Indonesia's Peatlands Forest: Various Benefits and Environmental Services that Must Be Conserved

Forest fires on peatlands forest became an environmental tragedy for the Indonesian people and other countries in South East Asia.

This fire caused various kinds of damage and harm to various parties. The loss of various species of floras and faunas, air pollution, and tension with neighboring countries is one of the negative effects of this incident. So do you know about Peatlands Forest?

Forests and Peatlands

According to Wikipedia (2016) peatland is a type of soil formed from the accumulation of half-rotted vegetation. According to Jurnal Bumi (2016) peat soil is a type of soil formed from vegetation trees that have decomposition is not flooded so water conditions are anaerobic. More details Agus and Subiksa (2008) explain that the layers of peat soil are formed over a long period of time, which is about ten thousand to five thousand years ago. The deeper the peat soils grow older. Peatland growth rate ranges from 0-3 mm per year. The content of organic matter in peat soil is more than 40% of the total soil composition.

Peat soils have the ability to store water up to 13 times its weight. It is therefore very important in hydrology, such as controlling flooding during the rainy season and removing water reserves during long droughts. Peat forests have the ability to store large amounts of carbon. Carbon stored from the surface to the ground. The thickness of this peat can reach 10 meters (Jurnal Bumi 2016). The peat holds 550 G tonnes of carbon, equal to 75% of the atmospheric carbon, twice the amount of carbon contained in all non-peat forests and equal to the amount of carbon from all the biomass present on Earth (Joosten 2007 in Agus and Subiksa 2008). This carbon content can be emitted into the atmosphere through peatland conversion, ranging from vegetation clearing, forest fires, to peat decomposition due to agricultural activities.

Distribution of Forest and Peatland

Half of the world's wetlands are peatlands. The proportion reaches three percent of the total land area. Peatlands store carbon reserves twice as large as all the forests. Peatlands can be found almost in all countries, ranging from polar climate, subtropical, to tropical. The largest peat forests are in Russia, Canada, and the United States. Southeast Asia is home to the largest tropical peatlands, some sixty percent of the tropical peat or about 27 million hectares are located in the region. About 83% of the peatlands in Southeast Asia are included in Indonesia, mostly in Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua. Peatlands in Indonesia have a thickness of one to twelve meters, even in certain places can reach twenty meters (Wetlands 2016).

The area of peatland in Indonesia is estimated to reach 18.8 million hectares or about 10.8% of the land area in Indonesia. Indonesia's peatlands are predominantly on Sumatra Island, which is about 7.2 hectares or 35% of the total peatland in Indonesia.

Biodiversity of Peat Ecosystem

The forests are home to various types of flora and fauna, as well as peat forests. Some of the flora found in peatlands belong to the endemic flora and have high economic value, such as Ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) and Jelutung Rawa (Dyera costulata) (Rizali and Buchori 2015).

A total of 35 species of mammals, 150 species of birds, and 34 species of fish are found in peatlands. Some fauna are endemic species and include protected species according to IUCN Red List 2012, among them Crocodile Sinyulong, Langur, Orang Utan, Sumatran Tiger, and Sun Bear. (WWF 2009).

Damage to the Peat Ecosystem

Peatland degradation is mostly due to human activities, such as conversion of peat forests into agricultural land, plantations, and forestry. Peatlands in Southeast Asia including Indonesia experienced the highest rate of damage. The greatest damage was caused by land conversion for oil palm and pulp plantations (Jurnal Bumi 2016). The reclamation and rehabilitation of forests and peatlands is a difficult thing to do because considering the forests and peatlands are formed over a very long period of time. Preventive measures are the only way to conserve forests and peatlands.

Reality occurring in Indonesia, forests and peatlands that do not provide direct economic benefits to local communities make them willing to convert forests and peatlands for other purposes.

As mentioned earlier, forest and peatland conversion is most commonly used for palm oil and pulp plantations. Unfortunately, this land conversion is heavily orchestrated by foreigners who organize various forest stakeholders in the area to be converted.

The basic paradigm of the community surrounding forests and peatlands should be renewed immediately because it is this mindset that causes various damages. People with responsibilities in the forestry and environmental sectors can provide education and seek solutions to the success of communities surrounding forests and peatlands without destroying the forests themselves. Law enforcement is also strictly enforced because regulations governing the protection and management of peat ecosystems have been created in 2014, the regulation is contained in Indonesia's Government Regulation No. 71 of 2014.

Finally, we can not always delegate our environmental responsibility to others or the government. It's true there are people who are more responsible than us, but to build and preserve nature as our place of life it is the responsibility of all of us. Do simple things around you, get people around you to love the environment, and voice your kindness.

Is not nature created and entrusted by God to mankind to be preserved, not to the human race?

Source Forester Act!

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