tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/kalimantan-44835/articlesKalimantan – The Conversation2023-12-05T08:28:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2175632023-12-05T08:28:47Z2023-12-05T08:28:47ZNew genetic research uncovers the lives of Bornean hunter-gatherers<p>Borneo is one of the world’s most biodiversity-rich regions, home to ancient rainforests and an immense variety of wildlife. </p>
<p>Among its inhabitants are the Punan Batu, a group of contemporary nomadic hunter-gatherers with a unique genetic makeup and lifestyle that reflect the deep ancestry of the region. The Punan Batu people live in the forest surrounding Mount Batu Benau in Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan Province.</p>
<p>Our recent study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(23)01358-X">Cell Reports</a>, sheds light on their genetic history and cultural heritage, offering a rare glimpse into a way of life that was once widespread in the forests of Borneo.</p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>We began our research with a community engagement program to get informed consent and support for our project from the Punan Batu community.</p>
<p>We then worked with phlebotomists, medical professionals trained to perform blood draws and health personnel from the local health centre to collect 30 blood samples from the community.</p>
<p>We also provided free health and blood biochemistry checks using point-of-care tests. We returned the results to the participants and the local health centre for any necessary follow-ups.</p>
<h2>Genetics trait</h2>
<p>The Punan Batu are part of a larger group of <a href="https://www.niaspress.dk/book/beyond-the-green-myth/">Punan/Penan</a>, the forest hunter-gatherer group, who was believed to have shifted mainly into a sedentary lifestyle. Living in harmony with nature, the Punan Batu still follows a nomadic lifestyle. </p>
<p>They travel in family groups, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/deep-ancestry-of-collapsing-networks-of-nomadic-huntergatherers-in-borneo/3E5BDE9823F6CD827E66DAF7C307273F">moving between network of rock shelters and forest camps</a>. They rely on the forest for their food, medicine and materials.</p>
<p>Our genetic analysis revealed that the Punan subgroups in our study are closely related, albeit in distant locations from neighbouring indigenous groups which rely on farming. So, Punan is not only a cultural identity but also a genetic identity.</p>
<p>Interestingly, unlike most people living in the archipelago of Southeast Asia comprising Indonesia and the Philippines, there is no gene flow from Austronesian-related ancestry to Punan Batu. </p>
<p>Austronesians are a linguistic and cultural group that originated in Taiwan and <a href="https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00061-5">spread across the Pacific and Indian Oceans</a>, bringing with them farming, seafaring and pottery skills. </p>
<p>The lack of Austronesian-related ancestry in Punan Batu indicates that they have remained isolated from the significant waves of migration and cultural diffusion that have shaped the region. </p>
<p>This finding challenges <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314419058_1993_The_Punan_question_and_the_reconstruction_of_Borneo'%20s_culture_history">the idea </a>that they are the descendants of farmers who reverted to a hunting and gathering way of life. Instead, it suggests that they have preserved their genetic integrity over a long period, resisting the influence of other groups and retaining their unique genetic heritage.</p>
<h2>Language and lifestyle</h2>
<p>The Punan Batu are unique not just in their genetic makeup but also in their language and lifestyle. </p>
<p>As described in our <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/deep-ancestry-of-collapsing-networks-of-nomadic-huntergatherers-in-borneo/3E5BDE9823F6CD827E66DAF7C307273F">2022 research</a>, they preserve a song language, the <em>Latala</em> language, that is unrelated to other languages of Borneo, even to any other languages in Southeast Asia. </p>
<p>The Punan Batu people use <em>Latala</em> as a particular language for artistic expression, similar to how some poets use ancient languages such as Homeric Greek, Latin or Old Javanese. <em>Latala</em> is currently only used for poetry. This shows ancient cultural inheritance, further evidence of their distinct demographic history.</p>
<p>This language, passed down through generations, is a significant part of their cultural identity. It contains rich oral traditions, such as myths, legends and songs, which <a href="https://twitter.com/ykan_id/status/1678753213808357376">reflect their worldview</a> and values.</p>
<p>They also use <a href="https://www.kompas.id/baca/english/2023/01/23/messages-of-twigs-punan-batus-communication-method">message sticks</a> to stay in contact, cooperate and share resources. Message sticks are wooden sticks with symbols on top of the stick that convey information, such as the location, direction and purpose of travel. </p>
<p>It also serves as a mechanism to avoid diseases when indicating the direction of family members who are ill as a self-quarantine measure. </p>
<p>This method of communication was once widespread among nomadic Punan in Borneo, including the <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ahci/2016/4174795/">Penan in Sarawak, Malaysia</a>, but has largely disappeared in sedentary Punan villages.</p>
<h2>Challenges and threats</h2>
<p>The provincial government, assisted by an Indonesian NGO, proposed the area of Mount Batu Benau in Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan Province, where The Punan Batu lives, as a <a href="https://www.ykan.or.id/en/publications/articles/press-release/kita-jaga-hutannya-kita-jaga-masyarakatnya/">geopark site</a>, an area that consists of several geological heritage sites with precious geological, biological and cultural values. </p>
<p>The forest’s biodiversity provides food and water for the Punan people.</p>
<p>However, the Punan Batu’s way of life is currently under threat. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/science/punan-borneo-nomadic-clan.html">Their forest home is shrinking</a> due to the expansion of logging and palm oil companies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/deep-ancestry-of-collapsing-networks-of-nomadic-huntergatherers-in-borneo/3E5BDE9823F6CD827E66DAF7C307273F">Our research</a> finds that this affects their traditional hunting and gathering activities and threatens their cultural heritage.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, the Punan Batu continue to hold on to their unique way of life. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI6q4wnVBl8">They have a strong sense of identity and pride in their culture</a>.</p>
<p>This year, the local government has recognised them as the <a href="https://www.kompas.id/baca/english/2023/06/04/en-punan-batu-pemburu-dan-peramu-terakhir-di-kalimantan-akhirnya-diakui-sebagai-masyarakat-hukum-adat">customary law community</a>, a group <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/05/11/adat-communities-want-their-own-special-law-why.html">whose members still live in a traditional community</a> and clear traditional boundaries. </p>
<p>This group has a prevailing system of laws that is followed by its members. The people still utilise forest areas to meet daily needs, to formally acknowledge their existence as an ethnic group in the region. It is an essential first step towards supporting their way of life. </p>
<p>But they need more robust protection in the future, such as Customary Forest status, a forest that is not burdened with land rights. Under this status, the management of the forest is delegated to Indigenous People to avoid further environmental and forest degradation and social conflicts.</p>
<p>The Punan Batu’s story reminds them of Borneo’s rich cultural diversity and deep ancestry. As we continue to learn more about them, preserving their cultural heritage and forest as their home is crucial. They are a living link to the past and a valuable source of knowledge and wisdom for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pradiptajati Kusuma receives research grant from the Wellcome Trust (International Training Fellowship) and Pulitzer Center (Impact Seed Funding).</span></em></p>The Punan Batu is one of the most active nomadic hunter-gatherer groups still existing in the world. They have unique characteristics that are different from other groups in Borneo.Pradiptajati Kusuma, Postdoctoral research fellow, Mochtar Riady Institute for NanotechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1450442020-10-23T01:12:57Z2020-10-23T01:12:57ZIndonesia readies its green diesel. These are the likely social and environmental impacts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359267/original/file-20200922-24-1f8tpo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C3578%2C2391&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Penambahan caampuran solar dengan nabati ol</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ANTARA FOTO/Oky Lukmansyah/foc/16.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In July, Indonesia’s state-owned oil company, Pertamina, <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/07/20/pertamina-pilots-palm-oil-based-green-diesel-production.html">produced its first batch of biofuel made entirely from palm oil</a>. </p>
<p>Called D100, this “green diesel” is part of Indonesia’s strategy to promote what is claimed to be environmentally friendly fuel. </p>
<p>Indonesia began mandating a 30% mix of biofuel in gasoline in January 2020. The plan is to <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/08/05/indonesias-b40-biodiesel-plan-back-on-track-after-palm-oil-prices-improve.html">increase</a> the amount of biofuel used in the country. </p>
<p>The policy will increase demand for palm oil – the country’s number one agricultural export. The government has positioned the program as a way to lower fossil fuel imports and greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>But it will worsen deforestation, increase greenhouse gas emissions and lead to a loss of biodiversity. It will also lead to more social conflicts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aerial photo of palm trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359293/original/file-20200922-14-1a9devk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palm oil plantations in Indonesia surrounding the historical temple in Muarojambi, Jambi province. The country depends on palm oil as a priority commodity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ANTARA FOTO/Wahdi Septiawan/aww</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Palm oil environmental impacts</h2>
<p>Research shows the palm oil industry is a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17597269.2018.1461520?needAccess=true">major driver</a> of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138993411830460X?via%3Dihub#bb0170">deforestation</a>, greenhouse gas emissions and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227609986_Is_oil_palm_agriculture_really_destroying_tropical_biodiversity">loss of biodiversity</a>. </p>
<p>Palm oil plantations produce <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-resource-110119-024922">more oil per unit of land than alternative crops</a>. </p>
<p>Industry proponents often argue that if global demand for vegetable oil were met by other crops – such as soy, sunflower and canola – more land would be needed for plantations, and thus lead to more deforestation. </p>
<p>This is controversial, for not all crops are equally linked with deforestation.</p>
<p>A report by the <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/20190321_press_release_palm_oil_en.pdf">European Union</a> concluded palm oil is associated with higher levels of deforestation than <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/emissions-from-palm-oil-biodiesel-highest-of-major-biofuels-says-eu/">other biofuels</a>. </p>
<p>In any event, the biodiesel policies aim to replace fossil fuels. Thus, the comparison should be with fossil fuels, not other kinds of vegetable oil.</p>
<p>Studies have found palm oil-based biodiesel <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14852-6.pdf">creates more carbon emissions</a> than fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Indonesia’s <a href="http://ppid.menlhk.go.id/siaran_pers/browse/2435">94.1 million hectares</a> of forests are particularly rich in both biodiversity and carbon content. Peatlands are also very rich in carbon. </p>
<p>When land is converted to palm oil plantations, carbon is released into the air. </p>
<p>In 2014, more than half of Indonesia’s carbon emissions came from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138993411830460X?via%3Dihub#bb0170">forest and land-use changes</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/706786/production-of-palm-oil-in-indonesia/">production of palm oil</a> increases every year – from 26 million metric tons in 2012 to almost 46 million metric tons in 2016 – so has forest clearing.
In Borneo, <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/palm-oil-and-biodiversity">50% of all deforestation between 2005 and 2015 was related to oil palm development</a> on the island. </p>
<h2>Ineffective laws</h2>
<p>In 2018, Indonesia <a href="http://www.mongabay.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Inpres-Moratorium-Sawit-2018-.pdf">banned new oil palm plantations</a>.</p>
<p>However, data from the Ministry of Agriculture show the area of plantations expanded from <a href="https://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2018/02/26/203000426/kementerian-pertanian--lahan-sawit-indonesia-capai-14-03-juta-hektare">14 million hectares in 2018</a> to <a href="https://sawitindonesia.com/pemerintah-tetapkan-luas-tutupan-kelapa-sawit-16381-juta-ha/">more than 16 million in January 2020</a>.</p>
<p>According to environmental group Sawit Watch, the total area of oil palms is more than <a href="https://thepalmscribe.id/sawit-watch-indonesia-has-more-than-21-million-hectares-of-oil-palm-plantations/">21 million hectares</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/indonesia-forest-clearing-ban-is-made-permanent-but-labeled-propaganda/">Civil society</a> groups, along with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-palmoil/indonesias-freeze-on-palm-oil-plantation-permits-lacks-transparency-industry-watchdog-idUSKBN1XG1PT">the industry and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil</a> (a multistakeholder initiative), have expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the ban. They say it has too many loopholes and not enough transparency. </p>
<p>For example, more than 80% of the Indonesian rainforests, mangroves and peatlands most vulnerable to being cleared for palm oil production are still <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2bda">unprotected by the ban</a>. </p>
<p>The Ministry of Agriculture <a href="https://tirto.id/pemerintah-abaikan-putusan-ma-buka-data-hgu-lahan-apa-akibatnya-dhrg">refuses to release data on use rights for corporate plantations</a> ordered by <a href="https://putusan3.mahkamahagung.go.id/direktori/putusan/feb6010cce27551f7d413980c7023c1f">the Supreme Court in 2017</a>.</p>
<p>This makes it difficult to know the borders of existing and planned plantations. </p>
<p>Nationwide, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-farmers-land-idUSKBN25K1YY">more than 100,000 families</a> were affected by land conflicts last year, according to the <a href="https://www.kpa.or.id/?lang=en">Consortium for Agrarian Reform</a>. Oil palm plantations accounted for more cases than any other industry. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359283/original/file-20200922-20-1f29xt8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palm oil impacts on biodiversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/palm-oil-and-biodiversity">IUCN</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Measures to take</h2>
<p>One of the goals of the moratorium is to increase the productivity of existing plantations.</p>
<p>Investing in improving productivity would be much <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17597269.2018.1461520?needAccess=true">better for the environment</a> than establishing new plantations.</p>
<p>Productivity of existing plantations could be improved by, among other things, investing in fertiliser, pesticides and high-quality seeds, improving irrigation, and removing old trees with falling production and replacing them with new ones.</p>
<p>However, it has long been cheaper and more profitable for businesses to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325396601_Palm_oil_intensification_and_expansion_in_Indonesia_and_Malaysia_Environmental_and_socio-political_factors_influencing_policy">expand areas used for plantations</a> than to invest in increased production.</p>
<p><a href="https://thepalmscribe.id/sawit-watch-indonesia-has-more-than-21-million-hectares-of-oil-palm-plantations/">According to Sawit Watch</a>, 55% of all plantations are in the hands of 30 large business groups.</p>
<p>They are part of a well-connected business elite that, in the past, had very good access to land (through <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13157-013-0423-z.pdf">corruption and political patronage</a>). </p>
<p>As long as land is available and businesses are able to access it rather cheaply, they are likely to continue expanding the plantations. </p>
<p>The government should therefore close the loopholes of the moratorium, review existing permits (as mandated by the moratorium) and take legal action against any plantation that expands outside the given permits. </p>
<p>This would benefit from the active involvement of civil society.</p>
<p>As information about concession permits is of public interest, the government should release all data on existing concessions, in line with the ruling of the Supreme Court. </p>
<p>Legislation should ensure transparency and participation in decision-making for affected communities.</p>
<p>The government should also make sure subsidies to the palm oil sector benefit the poor and the many, not primarily companies and shareholders.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=http://www.bpdp.or.id/uploads/files/Press_Release_310520_Pengembangan_Sawit_Berkelanjutan.pdf">US$195 million subsidy</a> for biofuel to boost the economy during the pandemic drew <a href="https://www.change.org/p/bebaskan-bpdp-ks-dari-kepentingan-konglomerat-sawit-benahi-tata-kelola-untuk-kesejahteraan-petani?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22942717_id-ID%3Av7&recruiter=1121603433&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_petition">criticism</a> from the Indonesian Union of Palm Oil Farmers, who say it will only benefit conglomerates and big corporations. </p>
<p>If nothing is done, Indonesia’s biofuel policies will likely contribute towards further deforestation, higher greenhouse gas emissions and more land conflicts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aksel Tømte tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Green diesel may be intended to reduce emissions but it is not necessarily environmentally and socially sound.Aksel Tømte, Head of Business and Human Rights at Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of OsloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1263302019-11-28T03:31:06Z2019-11-28T03:31:06Z4 steps the Indonesian government can take to ensure locals help put out forest fires<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303072/original/file-20191122-113006-jri622.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5406%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Forest fires break out in Indonesia every year from land clearing using fires. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A massive <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/nov/11/indonesia-forest-fires-explained-haze-palm-oil-timber-burning">forest fire broke out in Indonesia in 2015</a>, burning at least two million hectares and killing 19 people.</p>
<p>It also resulted in an estimated 500,000 cases of respiratory tract infections. It cost the country at least <a href="https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20151211143623-106-97575/indonesia-rilis-data-kebakaran-hutan-2015-di-paris">US$47 billion</a> and polluted neighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia.</p>
<p>The Indonesian government introduced a peatland restoration program to prevent massive forest fires in 2016 <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-haze-peatlands/indonesia-sets-up-peatland-restoration-agency-after-fires-idUSKCN0US0C620160114">establishing the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG)</a>. </p>
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Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sebelum-jabatan-berakhir-susi-pudjiastuti-tetapkan-teluk-benoa-sebagai-kawasan-konservasi-maritim-ini-langkah-selanjutnya-126842">Sebelum jabatan berakhir, Susi Pudjiastuti tetapkan Teluk Benoa sebagai kawasan konservasi maritim. Ini langkah selanjutnya</a>
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<p>Restoring peatland, a distinct ecosystem that needs to be flooded by water at all times, is an ideal way to prevent forest fires.</p>
<p>If <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/why-peatlands-matter">peatland</a> dries up, either by being drained or burned down for plantation, the area becomes flammable and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.my/indonesia-is-burning-peatlands-heres-why-that-makes-the-haze-even-worse-than-normal-fires/">hard to extinguish</a>. Fires are smoldering in low temperature and spread undetected underground on dry peatland.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303907/original/file-20191127-112512-ovslef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Burned areas for oil palm plantation in 2016, in Ketapang, Kalimantan. Indonesia loses billions of dollars from land clearing using burning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Salvacampillo / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The restoration program seems like the perfect plan to prevent forest fires. It focuses on how to flood <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/why-peatlands-matter">peatland</a>, plant endemic trees and provide alternative livelihood – known as the 3Rs (rewetting, revegetation, and revitalisation).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, peat fires still happens in Indonesia, ironically the provinces heavily dominated by peatlands in Sumatra and Kalimantan.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-it-takes-to-put-out-forest-fires-122644">What it takes to put out forest fires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This year’s fores fires <a href="https://www.mongabay.co.id/2019/10/22/kebakaran-hutan-dan-lahan-sampai-september-2019-hampir-900-ribu-hektar/">started as early</a> as January and burned until October or November, burning nearly 900,000 hectares, polluting air with thick haze and eventually harming human health. </p>
<p>Our research in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, between 2018 and 2019, reveals resistance by local communities to the government’s restoration program is the main reason forests keep burning. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We conducted research to examine community participation in peatland restoration in two provinces in Sumatra (South Sumatra and Riau), and Central Kalimantan in Kalimantan island, in 2018 and 2019. </p>
<p>We conducted interviews and focus group discussions, involving ten to 20 respondents. They comprise heads of villages, local disaster agencies, local villages’ fire fighting squads, farmers and indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Our interviews with farmers showed they mostly rejected the government’s ban on clearing the land with fires as it’s against their common practice. </p>
<p>In Indonesia, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southeast-asia-haze/area-burned-in-2019-forest-fires-in-indonesia-exceeds-2018-official-idUSKBN1X00VU">slashing and burning</a> is the most preferable technique to clear land as it is considered the cheapest method.</p>
<p>The local communities’ stance leads them to refuse rewetting, revegetation, and revitalisation efforts under the government’s peatland restoration program.</p>
<p>For example, Simpur villagers in Pulang Pisau regency in Central Kalimantan broke down canal blocking, intended to wet the peat (rewetting), to make way for their boats to go to their plantations. </p>
<p>Most of these land owners also refuse to plant endemic trees such as <em>galam</em> (<em>Melaleuca leucadendra</em>), <em>belangerin</em> (<em>Shorea balangeran</em>), jelutong (<em>Dyera polyphylla</em>) or sedges (<em>Cyperaceae</em>) and prefer short-lived and economical crops, such as <em>sengon</em> (<em>Albizia chinensis</em>) or oil palm. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303908/original/file-20191127-112489-1vtkfhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jelutong tree or Dyera costulata has longer growth time compared to commercial crops, such as oil palm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkas:Dyera_costulata.jpg">wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This happens in local communities in Ogan Komering Ilir villages in South Sumatra and Pulang Pisang regency. </p>
<p>They prefer palm oil as it only takes five years to cultivate, while endemic trees need at least 20 years. </p>
<p>Around 2 million hectares of peat need to be restored by 2020. At least 400,000 hectares of this is located in private and community lands, mostly owned by local and indigenous communities.</p>
<p>Without local participation in peatland restoration, it would be difficult to restore degraded peat and to prevent fires in the future. </p>
<p>There are four steps the Indonesian government can take to improve local people’s participation in restoring peatlands and to reduce risks of forest fires: </p>
<p><strong>1. Provide maintenance funds</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://pantaugambut.id/uploads/default/komitmen/resources/2c3d33fec9168c27a5a631a19f72d3e5_Perpres_Nomor_1_Tahun_2016_BRG.pdf">Peatland Restoration Agency</a> aims to rehabilitate 2 million hectares of burned peat by 2020. </p>
<p>Peatland restoration needs funding. The agency only has the budget to implement the restoration program but not to maintain it. </p>
<p>The agency may have built various infrastructure, like deep wells or canal blockings to restore peatland. But without proper maintenance, this infrastructure is easily destroyed, especially by disapproving villagers.</p>
<p>The government can provide money for maintenance through village funds. </p>
<p>A new ministerial regulation on village funds in 2019 allows the disbursement of <a href="https://mediaindonesia.com/read/detail/262129-dana-desa-bisa-dipakai-untuk-karhutla">village funds</a> to maintain infrastructure built to mitigate disasters, like forest fires. </p>
<p><strong>2. Reward and punishment</strong> </p>
<p>The government should introduce a reward and punishment system to involve local villages in the implementation of the restoration program. </p>
<p>If they are willing to participate in the program , they can get rewards. The rewards can be in the forms of incentives, or grants and partnerships to manage the lands.</p>
<p>On the other hand, penalties can be given to those who intentionally burn down peat areas or fail to prevent their areas from burning. </p>
<p>The money from the penalties can be used to finance peatland restoration. </p>
<p><strong>3. Cut red tape</strong> </p>
<p>More often than not, forest fire mitigation is marred in bureaucracy, especially among government agencies.</p>
<p>When land or peatland is on fire, local fire brigades, involving villagers and civil societies, will be the first to respond. However, they are usually lacking in equipment and even knowledge of how to put out fires in burned peatlands.</p>
<p>Deployment of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), with better equipment, is allowed when emergency status is declared. </p>
<p>This is slowing down efforts to put out fires, risking thousands of hectares of peatland being burned. </p>
<p>To cut red tape, we recommend using village funds to better equip the local fire brigades. At the same time, the deployment of BPBD should not wait until emergency status is declared. </p>
<p><strong>4. Promoting cheap and reliable no-burning technology</strong></p>
<p>Aside from the infamous slash and burning tehnique, other options are available. This includes <a href="https://www.ru.nl/science/aquatic/education/internships/msc-student-research-projects/paludiculture-sustainable-management-peatlands/">paludiculture</a>, a practice of crop production on wet soil, suitable for peatlands. This practice in Sumatra promotes <a href="https://www.antaranews.com/berita/1134980/milenial-kabupaten-ogan-komering-ilir-buat-kerajinan-berbahan-purun">purun</a> (a grass-like plant that grows on peat swamps), planting <a href="https://forestsnews.cifor.org/61092/pineapples-and-peatlands?fnl=en">pineapples</a> and fish farming.</p>
<p>The government can also provide hand tractors to every village (suitable for palm oil plantation and sengon) and better irrigation in non-peat areas to grow rice, while promoting <a href="http://www.worldagroforestry.org/publication/agroforestry-peatlands-combining-productive-and-protective-functions-part-restoration-0">agroforestry</a>.</p>
<p>These alternatives, if implemented properly, can support revitalisation efforts where the government needs to provide alternative forms of livelihood. This way, farmers can still manage and reap economic benefits from their crops without burning land. </p>
<h2>Moving Forward</h2>
<p>Land and forest fires will continue in Indonesia – with devastating consequences for the world – as long as peatlands continue to be used for agriculture, livelihood, plantation and other activities.</p>
<p>We need holistic reform to ensure all stakeholders contribute to the peatland restoration program. The government also needs to promote existing policies such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/jokowi-telah-berlakukan-permanen-moratorium-izin-hutan-ini-tiga-keuntungannya-bagi-indonesia-121892">peatland moratorium</a>, <a href="https://forestsnews.cifor.org/60457/the-future-of-social-forestry-in-indonesia?fnl=en">social forestry</a> and the <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/12/11/indonesia-launches-one-map-policy-to-resolve-land-conflicts.html">integrated map</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laely Nurhidayah receives funding from ANU SMERU Indonesia Research Project 2019, Peatland Restoration Agency Research fund, LIPI Research fund, AMINEF Fulbright visiting fellow 2019-2020. </span></em></p>Villagers of Sumatra and Kalimantan relunctant to participate in peatland restoration, contributing to the recent forest fires in Indonesia.Laely Nurhidayah, Researcher, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1231962019-09-17T08:12:50Z2019-09-17T08:12:50ZIndonesia ‘discards’ its capital Jakarta for a new one, but we can’t just dispose of cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292570/original/file-20190916-19076-qbq17s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1000%2C323&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jakarta is among the 'megacities' with a population of more than 10 million people.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indonesia’s government is advancing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/27/why-is-indonesia-moving-its-capital-city-everything-you-need-to-know">plans to relocate the country’s capital more than 1,000 kilometres away, from Jakarta on densely populated Java island to Borneo island</a>.</p>
<p>At a time when modern consumer societies are awash in disposable products, the relocation plan seems to exemplify global society’s tendency to throw things away once they can no longer be used. In other words, Jakarta is a “disposable city”.</p>
<p>Indonesia is not alone. For various reasons, including environmental challenges, a number of countries have “disposed” of their old capitals in favour of new ones. </p>
<p>In 1960, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/apr21/brazil-gets-new-capital/">Brazil </a> moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia. In 1991, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/68c28016-bb16-11e3-948c-00144feabdc0">Nigeria</a> named Abuja as its new capital, replacing Lagos. </p>
<p>Since 2015, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/egypt-builds-new-capital-city-replace-cairo-n893606">Egypt</a> has been constructing a different site for its government, about 40 kilometres from Cairo. There are also discussions in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/oct/02/theres-no-other-option-the-radical-plan-to-move-mexicos-government">Mexico</a> about transferring some government agencies from the capital to other cities.</p>
<p>These capital relocation plans serve as a warning about urban development, revealing environmental problems associated with rapid urbanisation in industrialising countries.</p>
<h2>Shifting capitals but not urban complications</h2>
<p>The situation with Jakarta is only the latest case of a country shifting its capital from an unmanageable urban context.</p>
<p>What does Indonesia have in common with Brazil, Nigeria and Egypt? </p>
<p>In each country, leaders faced limits in the urban environment. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/apr21/brazil-gets-new-capital/">Rio de Janeiro</a> was hamstrung by a city design in which government buildings were spread out and where traffic was unbearable. Lagos suffered from unplanned growth and congestion. Cairo, too, endures inadequate infrastructure, crowding and traffic gridlock.</p>
<p>As for Jakarta, its situation is similar to these other cities, since it suffers from a lack of urban planning and public infrastructure. It is “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indonesia-to-move-capital-from-jakarta-to-east-kalimantan/2019/08/26/e8ae4f8c-c7d9-11e9-9615-8f1a32962e04_story.html?noredirect=on">overcrowded, sinking and polluted</a>”. <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2011/11/03/jakarta-urban-challenges-in-a-changing-climate">Its problems range from urban sprawl, to major flooding, to land subsidence</a>.</p>
<p>The city is said to have the worst traffic jams in the world, and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/07/11/the-50-most-densely-populated-cities-in-the-world/39664259/">the poorest air quality in Southeast Asia</a>. </p>
<p>Heavy reliance on passenger vehicles for transport and failures in urban planning almost appear as if they arise from a “disposable” short-term mindset. </p>
<p>Environmental experts have voiced their concern about Indonesia’s capital relocation plan as it will not solve problems in Jakarta and only create other ones in the new capital.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/moving-indonesias-capital-city-wont-fix-jakartas-problems-and-will-increase-fire-risk-in-borneo-122639">Moving Indonesia's capital city won't fix Jakarta's problems and will increase fire risk in Borneo</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A throw-away society</h2>
<p>The modern era is driven by consumerism, encapsulated by the term “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1162/1088198054084671">throwaway society</a>”.</p>
<p>To make room for new purchases, this system of continual replacement relies on planned or cultural obsolescence of products, and disposal after short-term use. </p>
<p>This is an intentional part of the design. We have single-use cameras, cheap Ikea furniture, and in <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/why-japanese-houses-have-such-limited-lifespans">Japan</a> it is a custom that houses should be replaced after two decades.</p>
<p>Habits developed at an individual level, however, do not translate to entire cities, as these are not easily replaced. </p>
<p>Yet they are often constructed as if that is the case. Cities are designed with a lack of urban planning and built with cheap materials. They are heavily reliant on unsustainable nonrenewable energy sources and private transportation, instead of mass-transit infrastructure. And due to poor planning, many cities can’t handle population growth. </p>
<p>While a single-use item may serve us for one meal or a few days, at a much larger scale a “disposable” city would be liveable for years or decades, rather than a century or more.</p>
<h2>The need for sustainable cities</h2>
<p>Cities represent our present and future. If humans are to live sustainably, they must figure out how to do so within urban areas. Nearly <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html">55%</a> of the world population now resides there. The figure will increase to <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html">68%</a> by mid-century. As the global population rises to <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Highlights.pdf">9.7 billion</a> in 2050, urban residents will increase from 4.2 billion to 6.6 billion, a <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Highlights.pdf">57%</a> increase. </p>
<p>Jakarta itself is representative of the largest urban agglomerations with a population of more than 10 million people, called “megacities”. There are projected to be 39 megacities by 2030, accounting for nearly <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/mapping-the-world-s-new-megacities-in-2030/">10%</a> of the global population. </p>
<p>The continued <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Highlights.pdf">rapid urban population growth presents challenges for “sustainable development”</a>. </p>
<p>Sustainable development is defined as “<a href="https://www.iisd.org/topic/sustainable-development">development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs</a>”. The United Nations (UN) points out that “<a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html">sustainable development depends increasingly on the successful management of urban growth</a>”. One of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals focuses on <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-11-sustainable-cities-and-communities.html">sustainable cities</a>. </p>
<p>Research <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/961514_Koch%20et%20al._How%20to%20achieve%20Urban%20Sustainability%20Transformations%20(UST)%20in%20real%20life%20politics.pdf">suggests</a> “urban sustainability transformations” are necessary to make existing cities viable for the long term. The <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/12/5-cities-show-what-urban-transformation-really-looks">transformations</a>, such as inclusive transportation and more efficient systems of waste collection, are aimed at greater resource efficiency, quality of life, and resilience.</p>
<h2>Solutions offer a way forward</h2>
<p>Experts believe “<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/11/09/jakartas-urban-nightmare/">Jakarta’s ecological woes are largely man-made</a>”, but this means humans can solve these problems too. </p>
<p>The same goes for other capitals. Managing them requires thoughtful planning for their longer-term operations.</p>
<p>This includes having political commitment and good decision-making in adopting sustainable designs. </p>
<p>The designs may involve “<a href="https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-11-sustainable-cities-and-communities.html">investment in public transport, creating green public spaces, and improving urban planning and management in participatory and inclusive ways</a>”.</p>
<p>Other solutions include “<a href="http://mirror.unhabitat.org/content.asp?typeid=19&catid=555&cid=5607">strategic spatial planning</a>”. The planning will ensure “<a href="http://mirror.unhabitat.org/content.asp?typeid=19&catid=555&cid=5607">infrastructure development to promote more compact forms of urban expansion with focuses on accessibility and public transport</a>”.</p>
<p>For Indonesia, starting anew is an appealing prospect, but complications do not necessarily require giving up on a city.</p>
<p>In the end, we need to heed the warning signs of unsustainable cities. </p>
<p>The situation in Jakarta did not arise suddenly. Discussions about moving the capital have taken place over <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/27/why-is-indonesia-moving-its-capital-city-everything-you-need-to-know">decades</a>. But, even with ample time, the Indonesian government failed to make necessary policy changes. </p>
<p>Now, shifting the capital of Indonesia and other countries may actually send the wrong message that cities too can be discarded. </p>
<p>The new location in Indonesia is appealing because it is “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-08-26/indonesia-new-capital-explained">a resource-rich province of tropical forest</a>”, but not every country has the land and resources to move and rebuild an entire capital. </p>
<p>The “throwaway society” and disposable model must not be applied to urban areas. As the saying goes, “there is no Planet B”. It’s the same for our cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David D. Sussman tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Shifting the capital of Indonesia and other countries may actually send the wrong message that cities too can be discarded.David D. Sussman, Visiting Scholar, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1215052019-09-11T02:44:27Z2019-09-11T02:44:27ZThe human cost of palm oil development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291403/original/file-20190909-175663-ga8b47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5447%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Palm oil development is not just about the economy but also needs to consider social and environmental costs. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The oil palm industry likes to present itself as a success story in fighting rural poverty in tropical countries, an image supported by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-geopolitics-of-palm-oil-and-deforestation-119417">recent article in The Conversation</a>. Is it true? </p>
<p>The answer depends on the areas we look at and the methodology we apply. There are indeed <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225642011_Why_do_Farmers_Prefer_Oil_Palm_Lessons_Learnt_from_Bungo_District_Indonesia">case studies</a> that find that farmers who get involved in the palm oil economy on favourable terms can greatly improve their economic situation. </p>
<p>However, as numerous <a href="https://www.jus.uio.no/smr/english/about/id/docs/transmigrasi-sawit-ham_-20nov17.pdf">case studies</a> also show, communities that encounter the oil palm industry on less favourable terms can be impoverished by the arrival of the palm oil crop, and lose control over their lands and livelihoods. </p>
<h2>Positive development, not just development</h2>
<p>Palm oil brings about huge changes to the communities directly affected. It changes who control lands and resources and nearly all aspects of the local economies – where people get food, water and housing materials, and how they spend their money. </p>
<p>Take, for example, <a href="https://www.jus.uio.no/smr/english/about/programmes/indonesia/docs/report-english-version-jan-2015.pdf">Sarapat Village</a> in Central Kalimantan in the middle of Borneo island. </p>
<p>Previously, its inhabitants used to cultivate rice and vegetables, drink river water, fish and bathe in the river, tap rubber and find building materials in the forest.</p>
<p>In 2007, a palm oil company established itself in the village. </p>
<p>Community leaders agreed to reject any plans for palm oil development, but the plantation company nevertheless started clearing forests and farmland to make way for oil palms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291719/original/file-20190910-190035-1fhwug7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cleared land for palm oil plantation in East Barito of Central Kalimantan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aksel Tømte</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After the plantation had been established, the river got polluted by fertiliser, pesticides and waste from the plantation. Thus, it was no longer suitable for fishing, drinking or personal hygiene. </p>
<p>The majority of the population lost the lands they used to live off. They had to switch from being farmers and fishermen to day labourers at the nearby plantation. </p>
<p>Most became dependent on the market to fulfil their basic needs.</p>
<p>Looking at contexts such as in Sarapat Village, any meaningful comparison of welfare levels must look beyond monetary indicators or number of formal jobs.</p>
<p>Two recent studies have applied methodology that does exactly that, and assessed changes in welfare levels using a range of indicators. </p>
<p>In a forthcoming study, The <a href="http://ecosocrights.blogspot.com/">Institute for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights</a> compared welfare in 12 villages in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan. It found that while incomes were higher in some of the villages cultivating oil palms, the access to food, water and health was better in villages not (primarily) cultivating this crop.</p>
<p>An international group of academics compared welfare levels in various kinds of villages in Kalimantan and <a href="https://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/default/files/documents/Santika%20et%20al.%202019%20-%20oil%20palm%20and%20village%20welfare.pdf">produced similar findings</a>. </p>
<p>The social impacts may have been more positive in other areas – for example, in some parts of Sumatra (see link above).</p>
<p>In an opinion piece published in May 2019, <a href="https://www.forestpeoples.org/en/palm-oil-rspo/news-article/2019/blog-does-palm-oil-bring-development-new-study-casts-doubt">Marcus Colchester of Forest Peoples Programme suggests</a> the question we should ask ourselves is not if palm oil brings development or not, but what circumstances will enable the most positive development.</p>
<h2>Land conflicts and dispossession</h2>
<p>These issues brings to the fore the question of how to minimise the most negative impacts – including land conflicts and dispossession. </p>
<p>Palm oil now covers about <a href="https://ekonomi.kompas.com/read/2018/02/26/203000426/kementerian-pertanian--lahan-sawit-indonesia-capai-14-03-juta-hektare">14 million hectares</a> of land in Indonesia. Plantation companies control most of this land. </p>
<p>The way corporations gain control over lands plays out in different ways, but tensions are common. The <a href="https://www.kpa.or.id/?lang=en">Consortium for Agrarian Reform</a> (KPA) <a href="https://katadata.co.id/berita/2019/03/04/kpa-eskalasi-konflik-agraria-di-era-jokowi-meningkat">registered 1,771 land conflicts</a> in Indonesia between 2014 and 2018, with 41 people killed, 546 assaulted and 940 farmers and activists facing criminal prosecution. </p>
<p>Oil palm plantations account for the largest number of cases, compared to other industries.</p>
<p>Reasons for this high number of conflicts include the high level of corruption in the sector (which the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/indonesias-anti-graft-agency-eager-to-intervene-in-palm-oil-sector/">Anti-Corruption Commission has confirmed</a>), the lack of transparency on palm oil concessions (such as the executive government’s <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2019/02/25/secrecy-still-shrouds-land-use-maps.html">refusal to release data on use rights</a>), biased and unpredictable law enforcement, and limited community participation in the processes leading to plantation development, as in the previously mentioned example of Sarapat Village.</p>
<p>Farmers may also lose their lands through market-based processes. For instance, when people more or less voluntarily sell their land to manage debt or extraordinary expenses.</p>
<p>This is well documented, for example, in the <a href="https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/OccPapers/OP-124.pdf">research of Tania Murray Li</a> of <a href="https://www.jus.uio.no/smr/english/about/id/docs/transmigrasi-sawit-ham_-20nov17.pdf">Ecosoc Institute</a>.</p>
<h2>Protect small-scale farmers</h2>
<p>Large-scale development schemes are often based on the assumption that global agribusiness corporations are more effective than small-scale farmers. It’s a view that seemed to underlie the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-geopolitics-of-palm-oil-and-deforestation-119417">recent article in The Conversation</a>. </p>
<p>However, research finds this is not the case. <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/636821468316165959/pdf/576450NWP0Box31am0review0v40issue02.pdf">International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development</a>, also known as the World Agriculture Report, made by more than 400 scientists from a variety of disciplines working together for four years, debunks the myth that industrial agriculture is superior to small-scale farming. On the contrary, the report finds small-scale farming is superior in economic, social and ecological terms. </p>
<p>Family farms <a href="https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/industrial-agriculture-and-small-scale-farming.html">produce about 80% of the world’s food</a>. For the sake of farmers’ welfare, for ecological sustainability and for food security, policies should seek to maintain small-scale farms and increase their security of tenure.</p>
<p>In Indonesia, this could mean strengthening transparency and the rule of law, including by releasing data on use rights. </p>
<p>It is also important to acknowledge local land ownership – individually or collectively – independently of any plans for plantation development. </p>
<p>Further, policies should establish more inclusive decision-making processes at a local level, even if that may delay investments, so that local communities have more of a say on whether plantation development takes place and under what terms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aksel Tømte tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>There are studies showing that farmers can have economic benefits from palm oil. However, they can also be impoverished by the commodity.Aksel Tømte, Head of Business and Human Rights at Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of OsloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1223882019-09-10T02:49:47Z2019-09-10T02:49:47ZWe built an app to detect areas most vulnerable to life-threatening haze<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291674/original/file-20190910-109943-1v3jwfz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Active fire hotspots detected by S-NPP/VIIRS on September 7 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA Worldview</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Forest and land-use fires are ravaging Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan islands. Haze from these fires threatens lives as inhaling smoke can cause heart and respiratory diseases, leading to premature deaths.</p>
<p>We study the intersection of land use, fires and air pollution. Based on our latest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GH000191">study</a>, smoke exposure would lead to about 36,000 premature deaths per year on average across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia over the next few decades if current trends continue – that is, if no comprehensive land management strategies, such as peatland restoration, are undertaken. </p>
<p>To prevent premature deaths from toxic haze, we developed a new online tool to provide decision-makers with information to protect people living downwind from the fires.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-things-jokowi-could-do-better-to-stop-forest-fires-and-haze-in-indonesia-120497">Three things Jokowi could do better to stop forest fires and haze in Indonesia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Health impacts of smoke exposure</h2>
<p>Severe haze blankets Southeast Asia when three things happen:</p>
<ol>
<li>the dry season coincides with El Niño (or other drought-like conditions)</li>
<li>humans use fire to clear land or maintain agricultural areas</li>
<li>peatlands are so dry and degraded that they become abundant fuel for fire. </li>
</ol>
<p>Recent severe haze episodes occurred in 1997, 2006 and 2015. While the fire season varies in intensity from year to year, fires recur every year in Indonesia.</p>
<p>Smoke from fires increases hazy conditions. Tiny particles in haze pose health risks including stroke, cardiovascular disease, respiratory infection and even brain damage. </p>
<p>With limited firefighting resources, authorities need to identify priority areas to target conservation efforts to limit vulnerability to fire. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GH000191">study</a> shows that one way to set priorities is to determine areas where the threat of smoke to human health is greatest. </p>
<p>Science-based evidence can do this by calculating the impact of haze on populations’ health burden. Populations that are downwind from fires are more prone to smoke exposure and resulting health problems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-it-takes-to-put-out-forest-fires-122644">What it takes to put out forest fires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We developed a scientific framework that incorporates satellite-derived data sets on land use, land cover and fire emissions, modelling of where smoke travels in the atmosphere, and health impacts from smoke exposure. </p>
<p>We also project future land use and land cover transitions for the next decade associated with a range of dry to wet conditions. Finally, we calculate the health impacts as a result of smoke exposure for Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. </p>
<p>While our land use and fire data sets are spatially explicit, our estimates for health impacts are at country scale.</p>
<h2>SMOKE Policy Tool</h2>
<p>As part of our study, we created the <a href="https://smokepolicytool.users.earthengine.app/view/smoke-policy-tool">SMOKE Policy Tool</a>. This is an online application that tracks smoke and allows stakeholders to explore the health benefits of blocking fires in different regions and under various land management scenarios. Users can target one or a combination of concessions (oil palm, timber, logging), conservation areas, peatlands and individual provinces.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290843/original/file-20190904-175714-1ckvy8f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">User interface of the SMOKE Policy Tool.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The tool also estimates the number of premature deaths associated with exposure to haze. In the business-as-usual scenario over the coming decades, we estimate about 36,000 premature deaths per year across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.</p>
<p>In addition, we predict that fire-related PM2.5, the tiny particles in smoke, will reach 18-20 μg/m3 from July to October in Singapore and Indonesia. That level is nearly double the guidelines set by the World Health Organisation.</p>
<p>Estimates of public health impacts are likely to be conservative, based on our assumptions. For example, we did not consider the effects of climate change in making droughts worse, or take into account future shifts in human population.</p>
<p>However, because our scientific framework is flexible, we can incorporate updated information on fire emissions, land use, smoke exposure and population density as new datasets become available.</p>
<p>Future versions of the tool can incorporate near-real-time monitoring of fire emissions and health impacts analysis at sub-country scale.</p>
<h2>Keeping peatlands wet</h2>
<p>Most of the premature deaths due to haze in Indonesia can be avoided if the government succeeds in restoring the moist conditions in all peatlands in Sumatra and Kalimantan.</p>
<p>Our study finds that while peatlands comprise less than 20% of land area in Indonesia, peat fires contribute about two-thirds to overall fire emissions.</p>
<p>As part of the development of the SMOKE Policy Tool, we partnered with the Indonesian Peatland Restoration Agency, or BRG. Its task is to restore 2 million hectares of degraded peatlands. </p>
<p>With limited resources, the agency must set priorities for peatland restoration. Until now, the agency has determined priority sites based on the number of fire hotspots. </p>
<p>But, with the SMOKE Policy Tool, the agency could redefine its priority sites based instead on minimising the overall health burden in the Southeast Asia region. </p>
<p>Our tool shows that prioritising restoration activities along the eastern coast of South Sumatra would lead to the greatest health benefits for all three countries. Of secondary priority is the southern coast of West, Central and South Kalimantan. This is because fires on these peatlands are directly upwind of vulnerable populations.</p>
<p>Setting priority areas to fight fires in Indonesia is important for making the best use of limited resources. Future efforts can also apply the same capabilities to fires in other locations such as the Amazon rainforest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tianjia Liu receives funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miriam Marlier receives funding from the Winslow Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Buonocore receives funding from the High Tide Foundation, Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, the Heinz Endowments, and the Barr Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loretta Mickley receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth DeFries received funding from the Winslow Foundation. </span></em></p>We have developed an online tool to help authorities identify which areas they should focus on for reducing forest fires and haze in order to maximize overall health benefits.Tianjia Liu, PhD Candidate in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard UniversityMiriam Marlier, Associate Physical Scientist, RAND Corporation; PRGS Faculty Member, Pardee RAND Graduate SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/900232018-01-15T06:27:43Z2018-01-15T06:27:43ZMore research needed for responsible peatland management in Indonesia<p>Indonesian peatland researchers recently gathered in Bogor, Indonesia, to examine the effectiveness of the latest government regulation on peatlands. We found some shortcomings, one being that the regulation isn’t well supported by scientific evidence. </p>
<p>The Indonesian government declared that the area of peatlands burnt <a href="http://ppid.menlhk.go.id/siaran_pers/browse/810">in 2017 declined significantly</a> compared to previous years. After a disastrous fire <a href="https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20151030133801-20-88437/bnpb-kebakaran-hutan-2015-seluas-32-wilayah-dki-jakarta">two years ago</a>, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry urged plantations to block canals and to build water retention basins and wells in peatlands.</p>
<p>Additionally, the government attempted to restore degraded peatlands by issuing <a href="http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2016/12/06/11592021/pemerintah.terbitkan.revisi.pp.perlindungan.gambut">Government Regulation (PP) No. 57/2016</a>, which amended a 2014 regulation on the conservation and management of peat ecosystems. </p>
<p>One of the articles in the 2016 regulation states that a managed peat ecosystem is considered to be degraded if its water table is deeper than 40 centimetres from the surface of the peatland at a managed location. This regulation was meant to keep the peat moist to protect it from fire during the dry season. This also means that the water table in managed peatlands should be maintained at 40cm all year round.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0341816207001130">40cm criterion</a> was arbitrarily chosen. The regulation was set without involving or consulting academics and is not supported by adequate research and strong scientific evidence. </p>
<p>The implementation of this regulation should also consider the socio-economic balance between the communities and the environment surrounding peatlands.</p>
<p>Responding to this new regulation, academics and peatland practitioners organised a focus group discussion in Bogor on December 14, 2017, to discuss the best way to manage peat responsibly. </p>
<p>Peatlands are one of the largest carbon sinks in the Earth’s land ecosystem. And Indonesia has one of the largest peatlands in the tropics, with a recent estimate of 13.2 million hectares. Before the 1990s, peatlands were considered marginal lands and exploited without environmental concerns.</p>
<p>In 1995, the late President Soeharto directed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Rice_Project_(Kalimantan)">Mega Rice Project</a>, which developed 1 million hectares of peatlands in Central Kalimantan for rice cultivation. The project failed. Rice did not grow and the heavily drained peats were degraded, fuelling fires during extended dry seasons.</p>
<h2>Scientific gap</h2>
<p>With increasing awareness of climate change issues – especially greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural sectors and land and forest fires – peat management has become a controversial issue in Indonesia. </p>
<p>Peat has two main functions: environmental services (water storage, carbon storage and biodiversity preservation) and agricultural production that supports the livelihood of farmers. </p>
<p>Science and research may be able to drive <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-can-drive-the-sustainability-of-our-precious-soils-water-and-oceans-43641">responsible management</a> of our peatlands.</p>
<p>While there has been much research on peatlands in Indonesia, most international research focused heavily on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-011-9643-2">deforestation</a>, <a href="https://www.biogeosciences.net/7/1505/2010/">greenhouse gas emissions</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01131">peat fires</a>. We need research on effective peatland management that addresses the environmental issues and regulations.</p>
<p>Balanced research should also focus on good peat management practices that minimise its environmental impacts, and on effective water management that reduces the risk of fire. </p>
<p>From the discussion in Bogor, we identified scientific gaps in peat management:</p>
<h2>1. Peatland mapping</h2>
<p>Peatlands in Indonesia have been mapped at a rough scale of 1:250,000, indicating an area of about 13.2 million hectares. This map cannot be used for management and the implementation of PP 57. </p>
<p>For operational purposes, a scale of 1:50,000 or finer is needed. This fine-scale map needs to be generated using an accurate, cost-effective and rapid method. </p>
<p>In Indonesia, many were convinced that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar">Lidar</a>, aerial laser surveying that is used commercially, was the best method for <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/22/high-resolution-map-protect-nation-s-peatland.html">mapping</a> the extent and thickness of peat. </p>
<p>However, lidar operation throughout the country is costly. Furthermore, Lidar only measures the surface elevation of the ground and cannot detect directly the extent and thickness of peats. </p>
<p>Research from the University of Sydney and IPB has developed an <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-11-digital-carbon-storage-tropical-peatlands.html">Open Digital Mapping</a> methodology, which combines field measurements and freely available satellite images. Peat extent and thickness can be mapped using machine-learning algorithms. This methodology, recently published in an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001670611731306X">international journal</a>, is cost-effective as it uses open data in an open-source computing environment. </p>
<p>This method has been successfully evaluated and potentially can be up-scaled to map peatlands for the whole of Indonesia.</p>
<h2>2. Leading commodities and land degradation</h2>
<p>There have been many studies on strategic commodities in peatlands, especially food and cash crops, specifically oil palm. With the new regulation restricting oil palm plantation development, integrated cross-disciplinary studies need to be developed to seek new commodities that can support small-scale farmers. For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paludiculture">paludiculture</a> (farming in swamps) with market access needs to be developed.</p>
<p>The environmental impacts of land use change have to be assessed holistically. Agricultural land use in peatlands is often thought to be linked with the draining of peats, which led to peat degradation and vulnerability to fire. As a result, the use of peatlands is associated with increasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. </p>
<p>Peatland degradation is a long process and is not entirely caused by the current land use. Land degradation has happened at least since the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmigration_program">transmigration</a> program during the Dutch colonial period and continued since the 1970s with the expansion of forest concession areas.</p>
<h2>3. Greenhouse gas emissions and groundwater level</h2>
<p>Land use on peatlands is often blamed for increased greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sectors. No doubt agricultural activities contribute to oxidation of organic matter. But the CO<sub>2</sub> emission rates need to be fully examined, especially as a result of: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Peat subsidence, which is often interpreted as peat <a href="https://www.biogeosciences.net/9/1053/2012/">loss</a> contributing to CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. The subsidence process depends on the peat compaction and water level. Subsidence is not linear with time. In other words, subsidence occurred rapidly at the beginning of land conversion and its rate will decrease with time. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706106002503">study</a> in Central Kalimantan demonstrated that compaction is the main cause of the peat dome collapse.</p></li>
<li><p>The net greenhouse gas emission is a balance between sequestration (storage) and decomposition (breakdown) of organic matter. Emission rates fluctuate from morning to day and night, and from day to day. Most studies only measure the emission rates at a given time once a month. To account for all these variations, we need a fully integrated system that can monitor these fluxes over a long time.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The groundwater level set by Regulation No. 57/2016 is thought to lack a strong <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0341816207001130">scientific evidence</a> base. Groundwater level fluctuates seasonally with rainfall and drainage. It doesn’t necessarily reflect the peat’s moisture condition. In addition, the impact of a relatively high water table on plant growth needs to be further established. </p>
<p>The water content of the surface peat may be more indicative of the moisture status of peat. There is a critical water content at which peat becomes hydrophobic (difficult to rewet), and this point needs to be well researched and established. </p>
<p>Most studies only consider climate-driven prolonged drought as the driver for wildfires in the humid tropics. Our study shows that a simple <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168192314003165">Drought Index</a> – which can be calculated from rainfall data, groundwater height level and groundwater condition – can serve as a better indicator of forest fire risk. Another study shows the importance of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep06112">hydrology</a> in predicting wildfires in Kalimantan, which can be used as a tool to improve planning and strategies to adapt to climate change. </p>
<h2>The bottom-up approach</h2>
<p>The current peat restoration process is a top-down approach by issuing new regulations. PP 57 is difficult to implement and has had negative reactions from the agriculture community. For a process to be fully adopted and well received by landholders and academics, it needs to be bottom-up and supported by well-grounded research. </p>
<p>The ideal approach includes:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Water management that optimises the water supply to maintain peat’s moisture condition and support plant growth, particularly in the dry season.</p></li>
<li><p>Maintaining groundwater levels not deeper than 80cm, measured from the peat surface. Peat should be always maintained in a moist condition so it wets up easily. Hydrology models to monitor drought and susceptibility can help predict the risk of fire.</p></li>
<li><p>Managing peatland responsibly with best management practices that support plant growth and livelihoods without causing land degradation and fires. These practices involve good water management, monitoring and maintaining moist peat condition, proper fertilisation, establishing cover crops, using adapted plant varieties, etc. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>From all that, we need a more comprehensive research program that includes technology adaptation, community development and co-operation between communities, farmers, business owners and the government. The outcomes can then be used to formulate a responsible peatland development program in Indonesia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Budiman Minasny receives fund from Australia Indonesia Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Budi Indra Setiawan, Dian Fiantis, dan Supiandi Sabiham tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>A balanced research program should focus on good and rational peat management efforts that minimise environmental impacts, and on water regulation that reduces the risk of fire.Supiandi Sabiham, Professor of Land Resource Management, IPB UniversityBudi Indra Setiawan, Professor of Agricultural Technology, IPB UniversityBudiman Minasny, Professor in Soil-Landscape Modelling, University of SydneyDian Fiantis, Professor of Soil Science, Universitas AndalasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/856022017-10-15T16:15:51Z2017-10-15T16:15:51ZWallacea: a living laboratory of evolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190257/original/file-20171015-3532-1ls3sq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sulawesi, part of the biogeographical region of Wallacea, is home to tarsiers -- tiny, goggle-eyed creatures look more like mammalian tree frogs than monkeys. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ondrej Prosicky/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>To mark <a href="https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/wallace-wallacea-indonesia-wallacea-week-2017-public-lecture-tickets-37719657511">Wallacea Week</a>, a series of public lectures and exhibition on the Wallacea region of Indonesia, The Conversation presents a series of analysis on biodiversity and history of science in Indonesia. This is the first article of the series.</em> </p>
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<p>The central islands of Indonesia - between Java, Bali and Kalimantan (also known as Borneo) on the west and Papua at the eastern end of the country - is a place of wonder, a living laboratory for the study of evolution. </p>
<p>It’s called Wallacea, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, the 19th century English explorer and naturalist. On his exploration in the Indonesian archipelago (then known as the Malay archipelago) Wallace developed his <a href="http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_14">theory of natural selection</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190258/original/file-20171015-3542-1fak7j5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Alfred Russel Wallace.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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<p>He noticed that the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi as well as Bali and Lombok have very distinct animals even though the islands are next to each other. He proposed an invisible line runs between Kalimantan and Sulawesi and Bali and Lombok separating the faunas. </p>
<p>In Kalimantan and Bali live animals such as tiger, rhinos and elephants, which now, due to human population expansion, are endangered. In Sulawesi and Lombok to the east of the small Mollucas islands, we find marsupials, a variety of peculiar looking monkeys, and interesting endemic animals. Endemic animals means they are native or restricted to an area. </p>
<p>The invisible line is now known as Wallace’s Line and the region between it and the island of New Guinea has come to be called Wallacea. </p>
<p>Scientists today know that Kalimantan and Bali were connected as part of <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16021657-200-where-it-all-began/">Sundaland</a>, a large landmass that includes the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland as well as Java and Sumatra. This landmass was exposed for 2.6 million years until ice caps started to melt around 14,000 years ago, submerging part of the landmass and creating the Indonesian archipelago.</p>
<h2>Creatures of Wallacea</h2>
<p>Wallacea includes the large island of Sulawesi, the Mollucas - the various small to medium-sized islands to the east of Sulawesi and the “Banda Arc” islands - and the Lesser Sundas or Nusa Tenggara, south of Sulawesi and the Moluccas. </p>
<p>Wallacea is a transition zone between the great Indo-Malayan and Australasian biogeographical realms. Millions of years of relative geographical isolation have allowed fascinating and highly endemic fauna to evolve here. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190261/original/file-20171015-3545-8w6sus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Wallacea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wallacea_Hotspot_2005_Print.tif">Conservation International/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Wallacea is home to <a href="http://www.bird-stamps.org/books/77.htm">697 bird species</a>, of which 249 (36%) are endemic. The rate of endemism rises to a more impressive 44% if only the resident birds, or those that don’t migrate, are considered. </p>
<p>On Sulawesi and its satellite islands, there are 328 bird species, 230 of them resident and 97 species are endemic, among them the maleo bird. </p>
<p>Wallacea has a total of 201 native mammal species (excluding whales and dolphins), 123 of which are endemic. If we exclude the 81 bat species with their greater capacity for dispersion, the rate of endemism increases to a very high 93%.</p>
<p>Sulawesi, the largest island in Wallacea, has the highest number of mammals, with 132 species, of which 83 (63%) are endemic. </p>
<p>It holds important flagship species such as the anoas (<em>Bubalus depressicornis</em>), diminutive buffaloes that live in the forests of Sulawesi, and the babirusa (<em>Babyrousa babyrussa</em>), an unusual, enigmatic pig with long, recurved upper tusks that penetrate through the skin of the upper lip. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190264/original/file-20171015-3520-le1zbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The enigmatic pig of Sulawesi, babirusa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Artush/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Sulawesi’s primates are also special. At least seven species of macaques are unique to the island. Sulawesi also has several species of tarsiers - tiny, goggle-eyed creatures that look more like mammalian tree frogs than monkeys. </p>
<p>Reptile diversity is also quite high, with 188 species, of which 122 (65%) are endemic. The best known reptile in Wallacea, and one of Indonesia’s most famous species, is the Komodo dragon (<em>Varanus komodoensis</em>) or “<em>ora</em>” in local language. </p>
<p>Komodo is the heaviest lizard in the world (males can reach about 2.8 m in length and weigh about 50 kg). They live only in the tiny island of Komodo, the neighbouring islands of Padar and Rinca to the west, and the western end and north coast of Flores. </p>
<p>Most of the 210 freshwater fish species recorded from the rivers and lakes in Wallacea are tolerant of both fresh and salt water to some extent. </p>
<p>We still need more research in fish species. In the Moluccas and Lesser Sundas, the fish fauna is poorly known. But there appear to be around six island endemics. On Sulawesi, there are 69 known species, of which 53 (77%) are endemic. </p>
<p>At the northeastern corner of South Sulawesi lies the Malili Lakes, a complex of deep lakes, rapids and rivers. Here, at least 15 endemic beautiful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telmatherinidae">telmatherinid</a> fishes have evolved. </p>
<p>The plants of Wallacea is not as well known as that of its neighbours. Fewer botanical specimens per-unit-area are collected than on any other major islands in Indonesia. </p>
<p>We also don’t know much of the invertebrate fauna of Wallacea. However, some groups, such as the enormous birdwing butterflies are better known. </p>
<p>Wallacea also has the world’s largest bee (<em>Chalocodoma pluto</em>) in the northern Moluccas. The females can grow to 4 cm in length. They are also remarkable because they nest communally in inhabited termite nests in lowland forest trees.</p>
<h2>Human impact</h2>
<p>As elsewhere, things have changed dramatically in Wallacea during the course of the past century. The human population has nearly quadrupled. Development has grown tremendously in Indonesia in general. </p>
<p>The first commercial logging operation in Wallacea began in the early part of the century, and forests have been cleared for agricultural programs, for industrial timber plantations, and for land settlement schemes that resettled hundreds of thousands of people from densely populated Java to other less inhabited (but much less productive) corners of Indonesia. </p>
<p>This has greatly reduced the amount of forest habitat, particularly in the lowlands, and has caused dramatic and severe declines in the populations of many forest species (many as much as 90%). </p>
<p>Much of the remaining forest is now given out in timber concessions of various kinds. </p>
<p>Furthermore, forest and land fires continues to be a problem. It is now greatly exacerbated by increased drying because of logging and plantation agriculture, and sometimes by intentional burning as well.</p>
<p>Overall, about 45% of Wallacea still has some forest cover; however, if one considers forest that is still in more or less pristine condition, the percentage drops to only 15%, or about 50,774 square kilometer.</p>
<p>At this point in time, forest protection in Wallacea is moderate at best. Protected area coverage is around 24,387 square kilometer, or 7% of original extent. </p>
<p>Of course, establishment of protected areas is only a beginning. Once created, they need management and the cooperation of local people, the government, and the private sector in order to be successful in conserving biodiversity. For millions of years, fascinating creatures have managed to diversify and evolve over millions of years. We have a moral obligation to protect this wonder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85602/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jatna Supriatna is a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) and sits in the governing board of Yayasan The Conversation Indonesia. </span></em></p>The central islands of Indonesia, also known as Wallacea, is a place of wonder, a living laboratory for the study of evolution.Jatna Supriatna, Professor of Conservation Biology, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.