Chapter 3
Large-Scale Practice on Tropical Peatland
Eco-Management
Tsuyoshi Kato, Sisva Silsigia, Asep Andi Yusup, and Mitsuru Osaki
Abstract The goal of conventional tropical peatland management is to reduce the
groundwater level for agriculture and plantations because commercial crops and
plants are generally susceptible to high soil moisture and high groundwater levels, of
which conventional water management, here, is called “Drainage-based water
management” (Drainage-based WM). This Drainage-based WM has been a basic
technology for tropical peatland management for a long time. Recently, however, El
Niño occurrences have increased, causing serious droughts in Southeast Asia, and
the drained peatland has resulted in serious damage, causing severe peat and forest
fires, as well as peat degradation by microorganisms. Therefore, this Drainage-based
WM has been modified by canal/drain/ditch blocking. However, when big El Niño
occurred, due to the limited rainfall, the water supply was reduced regardless of
canal blocking in many cases.
Thus, a new water management system is required in tropical peatland, with
innovative water management, which is denoted herein as “Stock-based water
management” (Stock-based WM). This “Stock-based WM” is like an “irrigation
system” for the paddy field. Water flow is designed to achieve a high level of
water retention in the ecosystem.
In Drainage-based WM, water should drain from the tropical peatland ecosystem
as soon as possible, which is called “Conventional Management.” In Stock-based
WM, water should be retained in the tropical peatland ecosystem as long as possible,
which is called “Eco-management.” The “Eco-management in a large-scale ecosystem of tropical peatland” comprises four components: (1) water management and
land-use planning, (2) biodiversity conservation planning, (3) new technologies to
preserve peat, and (4) their evaluation systems. The goals of this “Eco-management”
in a large-scale tropical peatland are (1) to establish a carbon-negative system,
T. Kato (*) · S. Silsigia · A. A. Yusup
PT. Wana Subur Lestari/PT. Mayangkara Tanaman Industri, Jakarta, Indonesia
e-mail: tk@wanasl.com
M. Osaki
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
e-mail: mosaki@chem.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
© 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_3
89
Large-Scale Practice on Tropical Peatland
Eco-Management
Tsuyoshi Kato, Sisva Silsigia, Asep Andi Yusup, and Mitsuru Osaki
Abstract The goal of conventional tropical peatland management is to reduce the
groundwater level for agriculture and plantations because commercial crops and
plants are generally susceptible to high soil moisture and high groundwater levels, of
which conventional water management, here, is called “Drainage-based water
management” (Drainage-based WM). This Drainage-based WM has been a basic
technology for tropical peatland management for a long time. Recently, however, El
Niño occurrences have increased, causing serious droughts in Southeast Asia, and
the drained peatland has resulted in serious damage, causing severe peat and forest
fires, as well as peat degradation by microorganisms. Therefore, this Drainage-based
WM has been modified by canal/drain/ditch blocking. However, when big El Niño
occurred, due to the limited rainfall, the water supply was reduced regardless of
canal blocking in many cases.
Thus, a new water management system is required in tropical peatland, with
innovative water management, which is denoted herein as “Stock-based water
management” (Stock-based WM). This “Stock-based WM” is like an “irrigation
system” for the paddy field. Water flow is designed to achieve a high level of
water retention in the ecosystem.
In Drainage-based WM, water should drain from the tropical peatland ecosystem
as soon as possible, which is called “Conventional Management.” In Stock-based
WM, water should be retained in the tropical peatland ecosystem as long as possible,
which is called “Eco-management.” The “Eco-management in a large-scale ecosystem of tropical peatland” comprises four components: (1) water management and
land-use planning, (2) biodiversity conservation planning, (3) new technologies to
preserve peat, and (4) their evaluation systems. The goals of this “Eco-management”
in a large-scale tropical peatland are (1) to establish a carbon-negative system,
T. Kato (*) · S. Silsigia · A. A. Yusup
PT. Wana Subur Lestari/PT. Mayangkara Tanaman Industri, Jakarta, Indonesia
e-mail: tk@wanasl.com
M. Osaki
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
e-mail: mosaki@chem.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
© 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_3
89