Indonesia seeks foreign investors to help restore peatland

JAKARTA — Indonesia will need the help of foreign investors to restore over two million hectares of peatland in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua, said the Peatland Restoration Agency.

“Some foreign organisations have expressed interest in aiding us with peatland restoration. We will never meet our target if we only rely on (palm oil) corporations,” Peatland Restoration Agency chief Nazir Foead told CNN Indonesia earlier this week. “International investors want to help with restoring Indonesia’s peatland to reduce carbon emissions.”

The World Bank had estimated the initial cost for rehabilitating the peatland at around 27 trillion rupiah (S$2.84 billion).

Restoration of peat involves damming enormous canals built to drain the peat, replanting vegetation, and replacing lost water.

About half the peat earmarked for restoration is on palm oil companies’ concession land. These companies are responsible for the improvement work with guidance from the agency, which was set up by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in January to oversee the restoration of peatland in the next five years to try to prevent future fires, which have been blamed for the haze that envelopes the region annually. Plantation companies usually drain swampy peatland before planting their crops, and the dried-out peat is particularly flammable and is often set ablaze when companies set fires to clear vegetation.

The fires and resulting haze pushed up pollution levels, and caused schools to close, flights to be disrupted and people to fall sick across the region. Last year’s haze was the worst in years, with the smog blanketing the region from September to November and affecting tens of millions of people.

Mr Nazir said his agency has identified potential donors such as American philanthropist Tom Steyer, non-governmental organisations the Packard Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, banking giant Goldman Sachs, climate change group Good Energies Foundation, and the Climate and Land Use Alliance.

Jakarta Globe reported that the Packard Foundation and the Climate and Land Use Alliance have already declared they will donate US$15 million (S$20 million).

Mr Nazir also said his agency has come up with a peatland restoration indicative map covering 2.5 million hectares in seven Indonesian provinces, namely Jambi, Riau, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua. This is roughly 35 times the size of Singapore.

According to Jakarta-based environment news portal foresthints.news, the map included peatland that was burned last year as well as peat domes designated for restoration.

“This peatland restoration indicative map is a concrete manifestation of President Widodo’s great commitment to restoring last year’s burned peatland as well as saving existing peat domes,” Mr Nazir was quoted as saying by the news portal. AGENCIES