The Indonesian Ramsar focal point, Antung Radiansyah, director for essential ecosystems management in the MOEF, chaired a workshop held the next day in the capital Jakarta, where the RAM experts Marcel Silvius, Reza Irwansyah (both of Ramsar’s international organisation partner Wetlands International) and Wim Giesen (of the Kehijau Berbak project) had an opportunity to present the first findings and advice of the mission. Other presentations included the lessons learnt for peatland management in Indonesia by Raffles Panjaitan from the directorate of land and forest fire control in the MOEF, and a presentation of the new national policy for recovery and restoration of degraded peatlands, that aims to restore 2,5 million ha of drained peatlands, by Alue Dohong from the National Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG).
The draft mission report and its recommendations are currently written up. They will be shared with the partners in the Global Peatland Initiative (GPI), lead by UNEP, during a forthcoming meeting, scheduled for 16-18 May 2017 in Indonesia. Ramsar’s recommendations are intended to provide concrete guidance for the proposed work to be included in the action plan under development for the national project of the GPI in Indonesia. The Ramsar Secretariat will publish the final report to provide guidance and recommendations how to prevent peat fires, how to organise fire suppression once the peat is burning, and how to rewet degraded peatlands in view of preventing further fires and developing sustainable forms of paludiculture that provide will support the livelihoods of local stakeholders. Watch this space to read the conclusions that are likely to be of interest also elsewhere in Indonesia and in the neighbouring countries
Reported by Tobias Salathé, Ramsar Senior Advisor for Europe