatic than any systematic anthropogenic effort to reduce the impact of emissions. Air pollution caused by human activities has been relatively halted so that a clear, healthy blue sky is felt again. The pollution index, air quality, and the earth's environment are getting better. This condition further proves that the destruction of the earth and global warming is 95 due to human greed as a leader on this earth. Tropical ecosystems have a high and optimal temperature, sunlight intensity, rainfall, and organic cycles throughout the year, so they have the world's highest growth rate and biodiversity. However, the bio-economic value is still meager due to the local community's socio-economic pressure, and it has not been managed professionally. An integrated organic-cycle cultivation system based on the universe's nature could have superior bio-economic prospects in managing tropical natural resources cured by Covid-19. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved