peatlands 1 taitto.indd - International Peat Society

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Riau Declaration on Peatlands and Climate Change The Workshop on “Vulnerability of Carbon Pools in Tropical Peatlands” was held in Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatra from 23 - 26 January 2006. It was attended by 61 participants from 12 countries. Orang Utan: The peat swamp forests of Central Kalimantan harbour the largest remaining Orang Utan populations in the world. Photo: Marcel Silvius, WI The Workshop on Vulnerability of Carbon Pools in Tropical Peatlands was held in Pekanbaru, Riau, Sumatra on 23 - 26 January 2006. It was attended by 61 participants from 12 countries and organised by the Global Carbon Project (GCP), the Global Environment Centre (GEC) and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). It reviewed the extent of carbon store in tropical peatlands, land use change and fi re, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, future climate scenarios and management options. A fi eld visit to the Kampar Peninsular to assess current peatland plantation management practices was facilitated by APRIL/PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper. The workshop was supported by The Asia Pacifi c Network for Global Change (APN); the joint project of Wetlands International and GEC on Integrated Management of Peatlands for Biodiversity and Climate Change (funded by UNEP-GEF); and the joint Project of Wildlife Habitat Canada, 18 PEATLANDS International 1/2006 Wetlands International and GEC on Climate Change Forests and Peatlands in Indonesia (funded by CIDA); GCP and CIFOR. The workshop noted that peat is one of the world’s most important carbon stores (storing about 30% of global soil carbon) and tropical peatlands are an extremely important component – storing 30% of peatland carbon. The most extensive tropical peatlands are in SE Asia and cover about 30 million ha of which over 20 million ha are in Indonesia and 4 million ha in Riau province. Tropical peatlands play an extremely important global role for carbon storage and climate moderation as well as providing a range of other benefi ts such as biodiversity, water management, and livelihood support to local communities. The fundamental component of peatlands is water. As water level decreases in peatlands so does capacity for sequestering and storing carbon. Current management practices in peatlands combined with climate change and variability are having a major negative impact on peatlands. In the past 10 years about 3 million ha of peatland in SE Asia have been burnt releasing 3-5 billion tonnes of carbon. In addition, the drainage of peat for oil palm and timber and pulpwood plantations as well as other agriculture and unsustainable logging is estimated to have affected more than 6 million ha and released an additional 2 billion tonnes of carbon over the same period. Thus the emission of carbon dioxide from peatlands in SE Asia represents one of the largest single sources of GHG emissions globally and is equivalent of 10% of the average global fossil fuel emission over the same period. This is accelerating global climate change. It is recognized that unsustainable management practices of peatlands Pekanbaru, 26th January 2006 are the main cause of peat fi res and associated transboundary smoke haze in SE Asia, which have massive health, social, economic and environmental impacts. Subsequent El Niño events will increase likelihood of drought and associated fi res which will have a major negative impact on peatlands carbon stores and people in the SE Asia region. The next El Niño event is predicted within four years. The predicted changes to climate over the next 50 years as a result of increasing GHG emissions, including hotter temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns combined with land use change and deforestation, will lead to increased degradation of peatlands, increased emissions of GHGs and further acceleration of climate change. The workshop proposed the following target: All stakeholders (including government, non-government, research, private sector and local communities) should urgently work in partnership to prevent peatland fi res and degradation. In addition, promote rehabilitation and sustainable use of peatlands in SE Asia to provide multiple benefi ts to the people in the region and safeguard the global environment. The workshop recommended relevant stakeholders to regionally and globally (targets particularly for Riau are available from the author): • Expedite the implementation of the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy and associated National Action Plans. These should be complemented by plans at the provincial and local level in regions with extensive peatlands. • Strengthen policies and institutional arrangements for peatland management and strictly enforce policies and rules for the management and conservation of peatlands. • Stop the further conversion and/ or drainage of deep peat and peat domes and maintain and restore the hydrology of peatland systems to prevent fi res, minimize GHG
• • emissions, and maintain ecological services. Improve current forestry, agriculture and plantation management practices to ensure that they contribute to the sustainability of peatlands. Promote international cooperative studies to assess the role of peatlands in mitigating climate change and the potential future impacts • of climate change and land use on the peatland carbon pool. Undertake an assessment of the vulnerability of peatlands to climate change and extreme events. Effectively disseminate the knowledge generated by the scientifi c community for use by decision makers and to support the assessment processes and later develop adaptation strategies to guide Dutch Government Fights Fires in Kalimantan Almost annually, fires in Kalimantan destroy enormous areas for ever and cause shocking air pollution throughout the region. A network of NGO’s will start working to protect and restore these threatened areas. A major project aimed at the conservation and restoration of the peat swamps and their forest of Central Kalimantan has received the green light from the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government of the Netherlands will be investing 5 million Euros in the coming two years on the basis of the “Peat Forest Amendment” which was passed in the Dutch parliament on November 14, 2004. The Central Kalimantan Peatlands Project (CKPP) will be implemented by four locally operating NGOs (Wetlands International, WWF, CARE and BOS), the provincial planning agency in Kalimantan (BAPPEDA) and the University of Palangkaraya. The project will be managed by Wetlands International head quarters based in Wageningen, the Netherlands. The network of environmental NGOs will focus on four key activities: 1) fi re prevention, 2) restoration of the peatland hydrology (closing drainage channels to prevent drying of the peat soil), 3) reduction of poverty through small-scale developments and 4) biodiversity conservation. Concrete examples of the project work are the closing of drainage canals to re-wet and re-green degraded fi re-prone areas. Large parts of Kalimantan consist of peatlands, originally mostly forest- ed. These tropical peat swamp forests are the living area for many threatened species. In this regard, the project will focus on the Sebangau National Park and the Mawas area which hold the largest remaining population of Orang Utan. In recent years, a large proportion of the peat swamp forests have been turned into wastelands as a result of deforestation, over-drainage and badly planned agricultural development. These developments made the area very vulnerable for fi res. Almost annually, huge fi res take place, destroying both internationally important nature areas and important agricultural and forestry assets. The fi res cause major air pollution problems in surrounding countries. In 1997 alone, peatland fi res in Indonesia contributed over 1 giga ton of carbon dioxide, compara- • peatland managers, in particular plantation operators. Strengthen activities for monitoring changes in the status of tropical peatlands to guide wise management. � Faizal Parish Global Environment Centre Selangor, Malaysia e-mail: fparish@genet.po.my web: www.gecnet.info ble with 15% of all annual global fossil fuel related emissions. The economic damage by smoke and losses in the tourism & timber sectors were estimated at over 8.4 billion US$ in 1997 alone. People in the area suffer heavily from the fi res. About 30% of all children under 5 years suffer from respiratory diseases and linked growth inhibition due to the air pollution. The project is a fi rst step to stop this disaster, protect the remaining peat swamp forests and to promote sustainable land use. � Marcel J. Silvius Wetlands International PO Box 471, 6700 AL Wageningen The Netherlands phone: +31 6 295 86 096 e-mail: marcel.silvius@wetlands.org Replanting burned forest: Local villagers cooperate in the rehabilitation of degraded peatlands by planting useful indigenous peat forest species like Jelutung, which produces latex used for the production of chewing gum. Photo: Alue Dohong, WI 19
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Page 5 and 6: Markku Mäkelä From the President
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Page 9 and 10: sapling stands in cut-away peatland
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Page 13 and 14: Gerfried Caspers introduced Lower S
Page 15 and 16: Building wooden barrages. Photo: Th
Page 17: Continuation of the Lower Saxonian
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Page 23 and 24: Ramsar sites at Nigula and Sookunin
Page 25 and 26: Wise Use and Restoration of Peatlan
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Page 35 and 36: The Imnati Mire in the Kolkheti Low
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Page 41 and 42: Premier Tech Systems: Bringing Auto
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