INDONESIAN PEAT SWAMP FORESTS AND THEIR ROLE AS A CARBON SINK

Peat formation is a true carbon sink, the carbon being sequestered out of the system and converted into peat through biological activity. Peat swamp forests originally represented major ecosystems in Indonesia and ranged between 16.5 - 27 million hectares. In their original state, Indonesian peat swamp forests sequestered between 0.01 - 0.03 Gigatonnes of carbon annually. These important ecosystems have however in recent years been reduced through drainage and conversion to agricultural lands and other activities. Their present status as carbon sequestering systems have thus also been reduced significantly. An understanding of the global importance of peat (and thus the urgency of maintaining peat swamp forests) and identifying alternative ways of making these areas productive in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner should have high priority among scientists and policy-makers alike.