Peatlands in Malaysia and Indonesia - map and info sources

February 17, 2014 yuleng

Khor Reports: The TFT-CA-Wilmar new policy is generating big questions on the palm oil supply chain impacts in peatland zones. For convenience of Khor Reports readers, we have collated below some useful resources on the topic. A slew of reports are emerging from equity analysts as several listed plantation companies are highlighted as impacted in Sarawak, Malaysia; The Edge Malaysia reports http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/business-news/275623-highlight-pressure-on-sarawak-planters.html . In addition to Sarawak, there are also significant peatland zones in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The reaction and impacts on Indonesia plantations will emerge in due course. It is notable that the Norway-funded Indonesia moratorium has been extended and the moratorium zones are distributed and interspersed with plantation concession zones. NGOs such as Greenpeace have complained that the moratorium does not cover enough area (see Greenpeace links below; Greenpeace is associate of TFT in high carbon stocks policies for Golden-Agri Resourcs / Sinar Mas). Various studies by Miettinen et al. have informed ILUC parameters that is expected to impact market acceptance for biofuels from Malaysia and Indonesia.

source: APFP website, accessed 18 Feb 2014

ASEAN Peatland Forests Project (APFP)
Overview Map of Peatlands in Southeast Asia (SEA); http://www.peat-portal.net/index.cfm?&menuid=62; Peatland hectarage: Malaysia 2.6 million, Indonesia 20.7 million (map above)
Malaysia, http://www.peat-portal.net/index.cfm?&menuid=81&parentid=67
Indonesia, http://www.peat-portal.net/index.cfm?&menuid=125&parentid=68

"Two decades of destruction in Southeast Asia’s peat swamp forests," by Jukka Miettinen*, Chenghua Shi, and Soo Chin Liew in Front Ecol Environ 2012; 10(3): 124–128, doi:10.1890/100236 (published online 14 Apr 2011).

source: Miettinen et al., 2012
note: 1 sq km = 100 hectares

Wetlands International: different options available to palm oil; http://www.wetlands.org/WatchRead/Currentpublications/tabid/56/mod/1570/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3553/Poster-Palm-oil-and-Peat.aspx
Wetlands International: Central Kalimantan Peatland Project; Action Duration: Dec 2005 Until Nov 2008; Donor: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands; with video on peat restoration project; http://www.wetlands.org/Whatwedo/Actions/tabid/2661/mod/601/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/7/Central-Kalimantan-Peatland-Project.aspx

Greenpeace: Indonesia's Forest and Peatlands; Legally protected areas, proposed moratorium areas, and forests and peatlands at risk, http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Indonesias-Forests-and-Peatlands/
Greenpeace: Indonesia's Forest and Peatlands Map Source, http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Indonesias-Forest-and-Peatlands-Map-Source/

Source: Greenpeace website, accessed 18 Feb 2014