Park. The southern half of the Tahura was rewetted and replanted in 2017–2018, but
the area to the south that also borders with Berbak National Park consists of
50,000 ha of forest logging concessions that are heavily degraded and drained. An
advisory mission by the Ramsar Bureau recommended that these concessions have
their status converted to restoration concession and be rewetted, as in their current
state they form a threat (Silvius et al. 2018). This has not happened, and in the dry
season of 2019 major peatland fires originated from this area and spread from there
northwards to the Tahura (see: https://earthdata.nasa.gov/earth-observation-data/
near-real-time/firms/active-fire-data, accessed on 25 Sept. 2019), where part of the
BGPP restoration work was undone.
Access and Rewetting Once peat hydrology is restored (e.g., by successful canal
blocking) and the rewetted peatland is replanted with promising, peat adaptive
species, the major challenge to the success of maintaining such a system is providing
low impact access (e.g., so that NTFPs or timber can be harvested). Ongoing
paludiculture programs often address the problem by constructing box dams
equipped with spillways that allow the passage of small boats. However, when
canal blocks are equipped with spillways, they are less than 100% effective in
rewetting and thus unsustainable in the long-term. Basically, there are three main
approaches for facilitating the access in fully rewetted areas aiming at harvesting
NTFPs, namely alternatives for crossing canal blocks (e.g., ramp or slipway), trail
systems (e.g., durable and moveable rails, tramlines, and so on) and adjusting the
timing of harvest (e.g., dry season harvesting on foot) (Giesen and Sari 2018).
Harvesting timber sustainably can be commenced with tramlines, but for pulp this
is more of a challenge given that this is to be done on a regular basis (e.g., 5–8 years)
(Kumari 1997).
Peat Swamp Provenance Sourcing propagation materials from the correct provenance will prove to be essential, as many potential paludiculture species grow over a
wide range of habitats, including peatland, and if planting material is sourced from
dryland habitats this may not be able to survive, let alone thrive in a peatland habitat.
Propagation materials from species such as Calophyllum inophyllum, whose habitat
ranges from coastal areas (sandy, saline environments) to peat swamps, when
acquired from sandy coastal areas may not be able to thrive on peatland. Sengon
(Falcataria moluccana) normally requires well drained soil, but a subspecies
(Falcataria moluccana subspecies fulva) is known from Papua that grows naturally
in peatland habitat (see Sect. 14.4.2). Trialing this species for pulp production
therefore requires sourcing propagation material from a remote part of the Papuan
highlands rather than from a nursery in downtown Bogor (in Java), where this is a
common roadside tree.
Information About Species Not much is known about how various potential
paludiculture species perform in peatland, in terms of productivity as well as relevant
to their flowering and fruiting, performance of propagation materials, susceptibility
to peats and diseases, inter-relationships between species (e.g., co-promotion and
inhibition), market chains, and so on. Also, how these species contribute to peat
formation and the self-regulation of peat hydrology (e.g. via humps-and-hollow
434
W. Giesen
the area to the south that also borders with Berbak National Park consists of
50,000 ha of forest logging concessions that are heavily degraded and drained. An
advisory mission by the Ramsar Bureau recommended that these concessions have
their status converted to restoration concession and be rewetted, as in their current
state they form a threat (Silvius et al. 2018). This has not happened, and in the dry
season of 2019 major peatland fires originated from this area and spread from there
northwards to the Tahura (see: https://earthdata.nasa.gov/earth-observation-data/
near-real-time/firms/active-fire-data, accessed on 25 Sept. 2019), where part of the
BGPP restoration work was undone.
Access and Rewetting Once peat hydrology is restored (e.g., by successful canal
blocking) and the rewetted peatland is replanted with promising, peat adaptive
species, the major challenge to the success of maintaining such a system is providing
low impact access (e.g., so that NTFPs or timber can be harvested). Ongoing
paludiculture programs often address the problem by constructing box dams
equipped with spillways that allow the passage of small boats. However, when
canal blocks are equipped with spillways, they are less than 100% effective in
rewetting and thus unsustainable in the long-term. Basically, there are three main
approaches for facilitating the access in fully rewetted areas aiming at harvesting
NTFPs, namely alternatives for crossing canal blocks (e.g., ramp or slipway), trail
systems (e.g., durable and moveable rails, tramlines, and so on) and adjusting the
timing of harvest (e.g., dry season harvesting on foot) (Giesen and Sari 2018).
Harvesting timber sustainably can be commenced with tramlines, but for pulp this
is more of a challenge given that this is to be done on a regular basis (e.g., 5–8 years)
(Kumari 1997).
Peat Swamp Provenance Sourcing propagation materials from the correct provenance will prove to be essential, as many potential paludiculture species grow over a
wide range of habitats, including peatland, and if planting material is sourced from
dryland habitats this may not be able to survive, let alone thrive in a peatland habitat.
Propagation materials from species such as Calophyllum inophyllum, whose habitat
ranges from coastal areas (sandy, saline environments) to peat swamps, when
acquired from sandy coastal areas may not be able to thrive on peatland. Sengon
(Falcataria moluccana) normally requires well drained soil, but a subspecies
(Falcataria moluccana subspecies fulva) is known from Papua that grows naturally
in peatland habitat (see Sect. 14.4.2). Trialing this species for pulp production
therefore requires sourcing propagation material from a remote part of the Papuan
highlands rather than from a nursery in downtown Bogor (in Java), where this is a
common roadside tree.
Information About Species Not much is known about how various potential
paludiculture species perform in peatland, in terms of productivity as well as relevant
to their flowering and fruiting, performance of propagation materials, susceptibility
to peats and diseases, inter-relationships between species (e.g., co-promotion and
inhibition), market chains, and so on. Also, how these species contribute to peat
formation and the self-regulation of peat hydrology (e.g. via humps-and-hollow
434
W. Giesen