(aboveground- and belowground-biomass), understory, litter, and deadwood, particularly when peatlands or peat swamp forests are degraded (forest degradation) and
converted to other land uses (deforestation).
Forests and peatlands are natural resources that should be managed sustainably
and utilized wisely as basic capitals for development by taking into account the
existing supporting capacity and their spatial patterns. In managing peatlands with
fragile character requires a good spatial planning by considering ecological, environmental, economic, and social aspects. Failure managements should be used as a
lesson-learnt to immediately make corrective actions. In this case, Indonesia has
committed to improving existing peatland governance through several government
regulations concerning postponement of granting of new permits and improving
governance of primary natural forests and peatlands, protection and sustainable
management of peatland ecosystem. The limitation on space that requires peatlands
to support economic development needs adequate technological input and local
wisdom. Wise, responsible, and sustainable peatland management with adequate
monitoring of peat vulnerability indicators (including vulnerability to fires and
carbon loss) need to be carried out. Addressing the sources of GHGs emission and
understanding vulnerability of peatlands are important to develop strategies to
mitigate the impacts and improve understanding of climate-responsible management
of tropical peatlands. Integrated MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) are
therefore needed to accurately monitor and control the carrying capacity of peatlands
as part of the sustainable peatland management strategy and also supporting transparency in peatland management as part of the global environmental assets.
15.2 Source of GHGs Emission from Tropical Peatlands
Tropical peatlands are known as the largest source of terrestrial carbon storage
globally, where most of the carbon is stored on peat, estimated at above 80%
(Murdiyarso et al. 2009; Saragi-Sasmito et al. 2018). The remaining is stored on
the aboveground vegetation which can be peat swamp forests, shrubs, plantations,
and agricultural crops growing on peatlands. Primary or intact peat swamp forests
have been estimated to store ecosystem carbon (C) stocks (excluding peat) of
127.6–167 tonnes (t) C ha
À1 (95% confidence interval (CI), calculated from
42 plots), while secondary peat swamp forests were estimated around
129.7–133.48 t C ha
À1 (95% CI, calculated from 1365 plots) (Krisnawati et al.
2014). Shrubs that are drained after fires have been reported to store carbon deposits
of 15.7 Æ 3.7 t C ha
À1 , while oil palm plantations have carbon deposits of
31.6 Æ 8.8 t C ha
À1 (Murdiyarso et al. 2019).
The GHGs emission will increase as the disturbance events continue to occur.
The emission can be resulted from the loss of vegetation cover, replacement of
vegetation cover of high carbon stock with vegetation cover of lower carbon stock,
peat drainage causing biological oxidation, and fires. The decreasing extent of
vegetation cover of peat swamp forests which contain high carbon stocks also occurs
15 Climate-Responsible Management of Tropical Peatlands: The Need for Integrated. . .
445
converted to other land uses (deforestation).
Forests and peatlands are natural resources that should be managed sustainably
and utilized wisely as basic capitals for development by taking into account the
existing supporting capacity and their spatial patterns. In managing peatlands with
fragile character requires a good spatial planning by considering ecological, environmental, economic, and social aspects. Failure managements should be used as a
lesson-learnt to immediately make corrective actions. In this case, Indonesia has
committed to improving existing peatland governance through several government
regulations concerning postponement of granting of new permits and improving
governance of primary natural forests and peatlands, protection and sustainable
management of peatland ecosystem. The limitation on space that requires peatlands
to support economic development needs adequate technological input and local
wisdom. Wise, responsible, and sustainable peatland management with adequate
monitoring of peat vulnerability indicators (including vulnerability to fires and
carbon loss) need to be carried out. Addressing the sources of GHGs emission and
understanding vulnerability of peatlands are important to develop strategies to
mitigate the impacts and improve understanding of climate-responsible management
of tropical peatlands. Integrated MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) are
therefore needed to accurately monitor and control the carrying capacity of peatlands
as part of the sustainable peatland management strategy and also supporting transparency in peatland management as part of the global environmental assets.
15.2 Source of GHGs Emission from Tropical Peatlands
Tropical peatlands are known as the largest source of terrestrial carbon storage
globally, where most of the carbon is stored on peat, estimated at above 80%
(Murdiyarso et al. 2009; Saragi-Sasmito et al. 2018). The remaining is stored on
the aboveground vegetation which can be peat swamp forests, shrubs, plantations,
and agricultural crops growing on peatlands. Primary or intact peat swamp forests
have been estimated to store ecosystem carbon (C) stocks (excluding peat) of
127.6–167 tonnes (t) C ha
À1 (95% confidence interval (CI), calculated from
42 plots), while secondary peat swamp forests were estimated around
129.7–133.48 t C ha
À1 (95% CI, calculated from 1365 plots) (Krisnawati et al.
2014). Shrubs that are drained after fires have been reported to store carbon deposits
of 15.7 Æ 3.7 t C ha
À1 , while oil palm plantations have carbon deposits of
31.6 Æ 8.8 t C ha
À1 (Murdiyarso et al. 2019).
The GHGs emission will increase as the disturbance events continue to occur.
The emission can be resulted from the loss of vegetation cover, replacement of
vegetation cover of high carbon stock with vegetation cover of lower carbon stock,
peat drainage causing biological oxidation, and fires. The decreasing extent of
vegetation cover of peat swamp forests which contain high carbon stocks also occurs
15 Climate-Responsible Management of Tropical Peatlands: The Need for Integrated. . .
445