The Jokowi
Administration have seen that improving forest and land governance may take
times. Thus, it needs an acceleration and simultaneous actions to have results
in a relatively short period. In terms of fire prevention strategy, the
Government of Indonesia then established Peatland Restoration Agency (Badan
Restorasi Gambut/BRG) in January 2016, after the big fire incident of 2015. The
Agency is tasked to rehabilitate 2 million hectares by 2019, and the current
program is to carry out 2.49 million hectares restoration, which include 1.1
million ha to be performed by the Government and partners, while 1.39 million
hectares by relevant private companies. This agency focuses on rehabilitating
and restoring heavily degraded peatlands in fire-prone areas. Thus, this agency
supports the grand strategy for peatland management developed by Directorate of
Peatland Degradation Control, Directorate General for Pollutant and
Environmental Degradation Control, Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
By the end of 2016,
peat restoration priorities of 2,492,527 hectares have been mapped. Another achievement
is social intervention through community support in 104 villages in four
priority districts of 806,312 hectares. Social intervention is crucial in order
for a community consultation process and consensus agreements where canals and
a drill canal will be built. Thirty six concession holders have been assigned, spreading
in South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Riau and Jambi Provinces
for peat restoration on 650,389 hectares or 26% of the area of peat
restoration. In the restoration, concession holders also obtained technical
guidance including water level and humidity monitoring techniques.
By the end of 2017,
activities in 75 villages had been initiated in six provinces, with a total area
of 1,180,446 hectares. These villages are called peat-caring villages, with
thousands of its population are considered as guards in the maintenance of peat
ecosystems. Revitalization has been undertaken for the livelihoods of 101
community groups (kelompok mayarakat/pokmas) through assisting community to
clear lands without burning, developing local commodities, providing training of
freshwater fish cultivation, livestock breeding and bee honey production. The
area of restored land reaches 1.2 million hectares. This figure does not
include 93 thousand hectares of peatlands restored by partners, and is spread over
six provinces.
Other accomplishments
are the preparation of the National and Provincial Peat Ecosystem Restoration
Plan (Rencana Restorasi Ekosistem Gambut/RREG) and Peat Ecosystem Mapping
Inventory. The RREG objective is to restore degraded peat ecosystem area caused
by forest fires and 2 million hectares of land, with the focus being the Peat
Hydrological Units (Kesatuan Hidrologis Gambut/ KHG).
Peat ecosystem data is
very important, as it can be used to identify and intervene degraded peatland
based on the causes of degradation. Using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology,
very detailed ecosystem data can be obtained including topographic data, land cover,
hydrological conditions, and carbon content estimates.
Observation points of
peat water level have been established, that is eight in South Sumatra, seven
each in Riau, Jambi, and Central Kalimantan, and one in West Kalimantan. The
water level data can be accessed in real time modes. Monitoring the peatland
water level is important to identify potential fires and forests. Drained
peatlands is a trigger for forest fires that have been a relatively persistent
problem for Indonesia. The restoration measures are relatively comprehensive. Not
just wetting, trying to restore the peat ecosystem, making the community a vanguard
for sustainable peatland management, but also early prevention of fire
disasters.
Another initiative to
support peat management in Indonesia and other tropical countries is the
development of Tropical Peatland Research Centre (TPRC) to serve as a
networking platform. The development of TPC in Indonesia is very strategic as
Indonesia has extensive experiences in managing and conserving tropical peatland
and has plenty of research and development agencies working on peatland that
can be the backbones of the centre. The proposed scopes of the TPC are:
1.
Database
Development
2.
Networking
and Research collaboration
3.
Paludiculture,
Agroforestry, & Restoration techniques
4.
Utilization
zone of Peat Hydrological Unity (PHU) for social forestry
5.
Tenure
allocation in the utilisation function of PHU
6.
Strengthening
method of GHG emission estimation on peatland
7.
Conservation
and sustainable peatland management
8.
Bio-technology
for mitigating peatland fire
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