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Indonesia's peatland agency depends on donations
A canal is built at a palm oil plantation to harvest water from the tropical peatland
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A canal is built at a palm oil plantation to harvest water from the tropical peatland.(thejakartapost.com/Anton Hermansyah)
Officially taking office this year, the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) depends on donations to run its operations in seven provinces, as it has not been included in the 2016 state budget.
"The BRG is not using state budget funds, since it is not included in the 2016 budget yet. Thus, the second and third [funding] options are currently used," BRG Secretary Hartono Prawiratmadja said on Tuesday in Jakarta.
The agency has three sources of funding: the state budget, donations from other countries and local donations from the public or from companies through corporate social responsibility (CSR). The agency received around US$1 billion from the Norwegian government recently.
Formed in January 2016, the BRG is tasked with restoring two million hectares of peatland in four regions: Pulang Pisau in Central Kalimantan, Ogan Komering Ilir in South Sumatra, Musi Banyuasin in South Sumatra and Meranti in Riau. Those peatland areas have repeatedly been affected by fire during drought.
Three more provinces, Jambi, West Kalimantan and Papua, are included in its operational area. The agency works with 20 hydrology and peatland experts from several universities and takes advice from foreign consultants such as Peatlands International. (ags)(+)
