Dead planet, living planet

the sea floor (Nellemann et al ., 2009). Coastal vegetation is esti- mated to take up an average of 0.11–0.13 GtC per year (Cebrián and Duarte, 1996; Duarte et al ., 2005; Bouillon et al ., 2008). Mangroves are large carbon sinks (~0.018 GtC per year glob- ally) and highly productive in terms of primary productivity and wildlife (Bouillon et al ., 2008; Laffoley and Grimsditch, 2009). Coastal habitats can also be crucial for climate change adap-

tation, such as coastal defence, and provide many resources important to livelihoods. In Vietnam, a mangrove restoration programme found that the economic value of such benefits outweighed the costs (Table 1; Tri et al ., 1998). Salt marshes sequester ~0.06 GtC per year globally and 1.51 x10 -3 GtC/ha/year (Duarte et al ., 2005), a great proportion of which is sequestered in the soil (Chmura et al ., 2003); as such

CASE STUDY #22

Peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan for climate, biodiversity and livelihoods

The peatswamp forests of Central Kalimantan have heavily been degraded by logging and drainage for conversion into agricul- tural lands and oil palm and pulp plantations (UNEP, 2007). This situation leads to incredible carbon dioxide emissions and annually long lasting fires, causing smoke and health problems. The peatlands in Central Kalimantan constitute some of the poorest areas in Indonesia, largely because of unsuccessful de- velopments, large scale environmental destruction and peat fire disasters. The poverty rates in the area are 2 to 4 times higher than in other areas of Indonesia. Peatland degradation will continue unless action is taken. So far 12 million hectares of peatland are currently deforested and mostly drained in Southeast Asia, including over 1.5 million hect- ares in Central Kalimantan, with severe consequences for global climate, biodiversity and local communities. Peatland conserva- tion and restoration is therefore extremely urgent. A consortium made up of the Borneo Orang Utan Survival Foundation (BOSF), CARE, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wetlands Inter- national and the University of Palangka Raya therefore worked closely with the provincial and local authorities to help. The priority of the project was peatland rehabilitation, which involved the restoration of the hydrology of the drained peat- swamp forests, reforestation efforts and fire control. The proj- ect resulted in the establishment of 18 dams in large drainage canals and over 150 blocks in small drainage channels, contrib- uting to the restoration of thehydrology of 10,000 ha in the Se- bangau area and over 50,000 hectares of drained and degraded peatlands in the Ex-Mega Rice area. In total we estimate a re-

duced emission of at least 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by reducing decomposition only. These emissions would, without these restoration activities, have continued for some decades until they would gradually phase out as a result of the overall decimation of the peat store. Additionally reduced emissions resulting from fires were achieved; around 250,000 hectares of peatland now has improved security from fires and fire-fighting capacity has been improved in 25 villages. A total of 1500 ha of the hydrologically restored area was replanted with indigenous tree species. Another focus of the project was to conserve any remaining peat swamp forests. This work was complemented by a range of efforts to reduce poverty, including improving local health facili- ties, the development of an alternative livelihood strategies and investments in socioeconomic development through the devel- opment of sustainable fisheries, agriculture and forestry. On a global level the project has strongly increased awareness about the peatland problems in Indonesia. The proposed REDD policy under the UN climate conference (deforestation in developing countries; status after Copenhagen 2009) now opens the road to also address peatland loss; with funds provided by developed countries to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in de- veloping countries. With its innovative approaches, CKPP can be seen as an example for provincial and country authorities, institutions and NGOs of how to integrate the principles of sustainable development into policies and programmes for large scale restoration of logged and drained peatlands and for the protection of intact area.

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