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Fixing Flammable Forest:Challenges and prospects of peatland
governance at the landscape level
Rini Astuti, PhDResearch Fellow
National University of Singapore
Pledge to prevent forest & peatland fires and transboundary haze
Commitment to restore and protect peatlands through a “Putting People First” approach
Indonesia’s Peatland Political Conjuncture
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Political Economy of Indonesia’s Peatland
Complex socioecological landscape with
multiple users and divergent interests
Fragile ecological ecosystem with
significant environmental
services
in-situ environmental commons with
potential transboundary
implications
Which scale of environmental governance is the most effective for peatland?
Ecological landscape VS Administrative jurisdiction
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Indonesia’s Peatland Ecological Scales
Government Regulation No 71/2014 Junto No. 57/2016 on Protection
and Management of Peat ecosystem
Ministerial Decree No. 129/2017 on Designation of Peatland Hydrological Unity
Ministerial Decree No. 130/2017 on
Designation of Peat Ecosystem Function
Map
Peatland with Cultivation
function
Peatland with Protection function
24 million hectares divided into 865 Peatland
Hydrological Units (PHU)
12 million hectares
12 million hectares
Ministerial Regulation No.
14/2017 on procedures for Inventory and
Designation of Peat Ecosystem Functions
• Minimum 30% of PHU to be allocated for protection function, as well as peat with the following criteria:• Peat with more than 3m depth• Peat area with endemic and protected
species• Peatland that is already situated on
protection forest or moratorium area
Water management
Water conservation
Peatland Governance
mismatch
• Peatland governance is designed to follow its hydrological characteristics. However, the RPPEG document is going to be designed based on administrative hierarchical scale (district, provincial and national)
• Current peatland restoration and management is still based on each forest management unit (license holder, community, or government unit). Effort to connect different actors in one peatland landscape is not yet strong.
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Challenges and unintended impactsManagement of peatland water table in a peatland landscape in Giam Siak Kecil and Bukit Batu in Bengkalis District, Riau Province
• A oil palm company is in close proximity to Dompas village. Company’s effort to retain water tables during dry season (e.g. by blocking drainage canals) have resulted in water shortages for the community
• Meanwhile, canal blocking in Buruk BakulVillage has brought flood in the company’s plantation. Leading to demolition of 3 canal blockings by “unknown” parties.
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Prospect: Water sharing at the landscape level❖ Assisted by local NGOs, communities in 4
villages developed village regulation on
water sharing and fire management
❖ Village leaders and MPA employed the
regulation as a mechanism to mobilize
collaboration between companies and
communities
❖ Two pulpwood plantation companies have
committed to re-engineer their hydrological
system to ensure the communities will
have a fair and just access to water both in
rainy and dry seasons
❖ Having the legality instruments for water
and fire management, the four villages are
planning to ask for financial assistance
from the district government
Reflections
• When implementation of peatland policies is still focused on each forest management unit (concession owner) without fostering collaboration among divergent actors in one landscape, they may produce contradictory effects that will intensify rather than address peatland fires and transboundary haze.
• Despite the slow progress aligning all peatland stakeholders on one water and fire governance platform, the regulation introduces socioenvironmental justice principles when managing peatland resources
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