|
About | Contact | Mongabay on Facebook | Mongabay on Twitter | Free newsletter |
|
|
Peatlands conversion for oil palm a 'monumental mistake' for Indonesia's long-term prosperity, sustainability Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com June 04, 2009
Lian Pin Koh of ETH Zurich, Corey J.A. Bradshaw of the University of Adelaide, and I cite five reasons why the move is a counterproductive one for Indonesia. First, draining of peatlands to the depth of 60-80 cm recommended for oil palm cultivation will trigger an immense release of carbon into the atmosphere, exacerbating, rather than mitigating, global warming. While burning releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, merely draining peatlands also contributes to global warming — upon exposure to air, peat rapidly oxidizes, decomposes, and releases carbon dioxide. A study led by Dr. Susan Page University of Leicester found that producing one ton of palm oil on peatland generates 15 to 70 tons of CO2 over 25 years as a result of forest conversion, peat decomposition and emission from fires associated with land clearance.
Third, swamp forests growing on peatlands are highly biodiverse ecosystems supporting a wide range of plant and animal life, including endangered orangutans. Conversion to oil palm will drastically reduce species richness (recent research has shown that conversion of primary rainforest to an oil palm plantation results in a loss of more than 80 percent of species). Fourth, degradation of peatlands will increase the incidence of "haze" that results from peat fires. Past haze events — especially during the el Niñe of 1997-1998 — show that peat fires carry substantial economic, health, and political costs. Fifth, conversion of Indonesia's most carbon-dense ecosystems reduces the country's potential to earn compensation under the proposed REDD mechanism for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Forest conservation for REDD could prove to be an attractive form of land use on peatlands, competitive economically with returns from palm oil production. We conclude by proposing that (1) Indonesia postpone its final decision on peatlands until after U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen this December; (2) the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil "stipulate that, as a criterion for certified sustainable palm oil, plantations may not be converted from peatlands"; and (3) environmental scientists "immediately start mapping all peatlands in Indonesia to facilitate the identification and exposure of companies planning to develop oil palm plantations on peatlands, to the detriment of the country’s long-term sustainability". Lian Pin Koh, Rhett A Butler, and Corey JA Bradshaw. Conversion of Indonesia’s peatlands. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. June 2009. doi: 10.1890/09.WB.013
Tags: indonesia redd avoided deforestation swamps peatlands biodiversity palm oil asia southeast asia carbon finance carbon conservation plantations rainforests rainforest agriculture agriculture environment green greenhouse gas emissions carbon emissions carbon dioxide forest carbon Environmental news index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home Advertisements:
|
|
|
DON'T LIKE ADS? Become a mongabay supporter WEEKLY NEWSLETTER RECENT FEATURES
POPULAR PAGES Photos
CALENDARS 
BOOKS BY MONGABAY AUTHORS
FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS 
|
| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright mongabay 2010 Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect, an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region. Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant. |
