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Residents’ participation vital in Jambi peatland restoration: BRG
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Mujiasih, a red ginger farmer in Mandala Jaya village in Jambi, takes care of the herbal plant on her farmland in the village on Wednesday. The villagers will harvest red ginger in April or May. (JP/Jon Afrizal)
T
he Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) has called on the public to support its efforts to restore peatland areas in the province of Jambi, where land clearing and fires cause trillions of rupiah in environmental damage and impact people’s livelihoods.
BRG official Myrna A. Safitri said the agency needed help from locals for its program to gradually restore peatlands amid limited funding provided by the government.
“Peat areas that have been damaged over the past few decades cannot be repaired in one or two years. But, with the support of the local community, we are optimistic that the damaged areas can be restored," she said on Wednesday.
Since 2017, the agency had been focusing on the regencies of West Tanjung Jabung, East Tanjung Jabung and Muarojambi in Jambi, as those three were particularly prone to forest and land fires. Those regencies also saw lots of land clearing that destroyed the peatlands.
She said one way locals could help was by refraining from the slash and burn method in agriculture and added that locals should help with the maintenance of canals, drilled wells and alternative economy facilities that the government had provided by pushing village regulations and fund allocation toward them.
Environmental group The Warsi Indonesian Conservation Community revealed last year that, throughout 2019, Jambi had sustained Rp 17 trillion (US$1.14 billion) in losses due to environmental damage, including Rp 12 trillion caused by forest and peatland fires.
Suhali, the head of Mandala Jaya village in Betara, West Tanjung Jabung, said he had allocated Rp 40 million from the village fund for work to unclog canals and artesian wells since 2019. He said the village had been nominated as a Desa Peduli Gambut (peatland awareness village) in 2019 for its efforts to maintain canals and artesian wells to help put out fires during the fire season.
