Climate change mitigation through sustainable degraded peatlands management in central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Considering the limitations of the highly productive arable land for supporting food security in Indonesia, development and optimization degraded peatlands for agricultural expansion is an option, although this area is one of the primary sources of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, specific management strategies should be applied to reduce the emission and to serve future generations. Also, mitigation of climate change in the peatlands agriculture should also be given priority. This paper explores the existing farming action on climate change mitigation, and strategies of degraded peatlands management to mitigate climate change in term of reducing GHG emission. Existing condition of mitigation action by farmers in their farming systems; rice, rubber and oil palm, were reviewed through a farm household survey. Then, development strategies for climate change mitigation through sustainable degraded peatlands management were discussed through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and in-depth interview with experts from concerned research institutions and universities through morphological analysis. The finding of this research shows that farmer’s existing climate change mitigation actions pertain to land preparation, water management, and soil management in their farming system. Moreover, specific actions and strategies to mitigate climate change in the sustainable degraded peatlands management which were determined based on the most relevant variables under a given future condition consist of constructing canal blocking system, introducing technology for water and soil management, revitalizing agricultural extension institution as well as establishing fire brigade and improving farmer experience and knowledge on climate change.