Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Can REDD+ Save Central Kalimantan’s Peatlands?


By Alue Dohong

Since the emergence of REDD+ scheme in the climate change mitigation discourse, there is a high hope that this new climate mechanism will do a lot to tackle deforestation and forest degradation issues including peatlands. REDD+ scheme is often perceived as an effective and cheaper market-based mechanism to halt current deforestation and forest degradation rates in tropical forest states. In addition, the presence of REDD+ is desirable to provide co-benefits to boost local economic as well as promoting the protection of endemic and rare biodiversity from extinction threat.
Despite unresolved political and technical issues that currently surroundings REDD+ scheme development, however, many stakeholders still put their high expectation that this new scheme can be shortly put in place and prove its effectiveness in resolving deforestation and forest degradation issues.

About more than 50% out of 3.01 million hectares peatlands in Central Kalimantan is under degradation state. This degradation rate is driven by peat forest conversion, drainage and repeated fires. Conversion of peat forest to oil palm plantation, agriculture and tree plantation and so forth is often seen as major responsible for peatlands destruction and degradation in the province. In addition, construction of drainage along with peat forest conversion activities has scaled up the degradation magnitude, which in turn puts peatlands under continuous and steady depletion. The rate of Central Kalimantan’s peatlands degradation is predicted upsurge in coming years if there is no viable and effective measures put in place to stall the above major drivers.

The presence of REDD+ and the selection of Central Kalimantan as a REDD+ pilot province by national government provide a good chance for answering peatland deforestation and degradation challenges in the province. The next question is whether or not REDD+ scheme is capable and be an effective means to ease current peatlands degradation trend? The answer upon above question is relatively difficult, but REDD+ could be proper answer if it satisfies the following conditions, criteria and indicators.

Firstly, REDD+ manages to promote the protection of remnant peat forest from further conversion, drainage and fires. There are about 1.5 million hectares of peat forest is still in good and pristine conditions and around 40% out of this figure, by law is under protection and conservation status. Although their protection status is clear, however, there is no guarantee that this protected peat swamp forest is free from encroachment and degradation threats. Hence, REDD+ can be judged as an effective means if succeeded to ensure current peat forest is free from new perturbations.

Secondly, REDD+ enables to rehabilitate and to restore at a minimum 50% of existing degraded peatlands. As aforementioned, more than 1.5 million hectares peatlands in Central Kalimantan under degradation state and REDD+ will be appreciated as an effective method in saving Central Kalimantan peatland if managed to rehabilitate and to restore a minimum 750,000 hectares of current Central Kalimantan’s degraded peatlands.

Thirdly, REDD+ facilitates the provision of alternative livelihoods and create better income for about 300,000 poor people that are currently relied their source of livelihoods and incomes from peatland resources (timber, NTFPs, fishery, etc.). REDD+ will be seen as an effective means if it could compensate the potential lost of local communities opportunity costs result from shifting their current business as usual activities into protection, conservation and restoration of peatlands under REDD+ scheme.

Fourthly, REDD+ facilitates the resolution of current tenurial conflicts as well as strengthening land ownership status of local communities upon their lands. Unclear tenurial system and unfavourable ownership scheme toward local people are often seen as a major source of land use conflicts in the peatlands areas in Central Kalimantan, and those issues have directly and indirectly contribute to the degradation of existing peatlands. REDD+ will be perceived as an effective model if it could relief the current tenurial and land ownership issues.

Fifthly, REDD+ will not undermine the rights of landowners and local communities upon their natural assets and other ecosystem services attach to it. Legacy of a REDD+ activity within community land is not automatically the transfer of whole natural physical asset and its ecosystem services rights from landowner or/and local communities to the REDD+ buyers/funders.   REDD+ credits buyers are just eligible to own or trade the financial asset (Certified Emission Reductions) that generates only from regulation service (carbon for climate regulation), while the other peatland services such water, timbers, NTFPs, tourism and socio-culture are still belong to and under ownership as well as jurisdiction of land owners and local communities. This condition is also applied to the physical/land asset where REDD+ activities taken place. If REDD+ scheme is guaranteed the protection of landowners and/or local people rights upon their natural assets and its ecosystem services, then, REDD+ scheme will receive positive welcome as means to save peatland in Central Kalimantan.  

Sixthly, REDD+ is capable to influence and redirect stakeholders' exploitative mind-set into sustainable and wise use ways ones when managing peatlands resources. One of the root causes of peatlands destruction in Central Kalimantan is stemmed from exploitative attitude of related stakeholders toward peatlands resources. This mistaken attitude results from stakeholders’ lack of knowledge and understanding upon other peatlands ecosystem services functions and values apart from just timber production function. As a result, there is a tendency and attempts to convert peat swamp and peatlands areas into other land uses if such standing timbers getting less on the ground, while on the other hand, they disregarding the existence of other use and non-use values. Hence, if REDD+ is able to change existing stakeholders’ productive mindset into more adaptive and sustainable ones, then, REDD+ will be a successful approach to save Central Kalimantan’s Peatlands.

Seventhly, REDD+ is proven effective in facilitating and improving local policy changing toward peatland conservation, protection and sustainable management and practice. Many sectoral and local policies are currently less favourable toward conservation, protection and sustainable use of peatlands. These policies are signified peatlands destruction in Central Kalimantan and if there is no viable policy improvement put in place, the future of peatlands resource in the region will be under great pressure. REDD+ scheme can play a leading role in changing and redirect current policies into new direction that favour toward conservation, protection and sustainable use of peatlands, and if such preceding aspiration is captured accurately by REDD+, then the future of peatlands in Central Kalimantan will be good chance to save.

Eighthly, REDD+ scheme succeeds in promoting and mainstreaming the value of endemic and rare biodiversity (both flora and fauna) that exists in peatlands areas into protection and conservation policy measures. Many endemic, charismatic and rare peatlands biodiversity are only found and exist in peatlands ecosystem, however, they are under extinction threats owing to improper peatlands management policy and practises.  Therefore, if REDD+ scheme is able to apprehend the issue of biodiversity protection and channel it into peatlands protection policy measures then, this scheme will be appreciated for its role in protecting and conserving peatlands biodiversity in Central Kalimantan. 

Finally, REDD+ is ample to explore economic benefits and attach financial values onto other indirect use and non-use values of peatlands. Out of timber and other NTFPs, there are huge potential economic and financial values that peatlands ecosystem services offered and served for humanity needs, however, most values of these services are not captured and reflected adequately in the human utility basket due to market failure and information gaps. Consequently, both economic and financial values of those indirect and non-use peatlands ecosystem services are often undervalued, which further leads to the disregards of these services values in the economic and financial decision making processes.  Hence, if REDD+ scheme to be champion of Central Kalimantan peatlands protection, it should able to boost other indirect use and non-use peatlands values into stakeholders economic and financial decisions.

To sum up, it is probably too earlier to say that REDD+ scheme is an effective and proper answer for saving Central Kalimantan’ peatlands from destruction and depletion threats. But it is also a naïve presumption to conclude that REDD+ has no opportunity and room for improving peatlands management practise in the province. Therefore, prior a conclusion is made, there is necessary to develop successful criteria and indictor by including aforementioned nine aspects and apply this evaluation tool when assessing the magnitude REDD+ successful.

Monday, April 23, 2012

My Name Is Peatlands

Please allow me to introduce myself my name is tropical peatlands. People call me peatlands since I normally cover land (mineral, clay or sand) with my peat soil and I usually occur in the waterlogged situation. In tropical climate regime, I mostly contain organic matters that come from death stems, tree branches, tree roots, leaves and etc and is usually accumulated gradually, but very slow for hundred and even thousand years result from very slow decomposition processes due to my water is very acid and oxygen is limited or even absent. High acidity and limited oxygen result in just very few composer bacterials can survive in my system. My peat soil is commonly existed and accumulated in between two rivers systems and trapping behind these two rivers's levee. When move further away from behind the river bank I gradually become deeper and thicker and establish a peat dome in the centre part of the system. My dome is generally characterized by very poor nutrients as its mostly receives nutrient supply only from rainfalls and the vegetation species is become fewer and their diameters are getting smaller? Why these vegetations  are become fewer and smaller? The answer is because nutrient competition is high and each species receive less nutrient uptake and therefore their growths are slower. It should be noted, however, my dome is played extremely important as hydrological unit that control and regulate hydrological of my whole system. My dome keeps excess water during the rainy season and release back this excess slowly to my system during the dry season. That why if my ecosystem is in pristine condition and no viable perturbations, there would be less floods and drought issues. Although, I recognize as marginal and infertile land, however, many endemic and rare plants species are used my ecosystem as their lovely homes and those plants relied their survive and sustainability with my existence and sustainability too. Hence, if my ecosystem is under threat, thus, endemic and rare plants will also facing blur future. In addition, my ecosystem is also favourbake and sweet homes for many endemic and charismatic fauna, avifauna and mammals such Orang Utan (Pongopygmous), Proboscys monkey, long-tail monkey, sun bear, wild board, king fisher fish, eagle, duck, etc. My plants and other materials provide foods and materials for those to survive and sustain their life. Hence, if my ecosystem is under threat, those precious biodiversity will also under jeopardy. My ecosystem provides range of values and services to both human and non-human creatures in terms ecological, socio-economic and socio-cultural. My service to regulate water and climate, for example, is played important role to control floods and drought as well as to mitigate climate change issue through my role in sequester and sink carbon dioxide in my peat soil and vegetation. As most (60-80%) of my soil structure is contained organic matters (carbon), I play important function to sink and hold carbon from released to the atmosphere, thus, I provide service to ease climate change impacts at local up to global. In addition, I also provide services to satisfy human needs such as through supplying water, lumber, meat protein, medical plants etc that are very important for human to sustain their life in this universe. Without my services above, I assume that both human and non-human livings will also facing problems to survive and sustain their existence. Finally, I also serve services in terms of socio-culture to human such as my ecosystem can be ecotourism object that satisfies human enjoyment and pleasure. My ecosystem also can act as source for pursuing and invention of new knowledge and science that benefited both for human, non-human and scientific development itself. Considering my vital and strategic values and services as aforementioned, hence, it is sensibly enough for human to protect and maintain my ecosystem not only for the seek of to sustain my values and services, but also to sustain human existence too. These days, however, my ecosystem is under threat and destruction result from unsustainable and unwise economic development policies and anthropogenic activities. In Indonesia, for instance, as a home for about 80% tropical peatlands, I experience destruction overtime due to conversion to other land uses, drainage and fires. More than 1.5 million hectares of my ecosystem have been converted for agriculture fields and oil plan plantations in Central Kalimantan itself, and this figure is not included similar conversion in other region such as in Sumatera and Papua.  Removal of my valuable vegetations such as Ramin (Gonystylus), Meranti (Shorea), Belangiran (Shorea belangiran),etc for log production has created devastated negative impacts and changed my vegetation structure and composition, and at the end created disruption over whole my ecosystem. Construction of massive drainage networks in association with logging activities has disturbed my hydrological functions and services that leads to further degradation result from subsidence and irreversible drying of my peat soil. This disturbance at the end will severe the local, regional and global climate change due to substantial CO2 emissions released as consequences of this subsidence and peat drying.  Conversion to oil palm plantation and other tree plantation subsequent to logging activities has even devastated negative impacts to my ecosystem. Removal of whole vegetations  and replace this with completely single and invasive species such as oil palm or eucalyptus has disturbed and disrupted properties of my hydro-ecological and vegetation structure, hence, this will lead to the disturbance and degradation of my ecosystem. As to establish an oil palm plantation on my peat soil, there is a necessary to lower my water table to certain level that enable palm oil to growth and produce good yield. So as to achieve this goal, therefore, drainage network is required in order to control and manage my water at desired levels. Lowering my water table,  thus, will facilitate the subsidence and drying out my peat soil that at the end will destroy my whole ecosystem.  Following the removal and drainage activities, my ecosystem is normally susceptible to repeated fires as degraded peat is commonly acted as source of fire fuels notably during the dry season. Peat fires have major impacts to the climate change as it releases substantial CO2 emission result from peat combustion and burning vegetation. And thus, peat fires are absolutely one of the major contributors of the climate change issues. In addition, peat fires are very difficult to deal with as it commonly occurs beneath the peat surface (underground fire), thus, huge water source is required to put it out, whereas water source availability is major problem during the dry periods. Considering my future and treats that I am facing overtime, I call for the implementation of wise use and responsible peatland management needs to put in place. Without, adequate wise use and responsible measures, I do believe that my ecosystem will be come part of bad story side of human existence in this universe. Policy and regulation, market-based and voluntary measures that are favorable toward my protection, conservation and wise use are now needed to be discussed thoroughly by stakeholders to ensure both existence myself and human & non-human in the planet. Save me now or lost your humanity story.

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