evidently affected the onset and length of the dry and wet seasons. The trendline of
water table depth during the dry season in an El Niño year was more abrupt.
13.4.4 Climate Smart Agriculture, in an Attempt to Seek
Alternative Livelihood
Osaki et al. (2016) and Page et al. (2013) stated that logging and agricultural
expansion that often involved fires have dominated the history of peatland utilization
in Indonesia. The later event, i.e., slash and burning, still becomes the most hazardous threat in the KMP area. Since the early operation of KMP, we believe that to
prevent fires, alternative livelihood that does not incorporate fires should be promoted. Otherwise, fires will always occur during the dry season as demands for new
agricultural land development rise.
In regard to this, KMP has been promoting climate smart agricultural practices
that are environmentally friendly and most importantly, more profitable than the
conventional practices. Although the last goal is yet fully achieved, the grassroot
movement applying zero burning practice has brought success. Starting from only
17 members in 2017, at present, 107 farmers (29% are women) from 20 villages have
joined our program in the Peatland Agroecological Farmer School.
The aim of this school is not to educate farmers, but further than this, to
collaborate with farmers and altogether formulate a farming practice without burning
and without using chemical components. The annual workshop attended by farmer
members of the school is undertaken to share their experience during a year
implementing the zero burning practice. Challenges are inevitably to emerge, not
only from technical sides (e.g., pest attack, saline water intrusion, drought, etc.) but
also the skeptic view from people who doubt this movement. This finding is
supported by Simelton et al. (2017) who mentioned that resistance to implementing
climate smart agricultural practice mostly appears as farmers are afraid to “innovate”. However, rather than decreasing, the farmer members of this school are
increasing.
Even though a success story at a large scale is not yet achieved, the farmers
commence to share their accomplishments. Some were successfully harvesting their
horticulture commodities when other conventional farmers failed due to long
drought. Another story was reported that a group of farmers eagerly starts planting
paddy rice without burning in 0.75 ha of land in the middle of bare land.
Moreover, as KMP-PA is mostly surrounded by privately owned bare peatland,
and fires used to emerge from these areas, our homework is to find solutions on how
fires can be prevented while making sure the land productivity. Answering this
question, in 2017, a 5 ha demonstration plot located in KMP-PZ, collaboration
between one of the village governments and KMP, was established to seek a climate
smart agriculture practice in degraded peatland. The principles of this practice can be
summed up into (1) using zero burning and zero chemical practices,
13 Management Practice and Restoration of the Peat Swamp Forest in. . .
403
water table depth during the dry season in an El Niño year was more abrupt.
13.4.4 Climate Smart Agriculture, in an Attempt to Seek
Alternative Livelihood
Osaki et al. (2016) and Page et al. (2013) stated that logging and agricultural
expansion that often involved fires have dominated the history of peatland utilization
in Indonesia. The later event, i.e., slash and burning, still becomes the most hazardous threat in the KMP area. Since the early operation of KMP, we believe that to
prevent fires, alternative livelihood that does not incorporate fires should be promoted. Otherwise, fires will always occur during the dry season as demands for new
agricultural land development rise.
In regard to this, KMP has been promoting climate smart agricultural practices
that are environmentally friendly and most importantly, more profitable than the
conventional practices. Although the last goal is yet fully achieved, the grassroot
movement applying zero burning practice has brought success. Starting from only
17 members in 2017, at present, 107 farmers (29% are women) from 20 villages have
joined our program in the Peatland Agroecological Farmer School.
The aim of this school is not to educate farmers, but further than this, to
collaborate with farmers and altogether formulate a farming practice without burning
and without using chemical components. The annual workshop attended by farmer
members of the school is undertaken to share their experience during a year
implementing the zero burning practice. Challenges are inevitably to emerge, not
only from technical sides (e.g., pest attack, saline water intrusion, drought, etc.) but
also the skeptic view from people who doubt this movement. This finding is
supported by Simelton et al. (2017) who mentioned that resistance to implementing
climate smart agricultural practice mostly appears as farmers are afraid to “innovate”. However, rather than decreasing, the farmer members of this school are
increasing.
Even though a success story at a large scale is not yet achieved, the farmers
commence to share their accomplishments. Some were successfully harvesting their
horticulture commodities when other conventional farmers failed due to long
drought. Another story was reported that a group of farmers eagerly starts planting
paddy rice without burning in 0.75 ha of land in the middle of bare land.
Moreover, as KMP-PA is mostly surrounded by privately owned bare peatland,
and fires used to emerge from these areas, our homework is to find solutions on how
fires can be prevented while making sure the land productivity. Answering this
question, in 2017, a 5 ha demonstration plot located in KMP-PZ, collaboration
between one of the village governments and KMP, was established to seek a climate
smart agriculture practice in degraded peatland. The principles of this practice can be
summed up into (1) using zero burning and zero chemical practices,
13 Management Practice and Restoration of the Peat Swamp Forest in. . .
403