Facing the annual threat of wildfires, Indonesia has set an ambitious target to restore and rewet 1.1 million hectares of critical peatland located on non-concession land, which includes conservation and protected forests, by 2020.
he Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) has developed an online platform to monitor peatland restoration activities and prevent wildfires in six provinces.
Dubbed the Peatland Restoration Information Management System (PRIMS), the platform is intended to provide updates on the planning and implementation of restoration activities, monitor restoration and hot spots in peatland areas and provide reports related to these activities.
“The more comprehensive monitoring system [PRIMS] was launched in May as it provides more data compared to Sipalaga [wildfire early detection system],” BRG head Nazir Foead said at a media and NGO discussion on Wednesday.
“[PRIMS] has comprehensive monitoring capabilities because it can record water levels and the water content of soil using satellite imagery,” he said.
The platform, Nazir said, would provide restoration data in BRG’s priority areas in Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan on Borneo Island, and Jambi, Riau, and South Sumatra on Sumatra Island.
Papua is another of BRG’s priority areas but it has not been included in the PRIMS, he added.
PRIMS also provides an early detection system to monitor possible peatland degradation, Nazir said.
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