1. About WI’s peat land programmeBy
Marcel Silvius

2. Peat: organic matter accumulated over thousands of years
Lowland tropical forest peat bogs are dome-shaped
Peat is accumulated above ground water levels
A peat bog is rain water fed
River
< 1m
> 3m
Peat swamp forest
Organic matter
Mineral Soil
This picture shows the location of a peat dome in the flood plain in between two lowland rivers. A substantial part of the peat dome is located above river water surface. These forms of peatlands are called bogs, they are oligotrophic (poor in nutrients) and rain water fed. The peat lies like a gigantic drop a water on the lowland plain, held together by the dead organic material and protected by a blanket of living forest that maintains a humid micro-climate and prevents direct solar impact.
Most of the tropical peat swamp forests are located in the lowlands of SE Asia

3. Berbak National Park, Jambi. Indonesia‘s first Ramsar site

4. Peatlands around the world
Countries with most peat
World wide 400 million ha
3% of global land area, 40% of all wetlands
Present in all climate zones, in 126 countries
Indonesia has almost 6 % of global peatlands

5. Peat accumulates for thousands of years storing concentrated Carbon in thick layers
Peat from 2 meters depth
Most peatlands in lowlands of Indonesia are around 5000 to years old. Some can reach over 20m depth

6. Peatland values Key roles: Associated with Direct sustainable use:
carbon stores
water retention areas
biodiversity conservation
Associated with
higher human poverty
Direct sustainable use:
tourism, recreation
sustainable forestry, non-timber forest products
grazing
fisheries

7. Place in the water cycle
Globally 10% of all fresh water is in peat
Peatlands are the source areas of many rivers

8. Water management functions
Important role in water storage and supply
Crucial for mitigation of droughts and floods

9. Peat swamp forests are high biodiversity areas

10. Peatlands and carbon Globally peatlands store 550 Giga ton (Gt) Carbon
Equivalent to 30% of terrestrial carbon
75% of all carbon in the atmosphere
twice the carbon stored in forests
All over the world the peat based Carbon stores are threatened
Peatlands store large amounts of carbon
Peatland degradation leads to CO2 emissions which contribute to global warming

11. Some past & present WI peatland projects
Central European Peatlands Project (CEPP)
Partners for Water & Ecosystems Air Hitam laut project
UNEP-GEF Peatlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change project
Rusian Peatlands Programme
Global Peatland Initiative (GPI)
WPRP Berbak and Sembilang National Parks
Malaysia Peatland Quick Scan
Malaysia Air Hitam project (Ashden Trust)
Central Kalimantan Peatlands Project (CKPP)
Global Peatland Fund development
Peat and palm oil lobby

12. Global Peatland Initiative
Support to 26 project world wide, incl:
Peat mapping + global data base
Support to CC-GAP + policy lobby at CBD + UNFCCC
Ramsar guidelines
Paramos, Andean mountains
Peatlands & climate change, China (UNEP-GEF co-financing)
SE Asian Peatland Action Plan
IMPESA
Poland peat restoration & carbon sequestration + grazing
Restoration Yelnia, Belarus
Russian peatlands programme
Lapshina peatlands management, Russia
Thailand Phru Khuan Kreng
Euro 2.3 million

13. CEPP The CEPP involved 8 countries in the Baltic-Black Sea corridor
Results:
Strategy and Action Plan for Peatlands in Central Europe
Overview of peatlands in Central Europe
Identification of peatlands of high value for biodiversity
Increased awareness on values and functions of peatlands
Follow-up projects by local networks

14. Peatland distribution in Central Europe

15. International priorities
No further drainage of undrained mires
Establish system of well-managed peatland conservation areas
Concentrate peat extraction on degraded sites that have poor prospects for restoration
Reduce emissions of CO2 by optimising water management
Restore peat accumulating conditions in abandoned peatlands

16. Tropical peatland issues
Deforestation
Drainage
Fires

17. Peat swamp forest deforestation
Peatland deforestation:
since 2000: 1.5% per yr which is double the rate for non-peatlands
currently 45% deforested
Peat forest conservation
< 5% of total peatland area

18. Logging and drainage
For logging (legal and illegal) of peat swamp forests often channels are dug to transport equipment and logs
This results in drainage of the peat soil, causing increased emissions of CO2

19. Impact of drainage of tropical peatlands
Source: Wösten, Alterra
Drainage to 1 meter = emission of 90 ton CO2/ha/yr
When drained, peatlands become increasingly vulnerable to fires

20. Drainage SE Asian peat swamp areas
A total of about 13 million ha of SE Asian peat swamps have been drained for agriculture and agro-forestry.

21. Peat drainage increases the risk of fires
Adapted from data provided by Siegert and Page
Between 1997 and 2006 there were over 60,000 fires in peat swamps in Borneo in 3 out of 10 years (1997, 1998, 2002)
Most affected were deforested and drained peatlands

22. Some facts and figures Peatlands globally:
3% of land area
3000 million tonnes emitted annually
Equivalent to 11.5 % of global fossil fuel emissions
Peatlands in SE Asia:
< 0,1 % of land area
2000 million tonnes emitted annually
Equivalent to 8 % of global fossil fuel emissions
A concentrated problem…

23. What has done?

24. Forge partnerships

25. Piloting hydrological restoration
Community-based techniques based on traditional knowledge

26. Dams help restore eco-hydrology of peat swamps

27. Fire prevention & control
Community-based fire brigades

28. Fire control Establishing fire brigades
Establish permanent deep wells in high risk zones wells
Establish early warning system

29. Socio-economic development

30. Socio-economic development
Organise or support exising farmer groups
Introduction zero burning agriculture
Training in sustainable agriculture and agro-forestry on peat
Improve quality and marketing of products
Enhance health facilities
Handicrafts development
Development of village development plans

31. Re-greening of degraded peatlands
Community based

32. Regreening results
Reforestation of degraded peatlands in protected areas with >40 indigenous species
Establish village based tree nurseries nursery buildings established
Development of non-drained plantations with commercial species near villages

33. Conservation of remaining peat swamp forests

34. Biodiversity conservation actions
Development of infrastructure and equipment of national parks (boats, offices, research centre, guard posts)
Participatory boundary mapping with surrounding villages
Support to security patrols, jointly with communities
Anti illegal logging operations
Aerial monitoring & patrols by ULA
Biodiversity studies

35. Policy reform Support to Green Government Policy development
Support to peatland spatial master planning
Creating awareness on peat emissions (UNFCCC, CBD)
Promotion of precautionary & ecosystem approach
Promotion of moratorium on peat swamp forest conversion in context of RSPO (sustainable palm oil)

36. Television, Press, Radio)
IKON TV, April 2007;
Reuters, 2 May 2007;
Nature Alert 2 May 2007;
Daily Telegraph 10 Aug 2007.
NHK Japan Nov 2007;
Aljazeera International TV Nov 2007;
SCTV (National Television), Nov 2007;
Kompas (National Newspaper), Nov 2007;
Borneo TV (local television), Nov 2007;
Dayak Post (local newspaper), Nov 2007;
RRI (Government radio), Nov 2007;
Radio Senara (local private radio), 8-20 Nov 2007;
La Presse (Canada), Dec 2007

37. OPPORTUNITIES

38. Potential Monetise international values of peatlands
Carbon credits
Biodiversity offsets
Alternative finance mechanisms
Global Peatland Fund
Bio-rights
Local revolving funds

39. Options for private sector involvement
Global Peatland Fund
VERs from peat degradation
Involvement banking, insurance & biofuel sectors
Cooperation:
Corperate social responsibility
Joint management of buffer zones for high conservation value forest areas
Use of plantations in buffer-zone areas
Consider possibilities of:
Carbon offsets
Biodiversity offsets
Joint hydrological management
Joint fire control
Joint patrol against poaching and illegal logging

40. Involvement of local communities
Incentive mechanisms needed to compensate for opportunity costs of local stakeholders
Access to micro-credits in exchange for community services (Bio-rights approach) including:
Peatland restoration: Regreening, building and maintaining dams
Fire prevention and control
Guarding conservation zones and sustainable development of adaptive management zones

41. Getting to the bottom of the issue

42. Conditions for up-scaling
Adequate planning and policy framework
Spatial planning laws
Implementation & enforcement of plans
Good governance
Address local tenure and resource use rights issues:
E.g. Recognition local customary rights
Enable community based conservation & carbon concessions
Address weak policies
Remove perverse and conflicting policies

43. Prepare of opportunities: REDD
REDD needs guarantees, assurances, permanence:
Solid backing by policy and legislation
Long-term carbon concessions
Land purchase
Insurances (against e.g. fire)
Community involvement and ownership is essential part of guaranteeing sustainability of results
Need for contracts that:
Span multiple governance periods
Require commitments of several generations
Need for environmental security
Stop fires
Improve water management

44. Improve science basis technically sound approaches
Proper science base
Resource inventory; Socio-economic valuation
Baseline development
Assessment and monitoring of emissions
Accredited methodologies
Capacity in local science agencies
Need for common standards and criteria, especially related to:
Special eco-hydrological qualities of peatlands
Complex socio-economic conditions

45. Added value
Peatland restoration and conservation is the lowest hanging fruit on the REDD tree
Climate change mitigation
Biodiversity conservation
Poverty reduction
Reduced land & water degradation
A WIN4all

46. Cost effectiveness Willingness to pay
Cost benefit of investment for reducing carbon emissions
Germany: € million for Mt/y
World Bank in China: € 1500 million for Mt/y
UK: € million for Mt/y
Indonesian CKPP: € million for Mt/y
Willingness to pay
Europe: permit price: $15/t (EUA 2008)
Kyoto Protocol energy: $12/t (CER)
Kyoto Protocol forestry
(BioCarbon Fund): $ 5/t (tCER; 10 years’ )
4. Voluntary markets: $ 5/t

47. RISKS
Pilots are needed, but will fail if they lack political and social embedding, and integration with current experience and expertise
Absorption capacity is limited; donor attention should spread to multiple priority areas in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Papua

48. Build on existing experience

49. Thank you