Role of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Tropical Peatland Management

Parish, Faizal; Afham, Amir; Lew, Siew Yan

doi:10.1007/978-981-33-4654-3_18

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…An important driver for retiring plantations and restoring peatland forest, apart from maintaining biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions, may be avoidance of crop loss due to flooding. The Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) guidelines state that plantation companies are expected to conduct regular assessments of when surface subsidence will reduce drainability (relative to river and sea level) to the point that regular inundation becomes inevitable; when this point is 40 years away, such plantations are expected to be 'phased out' 41 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits of tropical peatland rewetting for subsidence reduction and forest regrowth: results from a large-scale restoration trial

Hooijer,

Vernimmen,

Mulyadi

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Drainage and deforestation of tropical peat swamp forests (PSF) in Southeast Asia cause carbon emissions and biodiversity loss of global concern. Restoration efforts to mitigate these impacts usually involve peatland rewetting by blocking canals. However, there have been no studies to date of the optimal rewetting approach that will reduce carbon emission whilst also promoting PSF regeneration. Here we present results of a large-scale restoration trial in Sumatra (Indonesia), monitored for 7.5 years. Water levels in a former plantation were raised over an area of 4800 ha by constructing 257 compacted peat dams in canals. We find peat surface subsidence rates in the rewetted restoration area and adjoining PSF to be halved where water tables were raised from ~ − 0.6 m to ~ − 0.3 m, demonstrating the success of rewetting in reducing carbon emission. A total of 57 native PSF tree species were found to spontaneously grow in the most rewetted conditions and in high densities, indicating that forest regrowth is underway. Based on our findings we propose that an effective PSF restoration strategy should follow stepwise rewetting to achieve substantial carbon emission reduction alongside unassisted regrowth of PSF, thereby enabling the peat, forest and canal vegetation to establish a new nature-based ecosystem balance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits of tropical peatland rewetting for subsidence reduction and forest regrowth: results from a large-scale restoration trial

Hooijer,

Vernimmen,

Mulyadi

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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“…Hence, from the outset, the strategy for plantation agriculture on peatlands in the tropics was to adjust the water table to improve crop conditions. For example, Best Management Practices for Cultivating Oil Palm from the 2012 Roundtable for Sustainable Oil Palm recommends that the water table be maintained at a depth of 40-60 cm below the peat surface (Parish et al 2012). Water table arrangement is usually achieved by a hierarchical network of channels with a tree topology (Andriesse 1988).…”

Section: Water Depth As Primary Factor Influencing Subsidence Rate An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(3) water conservation or water retention (restoration function) (Parish et al 2012). In principle, the land development of peat swamp areas is to modify the hydrological system, which can have direct and indirect effects on the peatland ecosystem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty in the Management of Tropical Peatlands for Oil Palm Plantations due to Drainage Practices

Aswandi

2023

J. Ilmu Fis.

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The conversion of tropical peatlands to oil palm plantations has affected the long-term storage stability of water and carbon. The conversion requires a drainage system that results in land subsidence and, in turn, reduces the carrying capacity of water storage and carbon stocks. This study aims to analyze subsidence from long-term observations (2004-2020) to obtain an appropriate water management measure for three scenarios of drainage depths at the oil palm plantations in Jambi Province. It is found that the reduction is quite variable depending on the level of drainage depths. The subsidence was 55 cm, 49 cm, and 34.7 cm for deep, moderate, and shallow drainage conditions. The groundwater level was deeper than 100 cm, which is far below the threshold of 40 cm, as stated in the government regulations. However, the regulations are still debated since subsidence must occur in drained peatlands regardless of the water level. The observed large subsidence implies that better water management in a new site is crucial and necessary to reduce the impact of peatlands degradation relative to current conditions and that high rates of land subsidence should be accepted as an inevitable change from the conversion of tropical peatlands to oil palm plantations.

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“…MPOC has highlighted that different depths of soil have different soil character and contain different organic or inorganic content that become factors of CO 2 emission. Tropical peatlands, such as in Sarawak and Sabah are under this category, and mostly the oil palm plantations take place at 0.5 m or less than 3 m (Figure 9) [64]. It will be important that future research investigates the relationship between peatland depth and the effect of CO 2 emission resulting from oil palm plantation-induced peatland forest conversion at the local level.…”

Section: Peatland Depth Characteristics and Relationship With Palm Oi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Emissions from Oil Palm Induced Forest and Peatland Conversion in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia

Jaafar

Said

Maulud

et al. 2020

Forests

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The palm oil industry is one of the major producers of vegetable oil in the tropics. Palm oil is used extensively for the manufacture of a wide variety of products and its production is increasing by around 9% every year, prompted largely by the expanding biofuel markets. The rise in annual demand for biofuels and vegetable oil from importer countries has caused a dramatic increase in the conversion of forests and peatlands into oil palm plantations in Malaysia. This study assessed the area of forests and peatlands converted into oil palm plantations from 1990 to 2018 in the states of Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia, and estimated the resulting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To do so, we analyzed multitemporal 30-m resolution Landsat-5 and Landsat-8 images using a hybrid method that combined automatic image processing and manual analyses. We found that over the 28-year period, forest cover declined by 12.6% and 16.3%, and the peatland area declined by 20.5% and 19.1% in Sarawak and Sabah, respectively. In 2018, we found that these changes resulted in CO2 emissions of 0.01577 and 0.00086 Gt CO2-C yr−1, as compared to an annual forest CO2 uptake of 0.26464 and 0.15007 Gt CO2-C yr−1, in Sarawak and Sabah, respectively. Our assessment highlights that carbon impacts extend beyond lost standing stocks, and result in substantial direct emissions from the oil palm plantations themselves, with 2018 oil palm plantations in our study area emitting up to 4% of CO2 uptake by remaining forests. Limiting future climate change impacts requires enhanced economic incentives for land uses that neither convert standing forests nor result in substantial CO2 emissions.

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Role of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Tropical Peatland Management

Cited by 5 publications

References 11 publications

Benefits of tropical peatland rewetting for subsidence reduction and forest regrowth: results from a large-scale restoration trial

Benefits of tropical peatland rewetting for subsidence reduction and forest regrowth: results from a large-scale restoration trial

Uncertainty in the Management of Tropical Peatlands for Oil Palm Plantations due to Drainage Practices

Carbon Emissions from Oil Palm Induced Forest and Peatland Conversion in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia

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