Comment: Fires in Russia and Indonesia

Published on The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com)

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 08/31/2010 4:45 PM | readers forum
Aug. 24, p. 6: The recent heat waves and resulting fires in West and Central Russia were said to be the worst in Russian history. Indeed, this event corresponds with the fact that global temperature in 2010 have been the warmest on record, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). However, closer examination reveals that the outbreak of fire in Russia were similar to Indonesia’s experience — particularly in 1998 and 2006 — when peat land fires caused incidents of regional haze that affected other ASEAN countries. (By Sofiah Jamil, Singapore).

Your comments:
It seems quite funny to learn that a recommendation proposed by the author of the article above concerning the necessity to introduce a “Peat land Irrigation Initiatives” measure in order to combat peat land fires. I think the author has, to a certain extent, a limited understanding about one of the most important root causes of peat fires, which is over-drainage problems. Once peat lands are drained, there is a greater possibility for fire to occur as peat becomes drier and susceptible to combustion.
One proper strategy to resolve the over-drained peat lands is through keeping the ground water table and surface water levels as high as possible, especially during the dry season, so that the peat remains wet and humid making it difficult to ignite. A good measure to maintain the water table and surface water levels is through closing or block all open canals constructed in the peatlands.
A “closed dam” approach is well recognized as a proper technical measure to prevent peat lands from being drained to excess. The closed dam system is somewhat different to irrigation systems in terms of its function. The former is built in order to overwhelm water shortage, while, the latter is to release excess water storage from the system. Hence, proposing irrigation systems for combating fire in peatland seems to me has a contradictory to efforts restoring degraded peat lands. To reduce the occurrence of fires in peat lands simply involves stopping stop any kind of peatland drainage, including canals or ditch digging as well as stopping peat land conversion to other land uses.

Alue Dohong
Palangka Raya,
Central Kalimantan
— JP

Letter: The failed rice field project

Published on The Jakarta Post (http://www.thejakartapost.com)

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 08/26/2010 5:20 PM | readers forum
I personally welcome the policy on banning of peatland conversion (“Govt says no to converting peatland into plantations”, Aug. 23) to other land uses and I do hope the government is serious and consistent with its policy.
However, apart from banning the conversion of natural peat swamps and forests, I strongly urge the central government to pay serious attention and to implement serious efforts in rehabilitating and restoring the former One Million Hectares Peatland Project in Central
Kalimantan (the so-called ex- Mega Rice Project).
As the central government was the creator of this terrible project, they must take responsibility to rehabilitate and to restore this degraded ecosystem. The ex-Mega Rice Project has created huge economic, sociocultural and environmental negative impacts to the local people for more than 10 years and the central government has
done little on the ground to resolve these problems.
If the Indonesian government will adhere to its commitment to reduce CO2 emission up to 26 percent by the year 2020, about half of this target can be achieved just from dealing with the ex-Mega Rice Project.
With regard to the criteria of peat conservation based on the depth of the peat, the regulation needs to be revised, as this criterion is scientifically unjustified and awkward. The proper criteria are dependent on the type of subsoil underneath the peat. Although the peat depth is just half a meter, for example, the subsoil underneath constitutes a sand layer, thus we need to protect this kind of peatland; otherwise we will create a new desert should we convert it.
As for the government policy on ecosystem restoration, with particular reference to the peatland issue, if this policy is applied to the peat swamp ecosystem, it will create a new problem. Ecosystem restoration only applies to land with production forest status, not with conservation and protection status, which means that ecosystem restoration is intended for increasing forest production in the future e.g. timber. If we promote the ecosystem restoration approach within the peatland/peat swamp forest ecosystem, it will in jeopardize all our efforts to protect the peat swamp forests in the future. It is better to do nothing on the peatland/peat swamp forest ecosystem, if we think of what the policy would really mean.

Alue Dohong
Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan
— JP

Letter: REDD governance

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 08/06/2010 4:53 PM | readers forum
This is a comment on an article titled “Untangling the web of REDD governance, (The JakartaPost, Aug. 3, p. 22).
Establishment of a special REDD+ council to me seems quite narrow-minded and pointless. Why not focus our efforts to empower the current institution setting, for instance, focusing on the DPNI (National climate change council) to become stronger, the Designated National Authority for handling climate change mitigation, and adaptation efforts including the REDD+ initiative as part of its governance role and responsibility.
One strategic step forward to empower the DNPI as a strong DNA is through strengthening the current “Presidential Decree” rule basis into higher ones such as a Government Regulation (PP) or even an act (UU), which puts a clear and strong mandate, and authorities and responsibilities on them to handle and manage all initiatives on the climate change issue including through a market-based mechanism such as REDD+.

Alue Dohong
Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan

Soros Kaget Lihat Kerusakan Lahan Gambut Kalteng - Banjarmasinpost.co.id

Soros Kaget Lihat Kerusakan Lahan Gambut Kalteng - Banjarmasinpost.co.id