In Paris in December 2015, 175 countries concluded a years-long negotiation process by signing the Paris Agreement on climate change. The agreement formalized a commitment by each signatory country to take actions to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to limit the global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celcius by 2050.

Indonesia ratified the Paris Agreement in October 2016 and has committed to reduce its GHG emissions by 29 percent from the business-as-usual level by 2030, or 41 percent with international support.

A report by Indonesia’s National Council on Climate Change in 2010 suggested that 85 percent of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from land-use activities, with 37 percent due to deforestation and 27 percent due to peat fires.

The World Bank in 2008 reported that the average emissions from land-use change and forestry were approximately 2.39 million gigagram, of which 53 percent came from peat, 20 percent
from peat drainage, 22 percent from deforestation and 5 percent from palm oil and timber plantation establishment.

It’s a complex picture. But we can summarize that between a quarter and a half of Indonesia’s emissions originate from peatlands. So restoring peatlands would go a long way to helping the government meet its Paris target.

These emissions attracted global opprobrium in 2015 when devastating forest and peatland fires ravaged parts of Kalimantan and Sumatra, causing extensive public health, economic and environmental damage — locally, nationally, regionally and globally.

Drained peatlands are prone to fire. The fires of 2015 are estimated by the World Bank to have resulted in economic losses of US$16.1 billion — equivalent to 1.9 percent of 2015 gross domestic product. Yet, with half a million cases of acute respiratory infections recorded, disruption to economic activity, closure of schools and habitat destruction impairing ecosystem services, the true cost is unknown.

In response to peatland fires in 2015, the government in 2016 pledged to restore 2 million hectares of Indonesia’s peatlands by 2020 under the coordination Indonesia Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG). Restoration of two million hectares of peatland, using conservative estimates, would result in 146 million tons of CO2 per year not being emitted.

Restoration means blocking man-made drainage canals to raise the water table and re-create the anaerobic conditions. This will keep the carbon locked up as well as creating the right hydrological conditions for peatland adapted species to be re-established.

BRG has three restoration approaches: rewetting (through canal blocking and canal backfilling); revegetation of bare peat (nursery development, seedling and transplantation) and revitalization of local livelihoods (zero burning agriculture, paludiculture, fishery, ecotourism, animal husbandry and beekeeping, etc.).

Beyond climate benefits, restored peatlands would also improve local livelihoods as they are an important source of food, water and biodiversity for millions of rural people. These are the same people that suffer first and most from the annual fire and haze problem — in large part caused by the burning of drained peatlands.

However, restoring peatlands is not cheap. The World Bank estimates that financing Indonesia’s peat restoration target to rehabilitate 2 million hectares would cost approximately Rp 27 trillion ($2 billion).

In 2017 the Indonesian government allocated Rp 860 billion from the state budget to work on 400,000 ha. This is only 12.5 percent of what is required.

So how to fill the gap? It is not all about money — even with unlimited funds, the government cannot succeed in isolation. A key part of the solution is intense coordination, effort and cooperation between all stakeholders; national and local governments, the private sector, civil society organizations and last but not least, peatland communities.

Plenty of constructive meetings recently have identified why peatlands matter, how to help and what research is needed to solve the problem. That’s great. But we have to remember the aim of argument and discussion is not victory, but progress. And we must start making progress now.

There are three elements required for success.

Firstly, it is critical for all stakeholders to get behind BRG in its efforts. This is of interest not only to environmentalists, those concerned with social development and rural livelihoods should see this as a great opportunity too. And so should the city dwellers who are perennially engulfed in haze.

Secondly, protect all remaining peat swamp forests and facilitate and support agricultural practices on rewetted (non-drained) peatlands. Paludiculture is the cultivation of plant species that are adapted to wet peatland conditions and have economic value.

Examples of paludiculture are sago for the production of noodles, purun grass for handicrafts, tengkawang, which produces edible oil, jelutung, which produces natural rubber and rattan for basketry and furniture.

Some communities have practiced paludiculture for centuries. These practices should be reinforced, studied and promoted among other communities and civil society organizations by learning and knowledge exchanges. With this local wisdom, improving peatland productivity can be leveraged, whilst helping to reduce fire risks and GHG emissions.

Thirdly, construct partnerships between communities and concession holders. Of 2.49 million hectares of degraded peatland assigned for restoration by BRG, 1.4 m ha is under concession so collaboration between neighboring land-users is critical.

A recently launched small grants program by Wetlands International for community-based peatland conservation, restoration and sustainable development, aims to support government restoration efforts by facilitating partnerships and promoting paludiculture.

In addition to granting money to local groups, the program will provide training to improve the managerial and technical capacity of local communities. This will improve management practices in peatland areas, project and financial management, monitoring and evaluation and raise further awareness about good peatland management.

With the right skills and financial support, communities can achieve the main objectives for community-based peatlands conservation, restoration and sustainable development, complementing the larger scale efforts of the government.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry states that around 1 million hectares of peatland in BRG priority areas could be utilized for the welfare of communities. Environmental partnerships are needed to unlock this potential by fostering community livelihoods in line with sustainable peatland-based economic activities.

A blend of traditional and modern science, community-based peatland conservation, and landscape level partnerships, supported technically and financially, is what is needed to deliver measurable change — lower emissions and higher productivity from Indonesia peatlands.

This will help us all breathe a bit easier, while also helping Indonesia achieve its emission reduction commitments globally.

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The writer is the fund manager of the Dana Mitra Gambut Indonesia (Wetlands International Indonesia). The views expressed are her own.