Wild Fire and Carbon Management in Peat-forest in Indonesia

Preventing a Spark from Setting Off the Global Ammunition Dump

Principal Investigator

- Prof.
  OSAKI Mitsuru
  Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University

ODA Recipient Country

Republic of Indonesia

Research Institutions in Japan

Hokkaido University

Research Institutions in Counterpart Country

National Standardization Agency of Indonesia (BSN) / University of PalangkaRaya (UNPAR) / Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) / State Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK) / Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) / Forest Research and Development Agency (FORDA) / Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT)

Adoption fiscal year

FY 2008

Research Period

5 Years

Overview of the Research Project

The peat accumulated beneath a tropical peatland including forest could be ignited and burn down the forest
Enormous quantities of carbon are stored in peatlands in the low marsh areas of Indonesia. If drainage channels are dug in the peat and the deposits of vegetation dry out, both hot combustion (peat fires) and cold combustion (microbial decomposition) occur, releasing large quantities of carbon into the atmosphere and resulting in a loss of the biodiversity. Moreover, the carbon monoxide and fine particles released would threaten the health of residents. This project aims to develop water management appropriate for the region, restore the forests, create an early fire detection system using satellites, and establish measures for rapidly extinguishing fires ─ all measures that are needed to restore these peat marshes. The data will be integrated with satellite GIS data to build carbon flux models that will contribute to creating REDD-plus* and MRV** standards.
* REDD-plus: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and plus for the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries
** MRV: Measurement, Reporting, and Verification

Building a system for comprehensive management of peatland, inhibition of carbon release and carbon management
The world’s only MRV system capable of accurately determining carbon emissions from peatland was created by integrating ground and satellite data. This system will be used with REDD-plus to restore and maintain the tropical peatland including forests that are the earth’s most important carbon sinks and treasure troves of biodiversity.

Photo gallery

Trees selected by means of water resistance tests conducted to determine the tree species suitable for wetlands

Carbon absorption and emissions (flux) observations reveal that emissions resulting from biodegradation in past peatland fire sites are extremely large, more than five times those of forests that have had comparatively little impact from fire.