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Wageningen, Lumen 30.10.200911:59:12 h

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Peter van der Meer’s heart lies with the tropical forests of

Southeast Asia. Forest conservation is the common

element in the projects that he is involved in, and it’s what

motivates him. ‘I love the research I do – it’s very

interesting, but that’s not enough for me. If that was all

there was to it, I’d start to have my doubts. It’s important to

me that my work is useful, that it serves a purpose. In my

case that’s tropical forests.’

by Maartje Kouwen

>Van der Meer’s research combats illegal timber

flows in Malaysia. One of his activities is to measu-

re CO2 emissions of peat areas, created by felling

forest. Van der Meer has had to learn the rules of the forest.

‘In the tropics the rule is: use it or lose it. As far as the local

population is concerned, forest must have a use, otherwise

they cut it down. A special proboscis monkey or an ende-

mic plant is not enough.’ This happens in the Malaysian

state of Sarawak too, where Van der Meer does research on

nature conservation. ‘The ramin tree used to be common in

Sarawak. These hardwood trees stood in dense stands on a

thick layer of peat. This combination is what makes up tro-

pical peat swamp forest. The area is densely populated

however, and heavy felling has been going on since the six-

ties. Ramin trees had become so rare that conservation was

urgent.’

‘Our research has helped find a way of protecting the forest’

Peter van der Meer, tropical forest expert

Ramin was Van der Meer’s first project in Malaysia. He star-

ted in 2001, studying the growth of the ramin population,

CO2 emissions, and the environmental effects. ‘Carrying

out the research was not easy. Forest felling continued in

Sarawak, but we and our counterparts believed that this

needed to be done in a carefully planned way. Our aim was

sustainable management, but most of the forest had alrea-

dy disappeared. Nevertheless we pressed on, because

something needed to be done urgently.’

The research was carried out in close collaboration with

Malaysian counterparts. ‘In Malaysia lots of different par-

ties have a say over the forest: the forestry service, govern-

ment ministries and various local groups. For instance,

those who manage the forest are not the owners, which

makes it difficult to reach agreement on responsibilities.

Unfortunately our direct counterparts did not always have

enough political power to implement sustainable forest

management practices.’

The research report took four years to complete. Van der

Meer and his fellow researchers presented their findings at

a final workshop. ‘Our joint research showed that logging

was damaging the environment. Things had gone so far

that sustainable forest management was no longer possi-

ble, as most of the natural ramin forest had already been

felled. The only option was to create ramin plantations. The

most important priority was to stop the remaining natural

01.12.04 Made by Alterra, 2000-2010

Malaysia proposed that ramin be

added to the CITES list of protected

species.

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ramin population from being cut down.’

Then, on 1 December 2004, something unexpected

happened. ‘Malaysia took the initiative and suggested that

ramin should be assigned protected status on the CITES

list, which controls international trade of animal and plant

species that are threatened with extinction. We hadn’t

expected this at all. We were delighted. In front of the press

and photographers we and our counterparts explained how

we’d gone about our research. It was a memorable

moment. We had put so much time and money in, and we

ended up with a way to protect the forest. That’s something

I’m really proud of.’ Not everyone was as pleased as Van der

Meer. ‘The local timber industry was perhaps not so happy

with the outcome. Ramin felling had been forbidden,

which deprived them of income. In that sense our research

was pretty controversial.’

Van der Meer still visits the area regularly. ‘The new sta-

tus on the CITES list was a high point, but not a break -

through we realise now in retrospect. We’ve still got quite a

way to go. People still have no economic incentive to pre-

serve the forest instead of logging it.’ There are various ini-

tiatives through which people can compensate their CO2emissions. ‘Indonesia has also set up a scheme. In addi-

tion to logging, forest fires are a problem, and cause similar

quantities of CO2 emissions. For every month that no forest

fire happens, the local population receives a bonus. This

way the forest remains intact and the local people become

actively involved in its management.’

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and

Degradation (REDD) was set up by the United Nations to

help upscale this local way of dealing with things to the glo-

bal level. ‘Under this construction the industrialised coun-

tries compensate their CO2 emissions by paying money to

forest-rich countries so that the latter don’t cut down their

forests. Although this might seem to let the industrialised

countries off the hook when it comes to reducing their own

CO2 emissions, it does open up possibilities for creating

better ways of paying for forest functions. Forests are not

only a source of timber; they are also an excellent way of

storing carbon and function as water regulators. At present 45

Peter van der Meer, tropical forest expert

Maludam National ParkSarawak, IndonesiaJune 2005

LinggaSarawak, IndonesiaAugust 2004

One of the wet stretches of a leaf-falltransect walk in Maludam National Park.The water level varies dramatically in peatswamp forests. During the wet season largeareas are submerged under twenty to fiftycentimetres of water. Although large areasare dry during the dry season, it oftenremains wetter near the river.

Camp on the Maludam River, Sarawak (Borneo). Located in the middle of theMaludam National Park, this camp takes two hours to reach by boat and is usedfor overnight stays during research campaigns.

Measuring photosynthesis in a ramin seedling.These measurements provide informationabout the optimal growing conditions (e.g. theamount of light needed) for trees.

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Central Kalimantan,IndonesiaJuly 2008

Central Kalimantan,IndonesiaJanuary 2008

47

Maludam National ParkSarawak, Indonesia17.07.2003

there’s no good system for paying for these functions.’

At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial

Planning and the Environment (VROM), Van der Meer has

started on a new project, which will show how much CO2savings forest conservation yields. His research team has

returned to Sarawak to measure the amount of greenhouse

gases that are released when peat swamp forest is turned

into oil palm plantations. ‘Millions of hectares of forest

have already been felled in Malaysia and Indonesia to

make way for oil palm plantations. The industry is growing

fast and still wants millions more hectares. I can under-

stand their reasoning. As far as they’re concerned forest is

unused land. Planting oil palms is seen as doing something

useful with it.’

Much of the population is unaware that in its present

state the forest is actually very useful. ‘The forest, together

with the peat soil it stands on, is a very special and extre-

mely threatened ecosystem. The peat layer can be up to fif-

teen metres deep and stores large amounts of CO2. It’s not

just that trees are being felled – land is being reclaimed

and drained. As a result the soil shrinks and compacts, and

enormous amounts of CO2 are released.’

Malaysia claims that its emissions are not too high, but

the Netherlands has indicated that there is a serious pro-

blem. ‘To get a clearer understanding of the situation, the

two countries agreed to this joint project in 2008.

Organisations like Greenpeace have been critical. Their

reasoning is ‘You know that things are bad, why do you have

to go and do more research?’ It is true that we know that

these changes are bad for CO2 emissions, but we need to

show how bad they are, so that these countries make policy

changes.

‘The Malaysians are planning to use flux towers to mea-

sure the amount of CO2 in the air. We are looking at how

much CO2 is stored in the trees and soil. Because this is a

joint project, it’s important to maintain a dialogue. But

politics slows the research down. It’s difficult to organise

sustainable management in a country where so many diffe-

rent parties have an interest at stake in the forest. In the

meantime felling continues, while it’s vital that enough

forest remains to preserve biodiversity, and corridors need

to be created. But management not only costs money, it

also means less production. The REDD initiative is very

important, as it offers an opportunity to make protecting

trees lucrative. A region like Sarawak stands to benefit

from this.’

< Peat forest reclaimed and replantedwith rubber trees. The blackened treestump indicates that burning was used toclear the forest, which releases enormousextra quantities of CO2.

< Peat forest where felling has been done,but which is still reasonably intact.

> Group photo taken during the officialopening of Maludam National Park.From left to right: Datu Cheong Ek Choon(Director of Forest, Sarawak ForestDepartment), Peter van der Meer, Tan SriDatuk Dr Abdullah Mohd Tahir (SecretaryGeneral, Ministry of Primary Industries,Malaysia), Sarawak Forestry representati-ve (name not known), resident of BetongDivision (name not known).

Peter van der Meer, tropical forest expert