Introduction: The Vulnerability and Transformation of Indonesian Peatlands

Abstract

AbstractTropical peat swamp forests that started to experience fires in the 1960s in Sumatra and in the 1980s in Kalimantan are now seriously degraded in many places in Indonesia. But from a longer perspective, we can see the tropical peat swamp forests’ resilience and adaptation. There have been several reports on how deep local knowledge has helped curb further degradation of these forests. Large-scale commercial logging had been undertaken in the Riau area in Sumatra in the 1860s; however, no serious peatland degradation and large-scale fires were reported until the end of the colonial era. Truly serious degradation started only in the middle of the 1980s when large-scale drainage systems were created to support the extensive cultivation of oil palm and timber plantations. Serious fires broke out in 1997, and in 2015 at the time of El Niño. Today only 18.4% of total peatlands in Indonesia are undisturbed natural peatland forests. We also find several initiatives to restore degraded peatlands. For one thing, the government has established the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) to coordinate the acceleration of peatland restoration and promote the welfare of local people in the peatland area. For another, international organizations, companies, nongovernment organizations, and local communities also have started their respective programs to rehabilitate the peatlands. Such developments can be interpreted as attempts at transformation, that is, the creation of a fundamentally new system in response to ecological, economic, or social (including political) conditions that render the existing system untenable. This volume intends to reshape the discussion on peatland degradation and regeneration with the ideas of vulnerability, resilience, adaptability and transformation, and deepen the understanding of degradation and regeneration.