PEAT, PULP AND PAPER:
Climate Impact of Pulp Tree Plantations on Peatland in Indonesia
PROFESSOR JACK RIELEY
• University of Nottingham, UK
• Ramsar Scientific Technical Review Panel
• International Peat Society
• Orang Utan Foundation UK
Summary statistics for tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia
(based on Immirzi & Maltby, 1992; Rieley et al., 1996)
REGION AREA (mean)
ha
AREA (range)
ha
Indonesia 18,963,000 17,853,000-20,073,000
Malaysia 2,730,000 2,730,000
Papua New Guinea 1,695,000 500,000-2,890,000
Thailand 64,000 64,000
Brunei 110,000 110,000
Vietnam 24,000 24,000
The Philippines 10,700 10,700
TOTALS 23,596,700 21,291,700-25,901,700
AREA OF PEATLAND IN INDONESIA
Sumatra 8.3 M haKalimantan 6.8 M haWest Papua 4.6 M ha
Approximately 50% (~20 M ha) of tropical peatland occurs in Indonesia
A further 2.8 M ha occurs in Peninsular Malaysia and northern Borneo (Sarawak, Brunei)
Characteristics of Lowland Peatlands in Southeast Asia
• Support a natural vegetation of peat swamp forest.
• Acidic, rain-fed, nutrient-poor systems.• Thick organic layer – peat thickness
can exceed 10m.
12 m
Biodiversity
• Tree species recorded from peat swamp forests in SE Asia:
~ 800 tree species ~ 71 families ~ 237 genera • Many display characteristic
adaptations to the habitat, e.g. stilt roots, pneumatophores.
Biodiversity
Mammalian faunaincludes several notable species:
orang-utanagile gibbonsun bear
Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus
CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND STORAGE
• In tropical peatlands the vegetation and underlying peat constitute a large and highly concentrated carbon store
• Estimates of current carbon accumulation rates in tropical peatlands range from 59-145 g m-2 yr-1 sequestering between 0.06–0.093 Pg C yr-1
• Some peatlands, even in a natural condition, are in a
steady-state and are no longer accumulating peat, whilst others are undergoing degradation
• The peatlands of Kalimantan represent a carbon store of 13 Pg, those of Indonesia contain 35 Pg and the global total for tropical peatlands is estimated to be 54 Pg
MEGA RICE PROJECT:DURING AND AFTER
FORMER MEGA RICE PROJECT SEPTEMBER 2002
There have been some problems!
Two years after MRP commenced :1997 El Niño promoted widespread
forest fires
Peatland fires were widespread in Kalimantan and Sumatra
Carbon Emissions from Peatland Fires
Carbon losses from Indonesian peatland fires during 1997/98:
– Estimated 0.81 – 2.57 Gt C [Page et al. 2002]
~ 55-95% of C emissions from all fires during that period in SE Asia [Schimel & Baker 2002; van der Werf et al. 2004, 2006]
Annual fire hotspot data for Borneo 1997 to 2006 [Langner et al. 2007]
“Haze” from the forest/peatland fires blankets much of SE Asia -
Sept. 1997(NASA satellite image)
Sink to Source
• Carbon storage :– Above-ground ~150 - 250 t C ha-1 – Below-ground ~250 - >5,000 t C ha-1
• Carbon sequestration severely impaired by land use change• 120,000 km2 (45%) currently deforested & mostly drained
• Large areas impacted by recurrent fires
• Drivers of land use change:• Conversion to plantations (palm oil/Acacia)
• Logging (illegal logging rampant in Indonesia)
• Poor forest and (peat)land management
• Lack of understanding of peatlands and peat
Modelling Carbon Emissions from Drained Tropical Peatlands
Drainage emissions are equivalent to 1.4–3.5 % of global emissions from fossil fuels (25,000 Mt CO2 yr-1)
[Hooijer, Silvius, Wosten & Page, 2006]
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1980 2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100
CO
2 e
mis
sio
n (
Mt/
y)
Minimum due to peat decomposition
Likely due to peat decomposition
Maximum due to peat decomposition
CO2 emissions due to peatland drainage (fires excluded), SE AsiaPEAT-CO2 / Delft Hydraulics draft results
present likely
Current (2005):
355-874 Mt CO2 yr-1
(100–240 Mt C yr-1 )
Projected (2015-2035):
557-981 Mt CO2 yr-1
(150-270 Mt C yr-1 )
Carbon Emissions from Drained PeatlandsCumulative subsidence for different average drainage depths
(Wosten, Hooijer, Jauhiainen, vd Eelaart, 2007). Tentative SBMSP finding, for further development with more data
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Years from start drainage
Cum
ulat
ive
subs
iden
ce (
m)
0.6m (Johor record)1.1m (Pelalaw an, 2006)0.86m (Pelalaw an, 2007)0.65m (KP Target)0.4m (KP future?)
Pelalawan 2006
Oil palm plantation 2.3 m loss 1976-2007
Improved plantation water management
Reduced emissions/subsidence
Linked to protection of remaining natural forest
Reducing the contribution tropical peatlands make to C emissions
Reduce emissions from remaining forests = deforestation avoidance – need for baseline & monitoring data
Reduce emissions from degraded peatlands = hydrological restoration and reforestation – pilot studies
Improve understanding of vulnerability of plantations on peatlands = e.g. improved plantation water management (best practice examples)
Transfer/disseminate scientific knowledge to influence public policy-making
STRATEGIES FOR WISE USE OF TROPICAL PEATLAND IN
INDONESIA
WATER BIODIVERSITY CARBON SOCIO-ECONOMICS
FIRE
Control Forest quality Mitigation Sustainable livelihoods
AwarenessPreventionFighting
Manage-ment
Nature conservation and Bio-rights
Carbon credits
Poverty eradication
Management
Expertise Protection and Trading
Trading Strategies and policies
Expertise Integration
Collaboratio
n
LIFE CYCLE COMPARISONS ON
TROPICAL PEATLAND
The impact of different land uses on tropical peatland in Indonesia (oil palm and pulp tree plantations) on CO2e emissions compared to natural, peat swamp forest and deforested, drained and degraded peatland.
DATA, METHODS AND ASSUMPTIONS
We use data from both primary and secondary sources to estimate the likely magnitude of the inputs to and outputs from tropical peatland carbon stores under different land uses and the changes that will take place to these stores over a period of 25 years representing the average economic life of an oil palm plantation (Corley & Tinker, 2003). Our focus is on carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane emissions from tropical peatland under all land uses is very low (Jauhiainen, 2005, Melling, 2005) while emissions of other greenhouse active gases, notably NO2, have not been studied in detail so far and are not included in this assessment.
TROPICAL PEAT LAND USE CARBON BUDGETS (calculated for a 25 year period – t C ha-1)
Peat swamp forest (C pool)
Oil palm plantation (C loss)
Acacia pulp plantation (C loss)
Degraded peatland (C loss)
Peat carbon pool at start
2218 2218 2218 2218
Forest a.g. biomass
+150(sel. logged)
-150(sel. logged)
-150(sel. logged)
-150(sel. logged)
Forest root biomass
+15 -15 -15 -15
Peatland C pool at start
2383.0 2383.0 2383.0 2383.0
Peat (25 yr) accumulation
+38.5 0 0 0
Peat (25 yr) subsidence
0 -862.5 -1,715 -862.5
Peat loss by fire (25 yr)
0 -135 -68.6 -620
Crop/2y biomass increase (25 yr)
+50(a.g. and
b.g)
0(Cropped)
0(cropped)
30.3(2y after fire)
Peatland carbon pool after 25 yr
2471.5 1220.5 434.4 765.8
TROPICAL PEAT LAND USE CARBON BUDGETS (calculated for a 25 year period – t C ha-1)
Peat swamp forest (C pool)
Oil palm plantation (C loss)
Acacia pulp plantation (C loss)
Degraded peatland (C loss)
Peat carbon pool after 25 yr
2471.5 1220.5 434.4 765.8
C imbalance with PSF
0 -1251.0 -2037.1 -1705.7
Carbon gain/loss over 25 yr
+88.5 -1162.5 -1948.6 -1617.2
Mean annual C gain/loss
+3.54 -46.5(inc. deforest)
-77.9(inc. deforest)
-64.7(inc. deforest)
Mean annual CO2 gain/loss
+13.0 -170.7 -285.9 -237.5
Annual CO2e change in 1 Mha
+13.0Mt -170.7Mt -285.9Mt -237.5Mt
Predicted life of peat (after 25)
n 26 6 12
Total lifespan under land use (yr)
Forever! 51 31 37
ENDWORDThe four land use scenarios are
benchmarked to specific assumptions and conditions and are indicative only. For example the major assumptions of peat thickness of 4.4 m, bulk density of 0.09 g cm-3 and carbon content of 56% are the best estimates available at present and are obtained from detailed field sampling and analysis of peat cores. Of course not all tropical peat will have exactly these values and when data from other locations for similarly long, intact peat cores become available the model depicted in this paper can be updated. The comparisons, however, will remain valid.
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