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HIGHLIGHTS

• Adaptive doing was utilised for developing a shared understanding, of tropical peatswamp restoration and fire in Indonesia.

• Research participants described different understanding of tropical peatswamp forests and fire.

• Participants’ experiences, training, and culture (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) shaped their individual understanding.

• The shared understanding of the team was different than the individual understanding of each participant.

• Adaptive doing can help to link conservation practices, recognise different assumptions, decolonise research, and engage Indigenous and

local communities.

SUMMARY

Indigenous and traditional peoples, practitioners and researchers navigate complex social ecological landscapes. The importance of dialogue

across cultures, languages, disciplines, and forms of knowledge is increasingly recognised as needed in landscape restoration and environmental

governance at multiple scales. A process called adaptive doing was used in two workshops in South Kalimantan Province, followed by

remote collaboration among team members in Indonesia and Australia. Examining the breadth of differences in culture, language and knowledge,

and recognising assumptions and disciplinary training, enabled each participant to develop a shared understanding of tropical peatswamp forest

restoration and fires. The shared understanding extended beyond each participant’s original conception and provided a collective vision that

brought together the different knowledges, cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, while acting as a point of orientation for the work and purpose

within a research project. The experience gained through adaptive doing has led to important collaborative changes in the project and can

support future interdisciplinary teams to achieve collaborative practice change and a shared understanding of context.

View Document​

Policy options for enhancing the effectiveness of the burning prohibition

Dr Ida Aju Pradnja Resosudarmo and Prof. Luca Tacconi

Research highlights

  • Forest and land fires is a complex issue.
  • There are some underlying problems with the strict no burning prohibition and its enforcement.
  • Villagers who utilise fires often have limited or no alternative viable cropping options.
  • There are tensions between protecting human health and the environment through effective fire management and peatland protection and maintaining the livelihoods and economic independence of villagers.

Pilihan kebijakan untuk meningkatkan efektivitas larangan membakar

Dr Ida Aju Pradnja Resosudarmo dan Prof. Luca Tacconi

Pokok penting penelitian

  • Kebakaran hutan dan lahan merupakan masalah yang kompleks.
  • Ada beberapa masalah mendasar dengan larangan membakar yang ketat dan penegakannya.
  • Penduduk desa yang memanfaatkan api seringkali memiliki pilihan yang terbatas atau tidak memiliki alternatif penanaman yang layak.
  • Ada ketegangan antara melindungi kesehatan masyarakat dan lingkungan melalui pengelolaan kebakaran dan perlindungan lahan gambut yang efektif dan mempertahankan mata pencaharian dan kemandirian ekonomi penduduk desa.
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Abstract: Tropical peatlands are fragile ecosystems with an important role in conserving biodiversity,

water quality and availability, preventing floods, soil intrusion, erosion and sedimentation, and

providing a livelihood for people. However, due to illegal logging, fire and conversion into other

land use, the peatlands in Indonesia are under serious threat. Efforts to restore Indonesia’s tropical

peatlands have been accelerated by the establishment of the Peatland Restoration Agency in early

2016. The restoration action policy includes the rewetting, revegetation and revitalisation of local

livelihood (known as the 3Rs). This paper summarises the regulatory, institutional and planning

aspects of peatland restoration, in addition to the implementation of the 3Rs in Indonesia, including

failures, success stories, and the criteria and indicators for the success of peatland restoration.

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Abstract.

Fire activity is declining globally due to intensifying land management, but trends remain

uncertain for the humid tropics, particularly Equatorial Asia. Here, we report that rates of fire

events deemed severe (≥75th severity percentile of 2002-2019) and very severe (≥90th

percentile) for Indonesia declined 19-27% and 23-34% over 2002-2019, respectively, controlling

for precipitation, where fire-event severity is given by total fire radiative power and

duration. The severity of seasonal fire activity – a measure of extremeness – declined 16% in

Sumatra and moderately elsewhere. Declines concentrated over mosaic croplands and

nearby forest, accounting for one-fifth and one-quarter of fire activity, respectively, with each

class contracting 11% amongst severe fire events. Declines were limited over mosaic lands

with relatively limited cropping, despite accounting for a similar extent and one-fifth share of

fire activity. Declines had an uncertain association with agricultural development but seemingly

reflect related political and economic forces for economic and environmental security.

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Abstract. Peat fires in Southeast Asia are a major source of trace gases and particles to the regional-global

atmosphere that influence atmospheric chemistry, climate, and air quality. During the November 2015 recordhigh

Ocean Niño Index (ONI, 2.6) our mobile smoke sampling team made the first, or rare, field measurements

of numerous trace gases, aerosol optical properties, and aerosol chemistry and mass emissions for fires burning

only peat in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan (on the island of Borneo). The measurements

used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), whole air sampling (WAS), photoacoustic extinctiometers

(PAX, 401 and 870 nm), and detailed off-line analyses of particulate matter (PM) collected on filters. In

September–November 2019 we measured peat fire trace gas emissions again, using WAS only, under El Niño–

Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-neutral conditions (ONI, 0.3) in more remote areas of Central Kalimantan and also

the Indonesian provinces of Riau, Jambi, and South Sumatra, all on the island of Sumatra. The 2019 measurements

significantly expanded the geographic range and climate conditions sampled. This paper presents the 2019

results and synthesizes them with the previous fieldwork to converge on more robust regional average emission

factors (EFs; grams of compound per kilogram of biomass burned) for authentic peat fires. In addition, samples

of peat imported from Indonesia were burned in US laboratories, and the EFs and optical properties were characterized

in more detail than in the field by a larger suite of instrumentation. We use the improved knowledge

of regional emissions based on the expanded field measurements to select the most representative lab data and

compute a synthesized, more “chemically complete” set of EFs and aerosol optical properties for tropical peat

fires.

The modified combustion efficiency (MCE) values for the peat smoke sampled in 2019 were within the range

of MCEs sampled in 2015, but with a lower average in 2019 (0:718 0:021, range 0.687–0.736) than 2015

(0:772 0:035, range 0.693–0.835). Averaging the new and older data together suggests an updated MCE for

tropical peat fires of   0:76. Despite the difference in MCE, the study-average methane emission factors (EF

CH4) were remarkably similar across the 2 years probing different regions: 9:42 2:51 g kg􀀀1 in 2019 and

9:51 4:74 g kg􀀀1 in 2015. When parsing the 2019 samples by province, the EFs for non-methane organic

gases (NMOGs) were about 3 times higher in South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan than in Jambi and Riau,

but the overall 2019 study average was only   15% higher than the 2015 study average. South Sumatra peat fires

emitted higher amounts of carbonyl and dimethyl sulfide, suggesting a volcanic or marine influence or effects

of agricultural chemicals. The lab and fieldwork taken together provide EFs for 230 trace gases including CO2

(1544 g kg􀀀1), CO (315 g kg􀀀1), and CH4 (9.8 g kg􀀀1). These are significant adjustments to IPCC-recommended

EFs, 􀀀9 %, C50 %, and 􀀀53 %, respectively. We also report EFs for numerous NMOGs, 46 N-containing compounds,

and 14 sulfur- or halogen-containing species. The use of high-resolution mass spectrometry in the lab

allowed measurement of 82% more NMOG mass than in the field. Gravimetrically measured EF PM2:5 in the

field in 2015 (17:3 5:8 g kg􀀀1) was   20% lower than the average from lab studies (22:4 10:4 g kg􀀀1), perhaps

due to higher field temperatures. Taken together the lab and field data show that the single-scattering albedo

(SSA) was largely independent of wavelength and MCE in the visible (  0:998), but lower at low MCE at 401

and 405 nm with a value of 0.958 at the study-average MCE. The absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) at the average MCE was 5.7. By far the largest PM component was weakly absorbing insoluble organic carbon.

 

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Abstract.

Community engagement and integrated research are key approaches to solving complex

socio-ecological challenges. This paper describes the experience of bringing together a team

of natural and social scientists from Australia and Indonesia in the ‘Gambut Kita’ (translated

as ‘Our Peat’) project. Gambut Kita aims to produce new knowledge and support efforts to

successfully, and equitably, restore Indonesia’s tropical peatlands and ensure that livelihoods

can be maintained on restored (rewetted) landscapes. The paper focuses on experiences of

using community engagement for integrated research. It discusses three community

engagement approaches used in the project—resilience, adaptation pathways and transformation

approach (RAPTA), participatory rural appraisal (PRA), and community-led analysis

and planning (CLAP). It also describes the qualitative analysis of 14 interviews with the

project team of lessons learned in community engagement for integrated research. ‘Criteria

for success’ from the literature on international development projects is used to assess

progress. The findings highlight the specific complexities of working across countries and

cultures. Successful community engagement is not so much about the ‘tool’ but about the

trust, agency, and support to change. The tools do, however, have different strengths. PRA

and CLAP can build deep community understanding and relationships. RAPTA has strengths

in framing visions and pathways to the future, systems thinking, anticipatory learning, and

taking a cross-scale systems view which is required to solve many of the problems manifesting

at local or community scales. Similarly, success in integrated research is not just about

individuals, but structures (e.g. explicit process) and infrastructure (e.g. access to technology).

These findings suggest that integrated research needs special considerations in terms

of design, and these relate across scales to individual researchers as well as teams, leaders

and organisations. Integrated research projects need careful, inclusive, iterative management

with a lot of interaction to learn from each other, build a common vision, achieve clarity of

roles, and share emerging findings.

View Document​

Abstract. Restoration of degraded peatland has proven to be complex and many activities that have been initiated in recent years have not had a significant impacted on restoring peatland condition. Revitalization activities that have been carried out in several locations have not been effective. Likewise, rewetting actions were often poorly understood by the community. This research aimed to analyze land use-based peatland restoration opportunities and challenges in Kayu Labu village, South Sumatra. Survey methods and interviews with the stakeholders were applied to collect primary data in the field. The results showed that although Kayu Labu has been designated as one of the focus villages for restoration by the Peatland Restoration Agency, the restoration efforts to date have not significantly impacted on people’s lives. The community has not widely known the implementation of the programs, and only those who were directly involved in the activities were aware of the peatland restoration program. Several opportunities are available to support the implementation of land use-based peatland restoration in Kayu Labu: the community has a strong willingness and commitment to restore their peatlands because they have suffered badly from peatland fires in the past. The community also acknowledges the loss of their livelihoods due to peatland degradation, especially for purun craftsmen, gelam collectors, and fishers. There are also opportunities from government and research programs to be implemented in this area to support peatland restoration. However, there are still challenges that must be faced: the increasingly massive expansion of oil palm plantations by clearing the peatlands, the lack of knowledge about peatland, and there is a general feeling from the community that without peatland their lives would be better off because they could grow diverse crops with higher yields. Therefore, capacity building, communication and knowledge enhancement, and

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Abstract. Grass density and moisture content in peatlands are important factors in fire management and for the protection of fire prone areas. If relevant data is available, it can be used as an early warning system. In this study, a replicated trial that includes vegetation analysis of understorey species and measurement of moisture content have undertaken in 1x1 m plots, and it is used to obtain a representative image of field condition of six grasslands in Riding village and Kayulabu village, Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra. Base on this study , the average grass moisture content in the wet season is 70.2%, a non-flammable condition. The grass will decrease continuously in dry season to extreme dry conditions and become highly flammable. The average grass fresh biomass in Riding village, Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra is 8.6 ton/ha, equivalent to 1.3 ton/ha dry biomass which is potentially a highly flammable fine fuel. This is associated with a positively reinforcing feedback loop between burning and grazing. In dry condition, that conditions is stimulated for forest peat fire.

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Abstract. Fire danger rating systems (FDRS) are a critical tool, used around the world to help

predict and prevent wildfires. Forest and land fires are a severe problem in Indonesia, with smoke

and haze production exacerbated by the country’s extensive tropical peatlands, many of which

are drained and burn almost annually. The Indonesian FDRS was established in 1999 under the

Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency, in partnership with other government

agencies, and is largely based on atmospheric data. Indonesia’s FDRS differentiates land types,

including peatlands, but only predicts surface fire risk, rather than the risk of peatland surface

fires becoming below-ground peat fire – which emit greater amounts of haze-producing smoke.

This study proposes how Indonesia’s FDRS might be further developed to include below-ground

peat fire risk. This was achieved based on consultation with government agencies which manage

and provide data to Indonesia’s FDRS, and the establishment of a Peat FDRS Stakeholder

Engagement Network. We describe which biophysical, social-economic or atmospheric input

variables are needed in such a model to quantify the peat fire risk. We present what field data is

currently available (e.g. weather) and which factors require additional data collection, including

some aspects of land and social data, and, notably, bio-physical ground data on fuel loads and

fuel moisture content. Data is presented by type, historical availability, scale and reliability,

presented in a visually clear colour-coded table. This information can support the development

of a specific peat fire risk section within Indonesia’s current FDRS.

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A Community-Led Analysis and Planning (CLAP) process was conducted in Tumbang Nusa village, in Jabiren Raya Subdistrict, Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan Province on 14-17 March 2019.

This activity was the starting-point for ongoing community engagement for the ‘Gambut Kita’ project, otherwise known as ‘Improving Fire Management and Peatland Restoration in Indonesia’: a project funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

This village-based activity was facilitated by ten Key Informants from the village of Tumbang Nusa, assisted by a team consisting of eleven researchers from the Forestry and Environmental Research and Development (FOERDIA) plus one researcher
from RMIT, as well as a twelve-person community development team from Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS).

The purpose of this activity was to obtain a general overview regarding the current living conditions in the village, community development potentials, and current community concerns regarding aspects of village society, economy, infrastructure,
institutions, culture, health, education, religion, livelihoods, natural resource utilization and other factors.

The data and other outputs from this activity may now be used as a baseline reference for the entire project team to further consider the most suitable livelihoods to be developed and assisted during implementation of this long-term research project in Tumbang Nusa which focuses on peatland management and the control of unwanted peatland fires.

In this activity, a total of 15 analytical tools were used: a village walk, village history, trend analysis, seasonal calendar, wealth ranking, social map, village map, land use map, transect, economic matrix, institutional analysis, household analysis, data
consolidation, evening meetings, and a final meeting.

This document provides the detailed documentation of the results of the CLAP process, presented in chronological order, based on the stages of the CLAP as performed in Tumbang Nusa village.

View Document​

Description
‘GAMBUT KITA’OUTREACH & CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY (2018-21) Building Knowledge and Know how for Community Fire Management and Peatland Restoration in Indonesia

View Document​

Community engagement and integrated research are key approaches to solving complex
socio-ecological challenges. This paper describes the experience of bringing together a team
of natural and social scientists from Australia and Indonesia in the ‘Gambut Kita’ (translated
as ‘Our Peat’) project. Gambut Kita aims to produce new knowledge and support efforts to
successfully, and equitably, restore Indonesia’s tropical peatlands and ensure that livelihoods
can be maintained on restored (rewetted) landscapes. The paper focuses on experiences of
using community engagement for integrated research. It discusses three community
engagement approaches used in the project—resilience, adaptation pathways and transformation
approach (RAPTA), participatory rural appraisal (PRA), and community-led analysis
and planning (CLAP). It also describes the qualitative analysis of 14 interviews with the
project team of lessons learned in community engagement for integrated research. ‘Criteria
for success’ from the literature on international development projects is used to assess
progress. The findings highlight the specific complexities of working across countries and
cultures. Successful community engagement is not so much about the ‘tool’ but about the
trust, agency, and support to change. The tools do, however, have different strengths. PRA
and CLAP can build deep community understanding and relationships. RAPTA has strengths
in framing visions and pathways to the future, systems thinking, anticipatory learning, and
taking a cross-scale systems view which is required to solve many of the problems manifesting
at local or community scales. Similarly, success in integrated research is not just about
individuals, but structures (e.g. explicit process) and infrastructure (e.g. access to technology).
These findings suggest that integrated research needs special considerations in terms
of design, and these relate across scales to individual researchers as well as teams, leaders
and organisations. Integrated research projects need careful, inclusive, iterative management
with a lot of interaction to learn from each other, build a common vision, achieve clarity of
roles, and share emerging findings.

View Abstract
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 Description

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Description

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Description

 

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Abstract: Wildfires in Indonesia are an annual phenomenon which peak in dry El Nino years,

with up to 2.6 million ha of forest and land burnt in the drought year of 2015. This is an annual

disaster for the country and surrounding region, with severe impacts on the environment, as well

as human health, economic and social factors. Forest Management Units (FMUs, known locally

as Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan, KPH) are the implementation agencies on the ground that play

a strategic role in both the prevention and suppression of forest fires. FMUs are mandated to

establish a local fire brigade, to provide adequate personnel and equipment, and to carry out fire

prevention as well as suppression programs. This research aimed to analyze the performance of

forest fire-related policy implementation. The study was based on five FMUs in fire-prone regions of

Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra, Indonesia. The performance of the FMUs is measured by

achievement of the policy objectives and effectiveness of policy implementation. Our analysis shows

the policies, standards and objectives to manage fire are clear for FMUs, but there are challenges in

their implementation, such that fire control activities have not been fully implemented. Most FMUs

have limited capacity and resources, as well as complicated budget mechanisms and low community

participation. Strengthening FMU capacity will significantly improve their performance in forest fire

control, particularly in the initial stages. This can be done at three scales: personnel, organization

and system.

Keywords: forest management unit; tropical forest fire; policy on forest fire management; organization

capacity

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A B S T R A C T 

Over recent decades, the combination of deforestation, peat drainage and fires have resulted inwidespread degradation

of Southeast Asia's tropical peatlands. These disturbances are generally thought to increase peat soil bulk

density through peat drying and shrinkage, compaction, and consolidation. Biological oxidation and fires burning

across these landscapes also consume surface peat, exposing older peat strata. The prevalence and severity of deforestation,

peat drainage and fire are typically greater closer to canals, built to drain peatlands and provide access

routes for people.Wecompared bulk densities of 240 cmpeat profiles fromintact forests and degraded peatlands

broadly, and also assessed differences between degraded peatlands near-to-canals (50–200 m from the nearest

canal) and far-from-canals (300+mfromthe nearest canal). The effects of vegetation type and fire frequency on

bulk density, irrespective of the distance fromcanal,were also investigated.Mean bulk density values ranged between

0.08 and 0.16 g cm−3 throughout the 240 cm peat profiles. Drainage of peat near-to-canals increased bulk

density of peat above theminimumwater table depth. Degradation by deforestation and fire also increased bulk

densities of upper peat strata, albeit with greater variability. Peat sampled further from canals experienced less

intense water table drawdowns, buffering them from drainage effects. These areas were also more commonly

forested and burnt less frequently. Differences in bulk densities below minimum water table levels are less

clear, but may reflect lowering of the current peat surface in degraded peatlands broadly. These results clearly

show that important differences in bulk density exist across degraded peatlands that are spatially dependent

on distance from canals and disturbance history. These landscape features should be taken into account when

View Document​

Abstract:

Drainage and conversion of natural peatlands, which increases fire frequency, haze air pollution and carbon emissions, also

affects the physical and chemical properties of peat soils. Although there has been continued interest in research on tropical

peat soil properties, no attempt has yet been made to synthesise these results. We conducted a systematic literature review

and meta-analysis of sixty-six papers published in English language academic literature to explore the current state of

knowledge of peat soil properties of Southeast Asia and to compare physical and chemical peat properties (e.g. bulk density,

carbon content, pH) under different land uses and depths. Most of these studies were undertaken in Indonesia (56.1%) and

Malaysia (28.8%), where substantial tracts of peat soils occur. We extracted data from these papers to calculate the mean

of each peat property and compare results between land uses and depths. Linear mixed-effects models were used to test the

significance of land use and depth on each peat property. We found that bulk density (44 papers), carbon (C) content (43

papers), pH (42 papers) and nitrogen (N) content (39 papers) were the most widely reported, while other properties remain

less studied. Bulk density, pH, phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) showed significant differences between land uses and

depths. Fibre fraction, potassium (K), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) levels showed a significant difference between land uses only,

while N differed significantly only between soil depths. Other physical properties such as hydraulic conductivity, porosity,

woody fraction, amorphic fraction and chemical properties such as electrical conductivity (EC), C, ammonium (

NH4

+),

nitrate (

NO3

−), available nitrogen (available N), magnesium (Mg), aluminium (Al), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), sulphur

(S) and silicon (Si) showed no significant differences between land uses or depths. This review identifies key research gaps,

including underrepresented geographic areas and peat properties and highlights the need for standardised methodologies

for measuring peat soil properties.

Keywords Drainage . Tropical peatland . Peat properties . Southeast Asia

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A B S T R A C T :

Peatlands support the daily needs of people in many villages in Indonesia, including in

Central Kalimantan Province. They provide the natural resources to enable fisheries, agriculture,

plantations, and forestry. However, peatland utilization comes with various challenges, including

fire, soil acidity, inundation, low fertility, and limited choice of suitable species. Many of the current

uses of peatland can result in its degradation, oxidation, and increased risk of peat fire. Avoiding

further environmental degradation will require the development of new technology that allows the

community to both earn a livelihood and protect the peatland. In this study we assessed a range

of technologies applied by 14 farmers at Tumbang Nusa village, Central Kalimantan province, in

managing degraded peatlands in their home yard for agricultural business. The study shows that

for endemic peatland species, good success can be achieved if they are planted directly. However,

for species endemic to mineral land, there are four technologies applied by farmers in managing

degraded peatland. The choice of technologies is influenced by their economic capacity/cash flow

flexibility and their understanding of peatlands. Technologies intended to adapt to land inundation

include the use of polybags, development of raised beds, and making peat mounds with mineral

soil in the centre. Technologies to address the acidity and soil fertility include amelioration with

dolomite lime and fertilizer. The use of polybags filled with peat soil is the easiest technology to

adopt and can be conducted by all family members. However, a farmer’s choice of technology needs

to always consider the potential environmental impacts in addition to increasing soil fertility so that

peat conservation is maintained.

Keywords: degraded peatland; agroforestry; home yard; agricultural technology

View Abstract

Abstract:

Indonesia has the second-largest biodiversity of any country in the world. Deforestation and

forest degradation have caused a range of environmental issues, including habitat degradation and loss

of biodiversity, deterioration of water quality and quantity, air pollution, and increased greenhouse gas

emissions that contribute to climate change. Forest restoration at the landscape level has been conducted

to balance ecological integrity and humanwell-being. Forest restoration efforts are also aimed at reducing

CO2 emissions and are closely related to Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) from

the forestry sector. The purpose of this paper is to examine the regulatory, institutional, and policy

aspects of forest restoration in Indonesia, as well as the implementation of forest restoration activities in

the country. The article was written using a synoptic review approach to Forest Landscape Restoration

(FLR)-related articles and national experiences. Failures, success stories, and criteria and indicators

for forest restoration success are all discussed. We also discuss the latest silvicultural techniques for

the success of the forest restoration program. Restoration governance in Indonesia has focused on the

wetland ecosystem such as peatlands and mangroves, but due to the severely degraded condition of

many forests, the government has by necessity opted for active restoration involving the planting and

establishment of livelihood options. The government has adapted its restoration approach fromthe early

focus on ecological restoration to more forest landscape restoration, which recognizes that involving the

local community in restoration activities is critical for the success of forest restoration.

Keywords: reforestation; land rehabilitation; comprehensive perspective; livelihoods

View Abstract

SUMMARY

Indonesia is committed to rewetting peatlands to reduce the risk of fires and to decrease national greenhouse gas emissions. The three main approaches currently being implemented for rewetting peatlands in Indonesia are: 1) installing dams in drainage canals - “canal blocking”; 2) filling in drainage canals - “backfilling”; and 3) drilling wells to access water to fight fires - “deep wells”. Tumbang Nusa in Central Kalimantan was chosen in 2020 as a pilot village to trial fire management through rewetting, although some engineering and logistical questions remain. Peatland rewetting is a complex process, and it is essential to determine public support as well as the potential for communities to live and work with rewet peat landscapes. Community attitudes to rewetting and their involvement in the process are not well understood. This article reports on 20 interviews conducted with villagers in Tumbang Nusa about their perceptions of rewetting. It identifies that the general attitude to rewetting is positive, but there is confusion and a lack of involvement with regard to where deep wells have been drilled and where canal blocks are located, as well as how they work and can be used. Villagers are concerned about their livelihoods and the impacts of fire. To support communities where rewetting will occur, careful management of the physical processes is needed, but even more important is the need for greater involvement of local communities in actively developing possibilities for their own futures on rewet peat.

KEY WORDS: climate change, fire, greenhouse gas emissions, livelihoods, peatland restoration, social barriers

View Abstract

Abstract: Tropical peatlands store vast volumes of carbon belowground. Human land uses have led

to their degradation, reducing their carbon storage services. Clearing and drainage make peatlands

susceptible to surface and belowground fires. Satellites do not readily detect smouldering peat

fires, which release globally significant quantities of aerosols and climate-influencing gases. Despite

national and international desire to improve management of these fires, few published results exist

for in situ tropical peat fire behaviour and associated carbon emissions. We present new field

methodology for calculating rates of fire spread within degraded peat (average spread rates, vertical

0.8 cm h􀀀1, horizontal 2.7 cm h􀀀1) and associated peat volume losses (102 m3 ha􀀀1 in August,

754 m3 ha􀀀1 in September) measured at six peat fire sites in Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 2015. Utilizing

locally collected bulk density and emission factors, total August and September gas emissions of

27.2 t ha􀀀1 (8.1 tC ha􀀀1) and 200.7 t ha􀀀1 (60.2 tC ha􀀀1) were estimated. We provide much needed,

but currently lacking, IPCC Tier 3-level data to improve GHG estimates from tropical peat fires. We

demonstrate how calculations of total emission estimates can vary greatly in magnitude (+798% to

􀀀26%) depending on environmental conditions, season, peat burn depth methodology, bulk density

and emission factors data sources, and assumed versus observed combustion factors. This illustrates

the importance of in situ measurements and the need for more refined methods to improve accuracies

of GHG estimates from tropical peat fires.

Keywords: climate change; greenhouse gases; haze; Indonesia; IPCC Tier 3; smouldering combustion

View Abstract

Abstract:

Indonesia is home to around 45% of the world’s

tropical peatlands which continue to be degraded on a large

scale by deforestation, drainage and fire, contributing

massively to global GHG emissions. Approaches to

restoring the peat–water balance and reducing emissions

in peat hydrological units, through managing them based

either on full protection or large-scale commercial

production, have generally failed to address

environmental and local community needs. We present

published and unpublished findings pointing to the need for

an integrated peatland protection and restoration strategy

based first on raising water levels in degraded (drained)

peatlands and maintaining them in forested peatlands, thus,

reducing GHG emissions. Second, the strategy incorporates

ecologically sound agroforestry business models that

strengthen livelihoods of smallholders and so sustain

their interest in sustainably managing the peatlands. In

this paper, we focus on the second element of this strategy

in Indonesia. Eight agroforestry business models are

proposed based on their merits to attract both

smallholders and commercial investors as well as their

compatibility with hydrological rehabilitation of the

peatlands. While financial returns on investment will vary

across sites and countries, our analysis indicates that some

models can be profitable over both short and longer time

periods with relatively low levels of investment risk.

Keywords Agroforestry   Indonesia   Investment  

Restoration   Tropical peatlands

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Description

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A B S T R A C T Wildfires, including on carbon-rich peatlands, continue to haunt Indonesia every dry season. They have disastrous health, economic, environmental, and climate consequences. As a key measure to manage wildfires, laws strictly prohibit the burning of land and forests, targeting corporate and individual fire users. The literature suggests that weak law enforcement contributes to Indonesia’s persistent wildfires but it lacks systematic analysis. Centred on villagers, this research examines 1) how enforcement of the burning prohibition plays out in practice, by analysing each step along the enforcement chain, and 2) how enforcement has shaped villagers’ compliance with the fire rules, and implications for them. We interviewed villagers and enforcement agents and analysed court documents of the year 2019 fire cases. We focused on two fire-prone provinces with extensive peatlands, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan. We found that some villagers have complied and ceased burning, while others have continued to use fire to maintain their livelihoods. Enforcement contributed to fire prevention, but may have also increased fire risks thus limiting the prevention effect. A multitude of challenges, including physical obstacles, resource constraints, and governance reduced enforcement effectiveness. Key to enforcement is legitimacy of the rule being enforced from the perspective of both enforcement agents and target actors. Investments are required to support viable alternative no-burning cropping methods. At the same time, public awareness raising and long-term education are essential for accidental fire prevention and the reduction of overall enforcement costs.

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Abstract

Knowledge systems approaches for enhancing the impact of research are well established and tend to focus on the ways

in which researchers can adapt their engagement with stakeholders to achieve a better “fit” between research and action

agendas. Yet, these approaches are often based on explicit or implicit assumptions of a skilled and willing research team,

and stable and well-defined stakeholders, who have consistent and reasonably well-defined needs. This paper discusses how

knowledge systems approaches were developed and deployed in the first phase of the Gambut Kita (Our Peatland) project

on community fire management and peatland restoration in Indonesia (2017–2021). This was a complex project with a large

multi-disciplinary team situated across dynamic institutions in Indonesia and Australia, and addressing a politically controversial

topic. To capture the diverse experience of the researchers, and to focus on the needs of stakeholders, we developed a

sequence of whole-of-project approaches comprising the following: (i) stakeholder mapping exercises at three nested scales

combining stakeholder analysis, knowledge systems mapping and impact pathways analysis; (ii) a project coordinating committee

of high-level Indonesian policy-makers and policy-influencers; (iii) a stakeholder engagement forum and (iv) online

policy dialogues. We demonstrate its effects through the case of developing an Indonesian Peat Fire Danger Rating System

(Peat FDRS), as a core project deliverable. Over 4 years, these structured stakeholder engagement processes gave rise to a

Peat FDRS Stakeholder Engagement Network (a multi-institutional working group), which is making significant progress

in navigating the complexity inherent in realising an accurate Indonesian Peat FDRS.

Keywords Peatland fire · Impact pathways · Indonesia · Policy · Stakeholder engagement · Stakeholder mapping

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