Opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in tropical peatlands

Abstract

The upcoming global mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries should include and prioritize tropical peatlands. Forested tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia are rapidly being converted into production systems by introducing perennial crops for lucrative agribusiness, such as oil-palm and pulpwood plantations, causing large greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for GHG Inventory on Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Uses provide an adequate framework for emissions inventories in these ecosystems; however, specific emission factors are needed for more accurate and costeffective monitoring. The emissions are governed by complex biophysical processes, such as peat decomposition and compaction, nutrient availability, soil water content, and water table level, all of which are affected by management practices. We estimate that total carbon loss from converting peat swamp forests into oil palm is 59.4 AE 10.2 Mg of CO 2 per hectare per year during the first 25 y after land-use cover change, of which 61.6% arise from the peat. Of the total amount (1,486 AE 183 Mg of CO 2 per hectare over 25 y), 25% are released immediately from land-clearing fire. In order to maintain high palm-oil production, nitrogen inputs through fertilizer are needed and the magnitude of the resulting increased N 2 O emissions compared to CO 2 losses remains unclear.drainage | respiration | gain-loss approach | stock-difference approach

Towards sustainable management of Indonesian tropical peatlands

“…In the last twenty years, large areas of Indonesian peatland have been converted, mainly into agricultural lands for estate crop production, and plantation forest areas for pulp production (Rehman et al 2014;Gunarso et al 2013;Miettinen et al 2011;Koh et al 2011;Murdiyarso et al 2010). This conversion brought short-term economic gains, but poses major environmental and economic risks, resulting from health and economic damages due to peat fires, soil subsidence potentially leading to flooding of millions of hectares of coastal peat lands in the course of the next decades, the very large CO 2 emissions from burning and oxidising peat, and from the loss of globally significant biodiversity contained in natural peat swamp forests (Wösten et al 2008;Page et al 2011;Joosten et al 2009;Turetsky et al 2015;Hooijer et al 2012).…”

Mangrove adalah salah satu hutan terkaya karbon di kawasan tropis

“…10 Hutan lahan basah tropis (misalnya, lahan gambut) memiliki tanah organik sampai kedalaman beberapa meter dan merupakan salah satu penyimpan C organik terbesar di biosfer daratan. [11][12][13] Pandangan yang salah tentang nilai penting lahan gambut dalam kaitannya dengan pemanfaatan lahan dan perubahan iklim telah mendapatkan sorotan sejak 1997, ketika kebakaran gambut dikaitkan dengan kegiatan pembersihan lahan di Indonesia meningkatkan CO 2 atmosfer di Indonesia sebesar 13-40% di atas emisi bahan bakar fosil tahunan global. 11 Angka ini menunjukkan betapa pentingnya memberi perhatian khusus terhadap lahan gambut dalam strategi mitigasi perubahan iklim internasional.…”

“…11 Angka ini menunjukkan betapa pentingnya memberi perhatian khusus terhadap lahan gambut dalam strategi mitigasi perubahan iklim internasional. 7,13 Mangrove adalah salah satu hutan terkaya karbon di kawasan tropis Hutan mangrove terdapat di sepanjang garis pantai di kawasan tropis, dan menjadi pendukung berbagai jasa ekosistem, termasuk produksi perikanan dan siklus unsur hara. Namun luas hutan mangrove telah mengalami penurunan sampai 30-50% dalam setengah abad terakhir ini karena pembangunan daerah pesisir, perluasan pembangunan tambak dan penebangan yang berlebihan.…”

Tropical wetlands, climate, and land-use change: adaptation and mitigation opportunities

“…As a result, tropical peatlands are being burned, ditched, and converted to other land uses such as oil palm production at an alarming rate (Murdiyarso et al 2010;Koh et al 2011). Similarly, mangrove ecosystems are being converted to other uses such as shrimp ponds at rates never seen previously (Murdiyarso et al 2013;Spalding et al 2010).…”