Disaster literacy among young peatland farmers in Central Kalimantan

Abstract

The One Million Hectare Peat Clearing Project (PLG) in Central Kalimantan, designed as a rice granary in 1995, has become the door to ecological disasters on peatlands. Canalization that drains the peatlands excessively has sparked fires over the past 23 years, especially during the long dry season. Given the large losses incurred and the high budget for land fire suppression, pre-disaster management is important, one of which is through the concept of disaster literacy. Disaster literacy in this case is a non-structural mitigation approach that focuses on skills and understanding of disasters to reduce disaster risk. This study aims to see the application of the concept of disaster literacy, especially to young peatland farmers who are directly involved in agricultural management in a broad sense through the various existing literatures. The discussion will cover a lot of local wisdom of the community in managing peatlands in relation to the prevention of peatland fires.