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Fixing Flammable Forest:Challenges and prospects of peatland

governance at the landscape level

Rini Astuti, PhDResearch Fellow

National University of Singapore

Pledge to prevent forest & peatland fires and transboundary haze

Commitment to restore and protect peatlands through a “Putting People First” approach

Indonesia’s Peatland Political Conjuncture

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Political Economy of Indonesia’s Peatland

Complex socioecological landscape with

multiple users and divergent interests

Fragile ecological ecosystem with

significant environmental

services

in-situ environmental commons with

potential transboundary

implications

Which scale of environmental governance is the most effective for peatland?

Ecological landscape VS Administrative jurisdiction

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Indonesia’s Peatland Ecological Scales

Government Regulation No 71/2014 Junto No. 57/2016 on Protection

and Management of Peat ecosystem

Ministerial Decree No. 129/2017 on Designation of Peatland Hydrological Unity

Ministerial Decree No. 130/2017 on

Designation of Peat Ecosystem Function

Map

Peatland with Cultivation

function

Peatland with Protection function

24 million hectares divided into 865 Peatland

Hydrological Units (PHU)

12 million hectares

12 million hectares

Ministerial Regulation No.

14/2017 on procedures for Inventory and

Designation of Peat Ecosystem Functions

• Minimum 30% of PHU to be allocated for protection function, as well as peat with the following criteria:• Peat with more than 3m depth• Peat area with endemic and protected

species• Peatland that is already situated on

protection forest or moratorium area

Water management

Water conservation

Peatland Governance

mismatch

• Peatland governance is designed to follow its hydrological characteristics. However, the RPPEG document is going to be designed based on administrative hierarchical scale (district, provincial and national)

• Current peatland restoration and management is still based on each forest management unit (license holder, community, or government unit). Effort to connect different actors in one peatland landscape is not yet strong.

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Challenges and unintended impactsManagement of peatland water table in a peatland landscape in Giam Siak Kecil and Bukit Batu in Bengkalis District, Riau Province

• A oil palm company is in close proximity to Dompas village. Company’s effort to retain water tables during dry season (e.g. by blocking drainage canals) have resulted in water shortages for the community

• Meanwhile, canal blocking in Buruk BakulVillage has brought flood in the company’s plantation. Leading to demolition of 3 canal blockings by “unknown” parties.

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Prospect: Water sharing at the landscape level❖ Assisted by local NGOs, communities in 4

villages developed village regulation on

water sharing and fire management

❖ Village leaders and MPA employed the

regulation as a mechanism to mobilize

collaboration between companies and

communities

❖ Two pulpwood plantation companies have

committed to re-engineer their hydrological

system to ensure the communities will

have a fair and just access to water both in

rainy and dry seasons

❖ Having the legality instruments for water

and fire management, the four villages are

planning to ask for financial assistance

from the district government

Reflections

• When implementation of peatland policies is still focused on each forest management unit (concession owner) without fostering collaboration among divergent actors in one landscape, they may produce contradictory effects that will intensify rather than address peatland fires and transboundary haze.

• Despite the slow progress aligning all peatland stakeholders on one water and fire governance platform, the regulation introduces socioenvironmental justice principles when managing peatland resources

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