Newsletter
Toward the Regeneration of Tropical Peatland Societies

in English

No.

02

Feb 1, 2018

Newsletter of Tropical Peatland
Society Project,Research Institute for
Humanity and Nature

Toward the Regeneration of
Tropical Peatland Societies
A new project at RIHN aims to explore the transformability of environmentally vulnerable
societies and establish an international network for research and learning.

Kosuke Mizuno

Project Leader
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) and Kyoto University

A global problem, a regional crisis, anda concerted response

er, drainage associatedT he destruction of tropical peat swamp forests is ament of fast-growing andwith plantation developoil palm trees has led to amajor contributor to global greenhouse gases and an

decrease in groundwaterurgent international health crisis in Southeast Asia. An

table levels and theestimated 20 percent of global soil carbon is accumu-

drying of peat swamp

lated in tropical peat swamp forests, 76 percent offorests. This has in turnwhich are found in Southeast Asia. Carbon dioxide

resulted in an increase in(CO2) emissions from fires in Indonesia during July to

CO2 emissions caused

November 2015 exceeded CO2 emissions from fossil

by peat decomposition

fuel use in Japan during the whole of 2013 (GFED,

and frequent fires. In Indonesia alone, an estimated 2.1

2015).

million hectares of forest̶most of them peatlands̶
were burned in 2015. The resultant haze caused incalculable damage to the local economy and has impacted the health of not only the local people, but also
those in Malaysia and Singapore. In 2015, 0.5 million
people in the region were diagnosed with upper respiratory infections. Haze has become a trans-boundary
environmental, economic, and political issue.
Peatland is vulnerable both environmentally andsocially. Damage to peatland is ecologically irreversible:
once it is made use of, land subsidence begins, and it
cannot be restored even if the land is rewetted. Drain-▲Waste peatland damaged by fireing and drying peatland for cultivation destroys habitat

Due to their physical characteristics, tropical peatand leads to frequent fire, and the fire further destroys

swamp forests have been difficult to utilize, and there-

the habitat. The lost biodiversity in the habitat, forfore, spared from development for a long time. Howev1

News letter
example, can be gradually restored, but it is notparticipation among local communities is to secure land

completely rehabilitated as it used to.

rights for the people who join the programs.

Historically, peatland areas were not settled as they

Most peatlands are officially deemed state land, andare not suitable for agriculture. Most peatland is classi-

this has led to degradation, widespread fires, andfied as state land, and state appropriation has createdabandonment. Officially, people should not utilize state

contestation, overlapping, and insecurity over forest

land, and should not be granted land rights simply

tenure conditions. Companies that were granted

because the land is designated as state land. Yet one

concessions in peatland areas developed plantations,of the reasons why people do not properly tend theroads, and canals under weak state regulations,land is that their land rights are weak. We therefore

attracting people to move in. The complexity andstudy the issue of land rights, actively propose

vagueness of land possession has prevented local

solutions to relevant ministries and agencies, andvillagers from managing peatland sustainably andpresent our arguments at seminars with the hope that

continuously.

people can secure rights to their cultivated land.

How can society develop institutions to control andOne of the solutions that we have proposed to many

manage these fires and mitigate degradation? Ourparties is a social forestry program with which people

five-year research project, which began in April 2017

can secure land rights for 35 years. As we maintain aand is headquartered at the Research Institute forstrong commitment to sustainable solutions, we are

Humanity and Nature in Kyoto Japan, conducts trans-

deeply involved in activities surrounding peatland

disciplinary research on the socio-ecological systems

rehabilitation and the improvement of local livelihoods.

of tropical peatlands to understand and address their

Through this approach, we are able to understand thevulnerabilities. Through collaboration with local stake-material conditions of the situation and continue toholders, the research will integrate scientific findings

propose meaningful plans to secure a better future forwith local practices to establish mitigation and adapta-

peatland societies.

tion strategies to achieve sustainable (low carbon) use
and conservation of peatlands. Ultimately, the project
intends to elucidate the transformability of environmentally vulnerable societies.

▲Locating a monitoring system at Tanjung Leban

Understanding the problem, seeking
solutions
The research topics of the project attempt to understand the problem and seek solutions from the▲Degraded peatland and haze.

A deep commitment

perspectives of many disciplines. Research topics
include:The project has a deep commitment to local communities and policy processes that attempt to reach1) Studies of the institutions and organizations thatsolutions. It encourages people to take part in thehave the potential to encourage communities to join

program actively, to reaching consensuses, and secure

the peatland rehabilitation program, as well as thethe wider participation of communities to identify

rewetting of peatland and the maintenance of paludi-

solutions. One strategy we are in favor of to generate

culture (sustainable peatland livelihood activities) for2

News letter5) Continual monitoring of water table levels andthe sake of the local livelihoods.

assessments of the effects of canal blockage

2) Studies concerning the political, economic, andconstructed for rewetting peatlands.

governmental aspect of peatland conservation and

6) Historical studies of the social and environmental

peatland utilization.

formations of the trading system of sago palm in3) Geographical studies that include aerial photogra-

Kapau Baru where we started our study in 2016 tophy and creation of peatland distribution and landseek potential alternative systems.

title maps, specifically in Tanjung Leban where we7) Measuring the balance between organic matter

have conducted research since 2008.

inputs to soils and decomposition affected by the4) Continual monitoring of the material cycling of thegrowth and death of trees, as well as determining thepeat environment, especially carbon and nutrient

physical properties of peat, such as their bulk densi-

cycling, ground and river water quality, and green-ties, soil moisture retention curve, and so on.

house gas (CO2 and CH4) dynamics in Riau andKalimantan.

Research Organization
degradation. The group works with local institutions

The project is organized according to the following

and organizations at the village level to establish

study groups.

mitigation and adaptation practices such as paludicul-

The Social, Corporate, and Governance Group conducts

ture. National, subnational, and local governancefield research on the socio-economic aspects andstructures, private company initiatives, and environ-

historical background of peatland societies. Study

mental finance mechanisms such as REDD+ and PES

focuses on livelihood strategies, land tenure, andare reviewed for efficacy.

resource use to identify factors that cause peat3

News letter

multidisciplinary research, particularly on water and

Toward transforming environmental
vulnerability

material cycling, in several representative peatlands in

We seek to demonstrate the transformability of

The Material Cycling Group conducts intensive

Southeast Asia for the integration of natural and social

peatland-based societies, and thus their futurescientific mapping to better understand peatland

prospects, through the phasing out of monoculture

ecosytems. The group will create a“Tropical peatland

production activity, the development of paludiculture,

characteristics map”based on hydrological, geophysi-

and the expansion of protected peatland areas. The

cal, and social information of peatlands for integrated

project research will examine several livelihood

management.

strategies addressing the environmental and social
vulnerability of tropical frontier societies with a commit-

The International Research Group will establish aninternational research and implementation collaboration

ment to the solution, thus advancing global environ-

hub for coordinating research and integrating experi-mental studies.

ences on sustainable peatland management. This
group comprises Asian and European universities, andReference:

international and local organizations. Coordinating

GFED (2015)“Emissions estimates.”[last accessed

partners include Riau University and Bogor Agricultural

January 10, 2018 from Global Fire Emissions

University in Indonesia, the University of Malaysia,

Database website: http://www.globalfiredata.org/up-

Sarawak, the Research Institute of the Peruvian

dates.html ].

Amazon (IIAP), UNDP, CIFOR, Walhi, AMAN, and Sawit
Watch.

Meeting Report of JICA Partnership Program

JICA Partnership Program for restoring waste peatland in the village of Tanjung Leban cameinto action with a kickoff meeting!
The JICA Partnership Program for restoring
peatland in the village of Tanjung Leban cameinto action with a kickoff meeting!

villagers of Tanjung Leban. Finally, the start ofthe program was declared.
This partnership program focuses on theconcrete actions of restoration and development. It is expected to create synergy among
various stakeholders in cooperation with RIHN’s
peatland project, which is collecting scientific
data and building a body of knowledge in orderto restore peatland environment and society
more effectively and sustainably.

On December 9, 2017, a kickoff meeting andworkshop of the JICA Partnership Program washeld in Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia. This
three-year program was launched for the
purposes of rewetting dried peatland and developing livelihoods in the village of Tanjung Leban,
which suffered serious damage during thepeatland fires of 2015.
Under the sponsorship of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japaneseworking team from Kyoto University under theleadership of Osamu Kozan (subleader of
RIHN’s project) and Riau University organized
the workshop to confirm cooperation with thevarious bodies concerned.
In the meeting, Haris Gunawan, Deputy of
Research and Development at Indonesia’s Peat
Restoration Agency, took the role of the keynote
speaker. Various opinions were exchanged
among the academic working team, officials
from each local administrative level, and the4News letter

One Map Policy and Peat Restoration
It has been a major problem for the Indonesian government to produce accurate and reliable maps of its territory. It is notan easy task: Indonesia’s vast and complex geographic setting and unintegrated mapping by various ministries andagencies have been serious obstacles. However, the “one map policy” adopted by the Indonesian government in 2011 has
been dramatically improving the accuracy and reliability of geospatial information, and this is expected to contribute tobetter political and economic decisions around land management. The One Map Policy and improved geospatial
technology may also prove to be crucial in the effective and sustainable restoration of tropical peatlands in Indonesia.

Dheny Trie Wahyu Sampurno
Geospatial Information Agency, Indonesia
Asian and African Areas Studies (ASAFAS), Kyoto University

The challenge, and importance, of
mapping
I ndonesia has a broad territory and complex

Catalog (Katalog Unsur
Geografis Indonesia or
KUGI) was developed toaccommodate various
geospatial databases.
The catalog is stored
and shared with nodesof the central government as well as with
provincial and regency
governments as part of
the National Spatial
Data Infrastructure.
Finally, at the distribution level, BIG operates an official
national data portal (see "ina-geoportal" site).

geographic setting. Successive governments have tried
to produce accurate and reliable maps since the Dutchcolonial era. While relatively accurate maps have beendrawn up of population-dense areas, there is a dearthof geospatial information and maps for more remoteand forested areas. Existing maps lack consistency interms of land designation and state forest boundaries,
and map versions vary across different administrative
bodies.
Although Indonesia’s vast tropical forests support
high biodiversity, they are also an arena of mining,
logging, and plantations. In order to manage forest landand natural resources more effectively and sustainably,
it is an important national issue to synchronize
inconsistencies among different maps, and̶critically̶
to create maps that are based on a common reference
and standard.

Discrepancies with land permits
The initial product under the One Map Policy was anational land cover map that consists of synchronizeddata from various ministries and agencies. However,when a map of the concessions issued by the Ministryof Forestry (Kementerian Kehutanan) and one issued by
the National Land Agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasionalor BPN) were compared, spatial discrepancies wererevealed. According to data from Forest Watch Indonesia (2013), nearly 15 million ha of land had overlapping
licenses for forest concessions, industrial forest
plantations, and mining. To address this, the Ministry ofForestry and BPN synchronized their maps according
to BIG’s official base map.

One map, one nation
In 2010, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pointed
to the startling differences among primary forest maps
generated by various ministries as an example of theinconsistency in the government’s mapping.
Consequently, the Indonesian Law of Geospatial
Information, or the“One Map Policy”was passed in2011 for the purpose of promoting the integration ofmap references and standards. The Geospatial
Information Agency (Badan Informasi Geospasial, orBIG) regulates and manages the One Map Policy in any
sector concerned.

The One Map Policy also played an essential role in
Presidential Instruction 10/2011, which postpones theauthorization of any new land concessions. New
authorizations are postponed until licenses that werealready issued by any ministry are synchronized withthe official base map produced by BIG. Citing the needfor national development to be based on accurate andreliable maps, the current president, Joko Widodo, hascontinued the One Map Policy.

The policy has been implemented in four important
steps: (1) one reference, (2) one standard, (3) one
geo-database, and (4) one geo-portal. First, BIG, as theofficial base map producer, created the IndonesianGeospatial Reference System (SRGI). Second, theNational Standard Agency issued standards formapping. Third, the Indonesian Geographic Element

5News letter

The KHG and peat restoration

Until today, the authorization of new land concessions has also been postponed in peatland forests,
which are an arena of corporate entrepreneurship.

As a result of the great fires during 2014 and 2015, thePeat Restoration Agency (Badan Restorasi Gambut or
BRG) was established in early 2016 to restore 2 million
ha of degraded peat in seven provinces. The BRG
col l ab orat ed wi t h mi ni st ri es, agenci es, N G Os,
academia, and international stakeholders to address
the peat crisis. Restoration involves re-wetting andre-vegetating peatlands, and revitalizing the local
economy.
Restoration locations were selected based on the
KHG maps, while the restoration process varied
according to the concession authority. Land cover,land use, peat characteristics, and other related
geospatial data within the KHG are used to analyze
peat conditions. These data originated from custodial
ministries and agencies, and were integrated todevelop a holistic spatial peat ecosystem restorationand management plan.

Geospatial information for peat
restoration on Tebing Tinggi Island▲Tropical peat swamp forest

Tebing Tinggi Island is one of the coastal peat areas of
Riau Province. After severe degradation from peat fires
in 2014 and 2015, 135,000 ha of the peat ecosystem
on Tebing Tinggi were designated a national priority for
restoration and rehabilitation.

Measuring and mapping
peatlands
In accordance with repeated forest fires in Indonesia
and the global movement to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions, the protection of tropical peatlands became
an important national issue in the early 2010s. As aresult, the creation of accurate and reliable maps ofpeat areas became an essential task for the government.

Peat thematic maps of varying scales and types wereused to implement the BRG’s restoration plan. The
KLHK created a Peat Ecosystem Map in 2015 basedon field surveys conducted with augers. The map
shows the depth of peat soil and its distribution (seeMap 1). It also divides the KHG on Tebing Tinggi into
89,831 ha of protected peat zone and 45,605 ha ofcultivated peat zone (see Map 2).

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan or KLHK) was
tasked with the duty to protect and manage the peat
ecosystem. The KLHK, BIG, and the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementerian Pertanian or KEMENTAN) integrated
their respective geospatial data to create what is
known as the Peat Hydrological Unit (Kesatuan
Hidrologi Gambut or KHG). The KHG is a unit of thepeat ecosystem located between two rivers, rivers andthe coast, or within swamps (KLHK, 2015). The KHG
was designed to measure the degradation of peatvis-à-vis the hydrology system.
In order to manage 24.6 million ha of 865 KHGs,
peatlands were divided into two zones according to a
designation of either Protected or Cultivated. This
zonation system is now represented in Peat Ecosystem
Function Maps that have become the reference maps
for ministries and agencies, as well as provincial andregency governments.

▲Map 1. Peat depth distribution map of Tebing Tinggi Island(KLHK, 2016)6

News letter▲Peatland field survey on Tebing Tinggi Island (KLHK, 2015)

Conclusion▲Map 2. Peat ecosystem function map of Tebing Tinggi Island(KLHK, 2017)

Accurate geospatial information is an indispensable
tool in identifying objective areas and implementing
peatland restoration. Moreover, combining geospatial
information with social and economic data contributes
to visualizing and understanding social and economic
realities in peatland environments.

In mid-2016, BRG created high-resolution maps with
LiDAR technology and aerial photographs to get an
overview of the detail of the peat landscape on Tebing
Tinggi Island (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). With aid fromthe Norwegian government, LiDAR and aerial photos
were processed into a Land Cover and Hydro-topography map. These maps have sub-meter accuracy and ascale of 1:2,500. They can be used for actual
restoration activities, such as constructing canalblockage and identifying vegetation.

The Tropical Peatland Society Project of the
Research Institute of Humanity and Nature has
embarked on peat ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation not only to achieve environmentally sustainable
land management, but also to revitalize local
livelihoods. In this regard, BIG’s provision of basemaps and border maps with orthorectified high-resolution satellite imagery will benefit participatory mappingand social forestry efforts toward peat restoration andimproved land management.

References
Forest Watch Indonesia (2013)“The main points ofstate of the forest report 2009-2013.”[Last accessed
January 10, 2018 from Forest Watch website:
http://fwi.or.id/english/publikasi/the-main-points-of-st
ate-of-the-forest-report-2009-2013/]▲Figure 1. Digital terrain modeling (DTM)
on Tebing Tinggi Island (BRG, 2017)

KLHK (2015)“Deskripsi Peta Indikatif Kesatuan
H i d r o l o g i s G a m b u t N a s i o n a l . ”D i r e k t o r a t
Pengendalian Kerusakan Gambut, KLHK.
KLHK (2016)“Inventarisasi Karakteristik Ekosistem
Gambut di KHG Pulau Tebing Tinggi, Kabupaten
Kepulauan Meranti, Provinsi Riau”. Direktorat
Pengendalian Kerusakan Gambut. KLHK.
KLHK (2017)“Penetapan Peta Ekosistem Gambut
Nasional.”Ministerial Decree No. 130 of 2017, KLHK.
BRG (2017)“Data Acquisition and Thematic Mapping
Project.”Peat Restoration Agency.

▲Figure 2. Aerial photograph of peat landscapeon Tebing Tinggi Island (BRG, 2017)7

Project Members(January 1, 2018)◎Project Leader
MIZUNO, Kosuke (RIHN*/ CSEAS**, Kyoto University)◎Subleader
KOZAN, Osamu (RIHN*/ CSEAS**, Kyoto University)◎Project Members(●：Leaders of Working Groups/ ○：Core Members)[Material Cycling Group]●ITOH, Masayuki (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)●KOZAN, Osamu (RIHN*/ CSEAS**, Kyoto University)●SHIMAMURA, Tetsuya(Graduate School of Agriculture, Ehime University)

HIRANO, Takashi(Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University)

IIZUKA, Kotaro

SAMEJIMA, Hiromitsu(Institute for Global Environmental Strategies)

UBUKATA, Fumikazu(Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University)

Wil De Jong (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)[Community, Corporate and Governance Group]●MIZUNO, Kosuke (RIHN*/ CSEAS**, Kyoto University)●OKAMOTO, Masaaki (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)●SUZUKI, Haruka (RIHN*)

ABE, Ryuichiro (Japan NGO Network on Indonesia)
AMINAH MEUTIA, Ami(Faculty of Global and Regional Studies, Doshisha University)

DEWI, Kurniawati Hastuti (Indonesian Institute of Sciences)
DHENY, Trie Wahyu Sampurno(Geospatial Information Agency Indonesia/ Graduate Schoolof Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University)(Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo)

GUNAWAN, Haris (Peatland Restoration Agency, Indonesia)

IRIANA, Windy

HASEGAWA, Takuya (Tsukuba University)(Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo)○KAWASAKI, Masahiro (RIHN*/ CSEAS**, Kyoto University)

KOBAYASHI, Shigeo (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)
KUME, Takashi(Graduate School of Agriculture, Ehime University)

KUWATA, Mikinori(Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University)

MATSUMI, Yutaka(Institute for Space-Earch Environmental Research, Nagoya University)

MIZUNO, Kei (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)
NEOH, Kok Boon (National Chung Hsing University)

HAYASHIDA, Hideki(Institute for Study of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Doshisha University)

HONNA, Jun(Collage of International Relation, Ritsumeikan University)

HOSOBUCHI, Michiko (Tokyo Metropolitan University)○KAJITA, Ryosuke (RIHN*)

KANO, Hiroyoshi (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)
KAMEDA, Akihiro (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)
MASUDA, Kazuya(Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University)

PAGE, Susan (Department of Geography, Leicester University)○NAITO, Daisuke (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)

SABIHAM, Supiandi○OSAWA, Takamasa (RIHN*)(Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University)

SETIADI, Bambang(Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology Indonesia)○SHIODERA, Satomi (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)

TONOKURA, Kenichi

PRASETYAWAN, Wahyu(Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Islamic State University)

SAMBUAGA, Adlin(Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Riau University)

SATO, Yuri

(Graduate school of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo)(Area Studies Center, Institute of Developing Economies)

UEDA, Kayovan SCHAIK, Arthur (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)(Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University)

YAMANAKA, Manabu(Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology)[International Research Group]●NAITO, Daisuke (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)

ABE, Kenichi (RIHN*)ISHIKAWA, Noboru (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)
SASAKI, Katsunori (FoE Japan)

TERAUCHI, Daisuke (Faculty of Sociology, Toyo University)
WATANABE, Kazuo (CSEAS**, Kyoto University)
YOSHIDA, Koshi (Collage of Agriculture, Ibaraki University)[Research Associate]○KATSURA, Tomomi (RIHN*)* : Research Institute for Humanity and Nature**: Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Newsletter No.2

February 1, 2018

Published by Tropical Peatland Society ProjectRoom 4, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
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