The socio-ecological drivers of forest degradation in part of the tropical peatlands of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Medrilzam, Medrilzam; Dargusch, Paul; Herbohn, John; Smith, C. S.

doi:10.1093/forestry/cpt033

Cited by 69 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Covering more than 50% of the peatland area, these fires are estimated to have released between 0.12-0.15 Pg of carbon (Page et al 2002). Although by 1999, the project was abandoned by the government, peatland degradation continues in the region, as the drainage canals continue to dry the peatlands and the impoverished communities left behind continue forest conversion to agricultural land along these canals (Medrilzam et al 2014). Annual fires continue (Langner and Siegert 2009) and are especially serious during El Niño events (most recently in 2015; Huijnen et al 2016).…”

Section: Synergies Of Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Dargie

Lawson

Rayden

et al. 2018

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

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The recent publication of the first spatially explicit map of peatlands in the Cuvette Centrale, central Congo Basin, reveals it to be the most extensive tropical peatland complex, at ca. 145,500 km 2 . With an estimated 30.6 Pg of carbon stored in these peatlands, there are now questions about whether these carbon stocks are under threat and, if so, what can be done to protect them. Here, we analyse the potential threats to Congo Basin peat carbon stocks and identify knowledge gaps in relation to these threats, and to how the peatland systems might respond. Climate change emerges as a particularly pressing concern, given its potential to destabilise carbon stocks across the whole area. Socio-economic developments are increasing across central Africa and, whilst much of the peatland area is protected on paper by some form of conservation designation, the potential exists for hydrocarbon exploration, logging, plantations and other forms of disturbance to significantly damage the peatland ecosystems. The low level of human intervention at present suggests that the opportunity still exists to protect the peatlands in a largely intact state, possibly drawing on climate change mitigation

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Section: Synergies Of Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Dargie

Lawson

Rayden

et al. 2018

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A second way aims at changing community forest practices which can lead to better forest management (Cronkleton et al, 2011). For instance, in Indonesia, uncontrolled burning from slash and burn agriculture often leads to unnecessary widespread burning of peat and forests (Medrilzam et al, 2013). Changing these practices could lead to a reduction of carbon emissions.…”

Section: Impacts On Local Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has led to many instances where community lands were confiscated by government or multinational companies for the use of land clearing and palm oil plantations. In May 2013, the Indonesian Constitutional Court resurrected the customary rights of local communities, under which the Government now acknowledges customary land rights and will establish new land boundaries for local communities (Medrilzam et al, 2013). Establishing these land boundaries however is typically a long process and is still on-going due to conflicting claims and boundary disputes with government and other landholders.…”

Section: Land Tenurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…through land clearing) on the forests in Central Kalimantan (Irawan et al, 2013). In conjunction with the slash and burn practices of local communities and increasing population demands, these stresses have contributed to large scale degradation of forest and peat land (Medrilzam et al, 2013). It is estimated that Central…”

Section: Regional Fieldwork Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Giga tons of carbon into the atmosphere (Medrilzam et al, 2013). The drainage of the peatland areas were later shown to contribute to the severity of the fires (Olbrei & Howes, 2012) and that the peatland ground was unsuitable for effective rice cultivation.…”

Section: The Ex-mega Rice Project Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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A study of how REDD+ can be used to improve the adaptation of local communities to climate change – a case study of Central Kalimantan Indonesia

Paris¹

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Little attention has been paid in the scientific literature to the practicalities of how REDD+ (the climate policy of 'Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation') can contribute to the adaptation of local communities, particularly in regards to how specific elements of REDD+ can be implemented at the local-scale to best support positive community adaptation outcomes. This thesis explores this gap in the literature by analysing experiences of REDD+ in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. It provides a local perspective on how REDD+ safeguards could be implemented in a multi-scalar policy context (local to national). These experiences in-turn provide insights into the way other multi-scalar policy initiatives (especially in regard to community adaptation to environmental change) can be applied more effectively.Experiences from REDD+ demonstration projects have highlighted the challenges in ensuring adequate, positive outcomes for local communities. The premise of this thesis is that by providing climate change adaptation benefits, REDD+ initiatives are more likely to benefit local communities in developing countries and are therefore more likely to be successfully implemented. This thesis explores whether REDD+ can improve the adaptation of local communities to climate change, and provides policy recommendations to increase the likelihood of achieving this outcome in multi-scalar contexts.This thesis uses a qualitative case study methodology. Central Kalimantan in Indonesia is used as a case study because it has been a pilot province for Indonesia's REDD+ efforts since 2010. Actions have been taken in Central Kalimantan that have led to regional capacity building and the establishment of several REDD+ pilot projects within the region.Interviews were performed with actors and stakeholders involved with REDD+ at the local and regional levels in Central Kalimantan. In addition, a study of three villages that experienced a REDD+ demonstration activity (under the so called 'Kalimantan Forest Carbon Partnership') is also included in this thesis.This thesis begins by reviewing the potential benefits and challenges associated with REDD+, especially in regards to local communities. The adaptation literature is then reviewed with emphasis on how assessments of the adaptive capacity of local communities can be performed. Based on this review a framework is proposed to assess the adaptive capacity of local communities. That framework includes special reference to the need to recognise multi-scalar influences.iii The framework derived from the review is then applied to the case study and several elements of local community adaptive capacity are identified. Based on this assessment, Ipropose some strategies that would most likely lead to improvements in the capacity of communities to adapt to climate change. A key conclusion drawn from the analysis is that multi-scalar influences do not only affect local adaptive capacity elements but also provide key insights into how adaptation strategies should be designed.The t...

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Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

et al. 2019

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Tropical forests and peatlands provide important ecological, climate and socio‐economic benefits from the local to the global scale. However, these ecosystems and their associated benefits are threatened by anthropogenic activities, including agricultural conversion, timber harvesting, peatland drainage and associated fire. Here, we identify key challenges, and provide potential solutions and future directions to meet forest and peatland conservation and restoration goals in Indonesia, with a particular focus on Kalimantan. Through a round‐table, dual‐language workshop discussion and literature evaluation, we recognized 59 political, economic, legal, social, logistical and research challenges, for which five key underlying factors were identified. These challenges relate to the 3Rs adopted by the Indonesian Peatland Restoration Agency (Rewetting, Revegetation and Revitalization), plus a fourth R that we suggest is essential to incorporate into (peatland) conservation planning: Reducing Fires. Our analysis suggests that (a) all challenges have potential for impact on activities under all 4Rs, and many are inter‐dependent and mutually reinforcing, implying that narrowly focused solutions are likely to carry a higher risk of failure; (b) addressing challenges relating to Rewetting and Reducing Fire is critical for achieving goals in all 4Rs, as is considering the local socio‐political situation and acquiring local government and community support; and (c) the suite of challenges faced, and thus conservation interventions required to address these, will be unique to each project, depending on its goals and prevailing local environmental, social and political conditions. With this in mind, we propose an eight‐step adaptive management framework, which could support projects in both Indonesia and other tropical areas to identify and overcome their specific conservation and restoration challenges. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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The socio-ecological drivers of forest degradation in part of the tropical peatlands of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Cited by 69 publications

References 34 publications

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

A study of how REDD+ can be used to improve the adaptation of local communities to climate change – a case study of Central Kalimantan Indonesia

Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

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