• About
  • Our Work
  • Join
  • Partner
  • Media
EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Sign-up for monthly updates on Winrock's work around the world.

the wetlands in Thailand Ramsar Convention, Boraphet lake in Nakhonsawan

WINROCK VOICES

Fighting Wetland Loss Through Sustainable Development

Winrock Supports World Wetlands Day with its work at the forefront of Indonesia’s peatland restoration efforts.

  • SHARE:
  • Copy

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Blanca Bernal and Mike Netzer

 

 

 

 

 

 

On February 2, 1971, representatives from a handful of countries gathered in the small Iranian city of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea. Their historic mandate — to sign the first modern agreement between governments to preserve natural resources — built upon a decade of negotiations by environmentalists concerned by the escalating loss of wetland habitat for migratory water birds.

February 2, 2020, marks the 49th anniversary of the treaty known as the Ramsar Convention, which is celebrated each year as World Wetlands Day. Through the cooperation of 90 percent of the world’s governments, the treaty aims to prevent the loss of wetlands and conserve existing ecosystems. This is important because wetlands provide vital ecosystem services to humankind, from mitigating climate change and purifying water to providing food and resources for billions of people.

Winrock International is working to support the goals of World Wetlands Day in Indonesia, which as one of the most wetland-rich countries in the world is on the frontlines of the global battle to fight climate change and preserve the environment.

The Importance of Peatlands

In the last century, uncontrolled development has driven the disappearance of more than 70 percent of wetlands worldwide, and Indonesia is on a similar track. It is estimated that over half of the country’s rainforests have been cleared for development and the expansion of commodities such as oil palm, rubber and wood fiber for paper. Much of this deforestation has occurred on Indonesia peatland ecosystems that cover 15 million hectares – a staggering 32 percent of the world’s tropical peatland.  This peatland forest is home to some of the most iconic and endemic species on earth, including orangutans, Sumatran tigers, leopards and species of fish found nowhere else on earth.

A helicopter helps extinguish a fire at Kubu Raya district, in West Kalimantan province. Once rare, fires are now a yearly occurrence in Indonesia’s peatlands.

Peatlands are deep organic wetland ecosystems that function as vast stores of fresh water (on which local communities depend) as well as centuries-old carbon sinks that help regulate global climate. When peatlands are drained and cleared, the freshwater they store is lost and carbon dioxide is released into the air. No longer buoyed by water, the land surface dries out and sinks, increasing the risk of deadly floods and forest fires. An estimated 300,000 hectares of peatland rainforest is cleared annually in Indonesia, an area the size of Rhode Island. Once rare, fires are now a yearly occurrence in Indonesia’s peatlands. These fires release enormous greenhouse gas emissions and  blanket the landscape with smoke, costing between 0.5 and 1.9 percent of Indonesia’s GDP and causing numerous health problems.

Fighting Back

Indonesia is committed to reversing this trend and is making progress through such international commitments as its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement and the signing of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indonesia has also created Green Districts to bridge development and conservation, and, after particularly destructive fires in 2015, formed a new agency called the Peatland Restoration Agency, which is tasked with restoring two million hectares of peatland — the largest wetland restoration effort in the world.

Sustainable Development Holds the Key

Winrock International, in partnership with Packard Foundation, is supporting the development of the Green District in Siak, an administrative division on the east coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, located across the Malacca Strait from Singapore. This Green District will help drive a transformational shift in jurisdictional peatland and forest management to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve smallholder livelihoods and support sustainable land use planning.

Winrock is piloting new, wetland-tolerant cropping systems that can help communities transition to more sustainable peatland uses.

Winrock’s work in Indonesia has three components. First, we are working with the local government and civil society organizations to develop the policy framework of the jurisdictional Green District. Second, we are developing and piloting an innovative real-time peatland hydrological monitoring system that allows Siak to manage peatland hydrology to reduce risks of fire and peatland loss. Finally, we’re piloting new, wetland-tolerant cropping systems that can help communities that live and work in the peatland to transition to more sustainable peatland uses beyond drainage and deforestation. Together, these strategies hold the promise of a true win-win scenario.

Over the last four years Winrock along with local partners has established itself as a technical leader and key player in the development of this burgeoning Green District. We have done so by fostering trust and coordination across district and national government agencies, with local farmers and village leaders, and with private sector companies that all have a stake in Siak’s future. Siak is at the forefront of Green District development in Indonesia, and its continued success promises a roadmap for other districts to follow.

Posted in EarthTech
NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

FILTERS

RESET FILTERS

ARCHIVE

  • August 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • March 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • July 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
WinrockIntl
Tweets by @WinrockIntl
Follow @WinrockIntl

204 E 4th Street | North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114

ph +1 501 280 3000 | fx +1 501 280 3090

2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 700 | Arlington, Virginia 22202

ph +1 703 302 6500 | fx +1 703 302 6512

  • Contact
  • E-News Signup
  • Low Bandwidth
  • Code of Conduct
  • Winrock Privacy Statement
  • Site Map
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © 2015- Winrock International
DEV ENVIRONMENT