The challenge
Degraded Indonesian peatlands cause environmental harm
An estimated 97% of Indonesia’s peatlands are degrading. Caught in a dangerous feedback loop where climate change accelerates their breakdown, which contributes to climate change.
These peatlands gained global attention due to several widespread fire events, notably in 2008 and 2015. Millions of people lost their lives or livelihoods, and neighbouring countries suffered harmful haze. Economic losses surpassed US$120 billion. These fires were a result of recent and accelerated land conversion for agriculture and plantation forestry in the name of food security and economic development. This sort of conversion necessitates draining peatlands, leading to decomposition, oxidation (carbon dioxide release) and flammability.
When peatlands burn, they release far more carbon dioxide (and more dangerous haze) than forest fires. Peat fires are hard to extinguish because they burn underground. The Indonesian government responded with the creation of an ad-hoc agency called the peatland restoration agency. Their job was to ensure fires were no longer a threat. They aimed to re-wet, re-vegetate, and revitalise livelihoods, to restore more than 2 million of Indonesia's 13 million hectares of peatlands.
Our response
Building knowledge for peatland recovery
By request of the Indonesian government, CSIRO was commissioned by The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), to provide scientific support to their restoration efforts. We partnered with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), NGOs and private sector stakeholders.
Together we designed a research program (Gambut Kita) that would lead to better understanding of the biophysical and social conditions conducive to restoration. We aimed to contribute to restoration success in an integrated way – which included limiting carbon dioxide emissions and fires, conserving biodiversity, and improving peoples' livelihoods.
It became clear that traditional approaches to restoration were not sufficient. Planting crops continued to bring people deeper into vulnerability, and rewetting was not sustainable due to the lack of interest. A core component of the work was to tie lessons together of the more than 120 research scientists involved in the work, to build a roadmap for restoration.
The results
Embracing nature positive transitions
Restoration cost the government many billions of dollars, but lasting success remained difficult to achieve. Our research indicated that the challenge wasn't technical capacity but lay in how peatlands were valued within the broader economic system.
We worked with the government and emerging carbon economy players to reimagine restoration as a nature-positive economic pathway, rather than as a 'costly' project to fund. In consultation with Ministries, the Indonesian President's office, local companies and communities, we clarified a pathway forward.
Indonesia's policymakers are now pursuing regulations and tenures with a view to catalysing the nature positive economy and rewarding stewardship of peatlands. This involves local social forestry tenures that act as conduits for international carbon economy projects, and large multi-purpose forest licences that staple multiple values of nature together, in meaningful partnerships with local communities, in carbon and nature markets. The government now sees a way to grow the economy while tackling peatland degradation and is actively discussing how to make this nature-positive vision a reality.
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We have deep expertise and capabilities in transitions to nature positive. We deploy integrated skills and technologies in social and natural capital assessments and accounting, and in the learning mechanisms key to transformative approaches to tackling your biggest sustainability challenges.