(e) Carbon stock.
Above-ground carbon stocks can be maintained or increased through the protection and rehabilitation of forested buffer zones and High Conservation Value
(HCV) areas and optimal oil palm planting density. Conserving adjacent
(or where appropriate, within plantation) forested areas will increase the carbon
stock of the area. However, maintenance of the below-ground carbon stock in an
oil palm plantation on peatland is not possible—due to continued emissions as a
result of drainage. Applying BMPs of water management will only slow down
the emissions but not stop them. Only if there are significant peatland conservation areas which are rehabilitated—can the net emissions be stopped
over time.
18.5.8 Maintaining the Integrity of Peatland
Hydrological Units
Peatlands are wetland systems in which water is critical to the ecosystem integrity
and health. Peat is 90% water and every portion of a peatland is connected to the rest
of the peatland through the water. Changes in the water regime through drainage or
flooding in one portion of the peatland will impact the peatland in other portions of
the system. Each peatland occurs in a Peatland Hydrological Unit (PHU) or peatland
basin which comprises any continuous area of peat together with the adjacent
mineral soil leading to the nearest river or water body (Parish et al. 2019b).
For the management and rehabilitation of peatland, it is essential to understand
the location and nature of the area in relation to its respective PHU. Understanding
the connection between any proposed conservation or restoration site and the
conservation status and hydrology in the remainder of the PHU is important to
enable a sustainable management strategy to be developed. For example, if the area
to be conserved is also being drained by nearby plantations or by canals dug for
transportation or logging in the same PHU—then the restoration may not be viable in
the long term without consultation with other stakeholders and adjustment of the
overall drainage patterns. If, however an area to be conserved comprises several
PHUs—separated by rivers on mineral soil—then the management for each unit can
be planned independently as activity in one will not directly impact the other. This
logic does not apply however to valley or lake basin peatlands, as water from one
portion of the peatland will flow into adjacent portions across the river as the peat is
at a similar or lower level to the river.
Based on an understanding of the PHU and landscape, it is important to develop
an integrated management strategy or plan for the proposed restoration or conservation area or the entire PHU in which it sits. This can guide the overall approach for
the long-term sustainable management of the peatland landscape into which individual stakeholders can link their individual efforts to support peatland conservation
and rehabilitation.
18 Role of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Tropical Peatland. . .
525
Above-ground carbon stocks can be maintained or increased through the protection and rehabilitation of forested buffer zones and High Conservation Value
(HCV) areas and optimal oil palm planting density. Conserving adjacent
(or where appropriate, within plantation) forested areas will increase the carbon
stock of the area. However, maintenance of the below-ground carbon stock in an
oil palm plantation on peatland is not possible—due to continued emissions as a
result of drainage. Applying BMPs of water management will only slow down
the emissions but not stop them. Only if there are significant peatland conservation areas which are rehabilitated—can the net emissions be stopped
over time.
18.5.8 Maintaining the Integrity of Peatland
Hydrological Units
Peatlands are wetland systems in which water is critical to the ecosystem integrity
and health. Peat is 90% water and every portion of a peatland is connected to the rest
of the peatland through the water. Changes in the water regime through drainage or
flooding in one portion of the peatland will impact the peatland in other portions of
the system. Each peatland occurs in a Peatland Hydrological Unit (PHU) or peatland
basin which comprises any continuous area of peat together with the adjacent
mineral soil leading to the nearest river or water body (Parish et al. 2019b).
For the management and rehabilitation of peatland, it is essential to understand
the location and nature of the area in relation to its respective PHU. Understanding
the connection between any proposed conservation or restoration site and the
conservation status and hydrology in the remainder of the PHU is important to
enable a sustainable management strategy to be developed. For example, if the area
to be conserved is also being drained by nearby plantations or by canals dug for
transportation or logging in the same PHU—then the restoration may not be viable in
the long term without consultation with other stakeholders and adjustment of the
overall drainage patterns. If, however an area to be conserved comprises several
PHUs—separated by rivers on mineral soil—then the management for each unit can
be planned independently as activity in one will not directly impact the other. This
logic does not apply however to valley or lake basin peatlands, as water from one
portion of the peatland will flow into adjacent portions across the river as the peat is
at a similar or lower level to the river.
Based on an understanding of the PHU and landscape, it is important to develop
an integrated management strategy or plan for the proposed restoration or conservation area or the entire PHU in which it sits. This can guide the overall approach for
the long-term sustainable management of the peatland landscape into which individual stakeholders can link their individual efforts to support peatland conservation
and rehabilitation.
18 Role of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Tropical Peatland. . .
525