Context
Indonesia's peatlands cover 134,000 sq km, with Kalimantan holding 33.8%. These ecosystems store 57.4 gigatonnes of carbon and provide essential services like climate regulation, water retention, and biodiversity support. However, peatlands in Kalimantan face severe degradation due to drainage for agriculture, illegal logging, mining, and fires, leading to carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and health risks. Fires are a major CO2 source, and land-use pressures threaten their sustainability.
Despite peatland protection policies, implementation remains weak due to fragmented governance and lack of integrated land-use planning. Local stakeholders—including government, communities, and indigenous groups—face capacity constraints, limited technical knowledge, funding gaps, and weak institutional coordination.
Objective
Strengthen local stakeholders' capacity to implement the Peat Protection and Management Plan, ensuring sustainable peatland management, biodiversity conservation, emission reduction, and livelihood support.
Approach
The project applies nature-based solutions to enhance peatland sustainability across four Peatland Hydrological Units (PHUs) in North and East Kalimantan through:
• Peatland Inventory & Mapping – Conducting detailed assessments for integrated land-use planning and scaling lessons to Central and South Kalimantan.
• Capacity Building – Training local institutions and communities on sustainable peatland management and restoration.
• Water Management & Monitoring – Installing 23 monitoring points to track groundwater levels and prevent fires.
• Sustainable Livelihoods – Promoting community-driven economic models with village-level financing.
• Policy Integration – Strengthening peatland protection regulations and subnational planning.
• Knowledge Exchange – Connecting government, NGOs, universities, and international networks to share best practices.