Business models on peatlands to prevent land and forest fires

Abstract

Peatlands nowadays, most of it has been degraded due to land and forest fires. The Indonesian government through The Peatland Restoration Agency has attempted to carry out peat restoration through three pillars. Revitalization is one of the restoration pillars besides rewetting and replanting, it seeks to improve the community livelihoods. The objectives of this study are to identify business models that have developed in the community and to analyze the mechanisms that occur in those business models in preventing forest and land fires. The research was conducted at the Peat Hydrological Unit of Mendahara-Batanghari, Jambi Province. In-depth interviews were conducted with respondents who were obtained by the purposive sampling method. Data and information then were analyzed descriptively qualitatively. Based on the field research this study found that the business models which can prevent forest and land fires are the rice field and horticulture business model, areca nut cultivation and utilization, liberica coffee agroforestry, pineapple cultivation, honey/beekeeping, jelutong agroforestry, ecotourism, and carbon trading. This study concludes that these business models have similar characteristics in preventing forest and land fires, namely land use adjusting the peat depth zoning with native peat species, non-timber forest products, and agroforestry patterns; intensive land management; utilization of biomass so that it does not become fuel during the dry season; maintaining peatlands in humid conditions through water management, and maintaining forest cover.