Chapter 21
Peatland Restoration in Central
Kalimantan by Rewetting
and Rehabilitation with Shorea balangeran
Tri Wira Yuwati, Dony Rachmanadi, M. Abdul Qirom,
Purwanto B. Santosa, Kitso Kusin, and Hesti Lestari Tata
Abstract Peatlands in Central Kalimantan are degraded due to the recurring fires
occurring since decades ago. After the catastrophic fire in 2015, there has been an
increase in peatland restoration activity in Indonesia. Hydrological restoration,
e.g. canal blocking, has been developed throughout Central Kalimantan. We focused
our study on the Rehabilitation of Peatland (RePeat) area of the Forest with Specific
Purposes, Tumbang Nusa in Central Kalimantan. Most of the area (about 2500 ha) of
Tumbang Nusa Peat Swamp Forest was burnt in 2015. At the end of 2015, the
rehabilitation of the burnt forest by planting Shorea balangeran—a native peatland
tree species—started. Shorea balangeran is a timber species, which produces a good
quality of wood. Later in 2017, the canal was blocked through the development of
canal blocking with a spillway system. Tree growth and water level were observed
manually and regularly every month. Shorea balangeran grew well on the rewetted
peatlands and under the open canopy. However, outside the forest area, the peatland
restoration needs to consider the socio-economic aspect of the community living in
the surrounding area. In addition to land–tree species matching, the livelihood of the
community living in the area must also be taken into account to ensure the success of
peatland restoration. Ecosystem services that may be provided through the rewetted
and revegetated peat forest can only benefit the people after some time when the
restored area is really established.
Keywords Paludiculture · Peatland · Shorea balangeran · Canal blocking · Peat
swamp forest
T. W. Yuwati · D. Rachmanadi · M. A. Qirom · P. B. Santosa
Banjarbaru Environment and Forestry Research and Development Institute, Banjarbaru, South
Kalimantan, Indonesia
K. Kusin
Center for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland
(CIMTROP), Palangkaraya University, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
H. L. Tata (*)
Forest Research and Development Center, Bogor, Indonesia
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Osaki et al. (eds.), Tropical Peatland Eco-management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4654-3_21
595
Peatland Restoration in Central
Kalimantan by Rewetting
and Rehabilitation with Shorea balangeran
Tri Wira Yuwati, Dony Rachmanadi, M. Abdul Qirom,
Purwanto B. Santosa, Kitso Kusin, and Hesti Lestari Tata
Abstract Peatlands in Central Kalimantan are degraded due to the recurring fires
occurring since decades ago. After the catastrophic fire in 2015, there has been an
increase in peatland restoration activity in Indonesia. Hydrological restoration,
e.g. canal blocking, has been developed throughout Central Kalimantan. We focused
our study on the Rehabilitation of Peatland (RePeat) area of the Forest with Specific
Purposes, Tumbang Nusa in Central Kalimantan. Most of the area (about 2500 ha) of
Tumbang Nusa Peat Swamp Forest was burnt in 2015. At the end of 2015, the
rehabilitation of the burnt forest by planting Shorea balangeran—a native peatland
tree species—started. Shorea balangeran is a timber species, which produces a good
quality of wood. Later in 2017, the canal was blocked through the development of
canal blocking with a spillway system. Tree growth and water level were observed
manually and regularly every month. Shorea balangeran grew well on the rewetted
peatlands and under the open canopy. However, outside the forest area, the peatland
restoration needs to consider the socio-economic aspect of the community living in
the surrounding area. In addition to land–tree species matching, the livelihood of the
community living in the area must also be taken into account to ensure the success of
peatland restoration. Ecosystem services that may be provided through the rewetted
and revegetated peat forest can only benefit the people after some time when the
restored area is really established.
Keywords Paludiculture · Peatland · Shorea balangeran · Canal blocking · Peat
swamp forest
T. W. Yuwati · D. Rachmanadi · M. A. Qirom · P. B. Santosa
Banjarbaru Environment and Forestry Research and Development Institute, Banjarbaru, South
Kalimantan, Indonesia
K. Kusin
Center for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland
(CIMTROP), Palangkaraya University, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
H. L. Tata (*)
Forest Research and Development Center, Bogor, Indonesia
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Osaki et al. (eds.), Tropical Peatland Eco-management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4654-3_21
595