Keywords Collaborative management · Landscape-scale restoration · Nature-based
solution · Peatland agroecology · Peatland reforestation
13.1 Introduction
The restoration of tropical peatland is relatively a new practice in Indonesia or even
in tropical countries. Unlike in temperate or boreal countries where restorations have
been commenced for more than 30 years (Chimner et al. 2017), the restoration
efforts on impaired peatland ecosystems in Indonesia had just started in the late of
1990 (or early 2000), particularly after the catastrophic forest fire events in
1997–1998 (Page et al. 2009). The peatland restoration then has gained further
acknowledgment after the establishment of the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) in
2016 by the Government of Indonesia following the peatland fires in 2015. From
1997 through 2015, peatland ecosystem restoration efforts had been conducted
mostly by collaboration works between academic institutions and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
In 2009, the Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Forestry (MoF)
issued a new regulation on Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC). This regulation allows private sectors to voluntarily contribute to the restoration activity in the
context of industrial forestry sector. However, only a few companies were interested
in this unusual business due to uncertain revenue and they perceived it as a cost
center activity only. By 2018, only 16 companies have applied the ecosystem
restoration concession, in which nine of them works on peatland ecosystems covering in total around 332,491 hectares of peatlands (MoEF 2018).
The general objective of ERC is to restore the degraded forest into the natural
equilibrium state. It means the concessionaire is not allowed to extract timber before
the natural equilibrium is achieved and also not allowed to develop a plantation area.
However, the more measurable and achievable objectives are typically defined by
each concessionaire in their business plan. In 2016, the Government of Indonesia
introduced a peatland ecosystem protection and management regulation and
established the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) following the mega fire events in
2015. After the enactment of the peatland regulation, the restoration activities
became mandatory for all private sectors who operate on peatland ecosystems,
including the plantation companies, oil palm, and timber plantations under BRG’s
supervision.
Katingan Peat Conservation and Restoration Project, or in short, the KatinganMentaya Project (KMP) is a living laboratory of the private sector involvement in
landscape-scale peatland ecosystem restoration under the ecosystem restoration
concession scheme. KMP is managed by PT Rimba Makmur Utama (PT RMU),
an Indonesian private company who also acts as the concessionaire. Under this
scheme, PT RMU has an opportunity to implement peatland ecosystem restoration
up to 2073, which can be extended until 2080 inside the concession area (the project
area) as a working example of nature-based solution (Eggermont et al. 2015).
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T. Darusman et al.
solution · Peatland agroecology · Peatland reforestation
13.1 Introduction
The restoration of tropical peatland is relatively a new practice in Indonesia or even
in tropical countries. Unlike in temperate or boreal countries where restorations have
been commenced for more than 30 years (Chimner et al. 2017), the restoration
efforts on impaired peatland ecosystems in Indonesia had just started in the late of
1990 (or early 2000), particularly after the catastrophic forest fire events in
1997–1998 (Page et al. 2009). The peatland restoration then has gained further
acknowledgment after the establishment of the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) in
2016 by the Government of Indonesia following the peatland fires in 2015. From
1997 through 2015, peatland ecosystem restoration efforts had been conducted
mostly by collaboration works between academic institutions and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
In 2009, the Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Forestry (MoF)
issued a new regulation on Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC). This regulation allows private sectors to voluntarily contribute to the restoration activity in the
context of industrial forestry sector. However, only a few companies were interested
in this unusual business due to uncertain revenue and they perceived it as a cost
center activity only. By 2018, only 16 companies have applied the ecosystem
restoration concession, in which nine of them works on peatland ecosystems covering in total around 332,491 hectares of peatlands (MoEF 2018).
The general objective of ERC is to restore the degraded forest into the natural
equilibrium state. It means the concessionaire is not allowed to extract timber before
the natural equilibrium is achieved and also not allowed to develop a plantation area.
However, the more measurable and achievable objectives are typically defined by
each concessionaire in their business plan. In 2016, the Government of Indonesia
introduced a peatland ecosystem protection and management regulation and
established the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) following the mega fire events in
2015. After the enactment of the peatland regulation, the restoration activities
became mandatory for all private sectors who operate on peatland ecosystems,
including the plantation companies, oil palm, and timber plantations under BRG’s
supervision.
Katingan Peat Conservation and Restoration Project, or in short, the KatinganMentaya Project (KMP) is a living laboratory of the private sector involvement in
landscape-scale peatland ecosystem restoration under the ecosystem restoration
concession scheme. KMP is managed by PT Rimba Makmur Utama (PT RMU),
an Indonesian private company who also acts as the concessionaire. Under this
scheme, PT RMU has an opportunity to implement peatland ecosystem restoration
up to 2073, which can be extended until 2080 inside the concession area (the project
area) as a working example of nature-based solution (Eggermont et al. 2015).
382
T. Darusman et al.