Peatlands and REDD Wetlands International,
Susanna Tol,
COP16, Cancun, 2 Dec 2010
Mineral Soil
River River < 1m
> 3m
Tropical peat swamp forest
Organic carbon
Peat: Organic matter accumulated over thousands of years, storing
concentrated carbon in thick layers
The peat bog is rain water fed
Peat dome
What are peatlands?
Peat, carbon and climate change• Globally peatlands store 550 Giga ton (Gt) Carbon • Equivalent to 30% of terrestrial carbon
– twice the carbon stored in forest biomass– 75% of all carbon in the atmosphere
• Global emissions 2 Gt CO2 / yr, ~6% of global CO2 emissions.
Peatlands store large amounts of carbon Peatland degradation leads to GHG emissions which contribute to global warming
Kalimantan, Indonesia
Drainage tropics: emissions of up to 100 t CO2-eq ha-1 y-1…that continue for many decades
SE Asian peatland emissions disproportionately high
Emissions from peat in Indonesia:
~500 Mt from drainage~400 Mt from peat fires
6% of global peat area = 50-60% of global peat emissions
CO2 emissions from oxidation in drained peatlands(fires excluded), by region
(global total: 887 Mt/y; source: PEAT-CO2)
Indonesia (58%)Other SE Asia (13%)C. America (8%)N. America (5%)Africa (4%)S. Asia (4%)C. Europe (4%)W. Europe (3%)S. America (3%)E. Asia (3%)N.W. Europe (2%)C. Asia (1%)Russia (1%)Australia Pac.S. EuropeMiddle East
Peatland extent by region (global total: 381 Mha; source: PEAT CO2)
S.E. Asia (6% )C. America (1% )N. America (35% )Africa (1% )S. AsiaC. Europe (1% )W. Europe (1% )S. America (2% )E. Asia (2% )N.W. Europe (5% )C. Asia (1% )Russia (43% )Australia Pac.S. EuropeMiddle East
Indonesia
Russia N America
SE Asia
CO2 Emissions
Peat Area
• Deforestation• Degradation
– Drainage– Fires
Peatland problems
Tropical peat forest deforestation
Peatland deforestation:• since 2000: 1.5%/yr: twice the rate for non-peatlands
• currently 45% deforested
• 96% degraded
Peat forest conservation• < 5% of total peatland area
Relative total vs PSF area decline Insular SE Asia
90.0091.0092.0093.0094.0095.0096.0097.0098.0099.00
100.00
Year
Are
a re
mai
ning
sin
ce 1
999
Total forest decline
Peat forest decline
Preliminary results presented at UNFCCC CoP
Nairobi, 07-11-2006
(%)
Logging and drainage 1
• Channels used to transport equipment and logs
Logging and drainage 2
A total of about 13 million ha of SE Asian peat swamps have been drained for
agriculture and plantations
Even when the rate of peatland conversion decreases, annual peatland emissions will
continue to increase
This makes it a totally different ball game from forests
Stopping the rate of conversion is not enough. To decrease peatland emissions eco-hydrological restoration (rewetting &
replanting) is necessary
Peat drainage increases the risk of fires
Between 1997 and 2006: over 60,000 fires in peat swamp areas on Borneo in 3 out of 10 years (1997, 1998, 2002)
Most affected were deforested and drained peatlands
Rewetting
CO2 N2O CH4
What if current ignorance continues
No incentive mechanism to address these emissions
Peat in REDD
• Include all 5 carbon pools (IPCC 2006)• Include protection of remaining undrained areas and restoration of
degraded peat swamp forests (rewetting/revegetation)• Also include peat forests that have no crown cover anymore
(deforested) from past deforestation• Exclude drained plantations from support• Similar mechanism needed for non-forest peatlands
Added value
Climate change mitigation
Biodiversity conservation
Poverty reduction
Reduced land degradation
A WIN4all
THANK YOUDownloadable from
www.wetlands.org/peatclimate
and www.imcg.net
Further reading…
More information:
www.wetlands.or/peatclimate
www.wetlands.org/cancun