NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL

Our society does not have an impressive record for safe disposal of industrial wastes. We have polluted our water and air, and some land areas have become virtually uninhabitable because of the improper burial of chemical wastes. As a result, many people are wary about the radioactive wastes from nuclear reactors. The potential threats of cancer and genetic mutations make these materials especially frightening.

Because of its controversial nature, most of the nuclear waste generated over the past 50 years has been placed in temporary storage. However, in 1982 the U.S. Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which established a timetable for choosing and preparing sites for the deep underground disposal of radioactive materials.

BEST PRACTICES OF PEATLAND MANAGEMENT

BEST PRACTICES OF PEATLAND MANAGEMENT

Indonesia’s peatlands have been utilized since the end of 19th Century. Prior to 1920, Dayak rural communities in South Kalimantan have begun to manage shallow peatlands in the area behind the river bank (back swamp) which they call the lawau and manage it for rain-fed rice fields (Suwardi et al., 2005). The river area is a fertile area because it is influenced by sediment runoff from rivers. Basically Dayak people are very environmentally friendly. In managing the land, they have a rotating farming system that always maintains a balance with the utilization process following a natural cycle (Suwardi et al., 2005). They divide the lands into zones comprising settlement, bushes, harvested paddy field (jurungan), dry paddy field (pahumaan), plantations, sacred zones, and protected zones (kayuan). Sacred zones are customary protected zones that should not be cleared for agricultural land. When the agricultural land has become infertile, they will move to look for similar land in other places. After being left for 1-7 years the former fields will become bush and after 7-12 years the bush will become a forest. They will reopen the former field after 30 years, when it has become a forest again. This is done continuously and sustainably.

PEATLAND RESTORATION AGENCY: A SMART WAY TO OBTAIN A QUICK WIN

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.

PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

The ultimate goal of the sustainable development goals is to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Hence, managing peatlands should also comply with the goals. However, managing peatlands to provide livelihoods for local communities as well as to conduct intensive agriculture and forestry may contradict with the protection of the environment. The options are whether peatlands should be drained or to be sustainably managed.

MANAGING PEATLANDS, TO COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE: INDONESIA’S EXPERIENCES

Indonesia has over 15 million ha of peatlands, which is over 12% of its forest land spreading across islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. This is the largest tropical peat land in the world, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, with the peatland area reaches 9 million ha, and the Republic of Congo with the area reaches about 5.5 million ha (Miles et al., 2017).

Peatland can be defined as soil formed from the accumulation of organic matters such as the remnants of plant tissue that lasted for a long time (Kelompok Kerja Pengelolaan Lahan Gambut Nasional, 2006). According to Government Regulation (GR) No. 71 of 2014 that has been amended by GR No. 57 of 2016 on the Protection and Management of Peat Ecosystem, peatland is defined as a naturally occurring organic material of plant residues that decomposes imperfectly and accumulates in swamps. Furthermore, the regulation also defines peat ecosystem as the order of peatland components that forms an integrated system affecting one another and forming a balance, stability, and productivity.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR MANAGING PEATLAND

As indicated in the previous section, Indonesia does not only work by itself to mitigate problems in relation to peat management and peat fires. We also communicate and collaborate with other countries and international agencies to stop peat degradation and prevent peat fires. In the Southeast Asia Region, as the ASEAN member, Indonesia has ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Hazard Pollution (AATHP) through Law No. 26 of 2014 on AATHP Endorsement, dated 14 October 2014. AATHP aims to prevent and control cross-border smoke pollution as a result of land and/or forest fires particularly in peatlands that must be implemented through intensive national, regional and international efforts based on commitment, a spirit of partnership, and a tradition of solidarity to achieve peace, progress and prosperity among ASEAN countries.

INDONESIA’S PEATLAND GOVERNANCE

A huge task. In the past, Indonesia experienced unsustainable peatland management leading to the degradation of peatland and peat fires. Thinking over the negative impacts resulted from peat degradation and fires, the government of Indonesia has prioritized the protection and sustainable management of peatlands, including the restoration of heavily degraded peatlands. Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2015 on the Suspension of New Licenses and the Improvement of Primary Forest and Peatland Governance or commonly referred to as Inpres Moratorium is a monumental decision reflecting the commitment of Indonesian government to reform its peatland and forest management. It has targeted the postponement of formal licenses for companies. The coverage of peatlands and primary forests affected by this policy has been mapped and update every six months. This political will has been supported or followed up by other regulations, including:

PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION (NDC)

Peatland is a storage of huge amount of carbon. It is estimated that peat can contain about 6 tonnes per hectare of 1 cm depth. Overall, Indonesian peatlands stores about 46 Giga tons, or about 8-14% of the carbon stored in the world peatlands. It is this carbon content that has become source of problems due to its emission when burnt, and at the same time also become a potential solution if well managed, in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In our First National Determined Contribution submitted to the UNFCCC, 17% or over half of the 29% of the emission reduction target, comes from land based sector, which are mainly forest and peatlands.

EARTH’S CLIMATE HISTORY

Climate is not a static set of weather conditions, constant over eons; rather it varies, sometimes in dramatic ways, over time. The hot climate of the newlyformed Earth gave way to glaciers in a little more than a billion years, an immense time by human reckoning, but not nearly so long by geological standards. Earth’s climate has alternated many times between hot and cold periods of varying magnitudes. Radiation from the Sun, the ocean currents, rainfall, wind, continental drift, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, volcanic activity, radioactivity in the Earth’s core, the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit around the sun, the tilt of Earth’s axis, and photosynthesis all affect climate. Climate has not one, but, rather, myriad causes. Disentangling these causes is not easy, but it is necessary to understanding why climate changes over time. The current climate is warming. The culprit, carbon dioxide, has been increasing in the atmosphere, driving up temperature, and prompting speculation over Earth’s future climate.

DAMPAK MERKURI TERHADAP MANUSIA DAN LINGKUNGAN

Sebagian besar merkuri yang terdapat di alam ini dihasilkan oleh sisa industri dalam jumlah ± 10.000 ton setiap tahunnya. Penggunaan merkuri sangat luas di mana ± 3.000 jenis kegunaan dalam industri pengolahan bahan-bahan kimia, proses pembuatan obat-obatan yang digunakan oleh manusia serta sebagai bahan dasar pembuatan insektisida untuk pertanian (Christian et al dalam Alfian, 2006).

Gambar 1. Diagram aliran merkuri di biosfer