1. Wetlands International, Susanna Tol,
Peatlands and REDD
Wetlands International, Susanna Tol,
COP16, Cancun, 2 Dec 2010

2. Tropical peat swamp forest
What are peatlands?
Peat:
Organic matter accumulated over thousands of years, storing concentrated carbon in thick layers
The peat bog is rain water fed
River
< 1m
> 3m
Tropical peat swamp forest
Organic carbon
Mineral Soil
This picture shows the location of a peat dome in the flood plain in between two lowland rivers. A substantial part of the peat dome is located above river water surface. These forms of peatlands are called bogs, they are oligotrophic (poor in nutrients) and rain water fed. The peat lies like a gigantic drop a water on the lowland plain, held together by the dead organic material and protected by a blanket of living forest that maintains a humid micro-climate and prevents direct solar impact.
Peat dome

3. Peat, carbon and climate change
Globally peatlands store 550 Giga ton (Gt) Carbon
Equivalent to 30% of terrestrial carbon
twice the carbon stored in forest biomass
75% of all carbon in the atmosphere
Global emissions 2 Gt CO2 / yr, ~6% of global CO2 emissions.
Peatlands store large amounts of carbon
Peatland degradation leads to GHG emissions which contribute to global warming

4. Drainage tropics: emissions of up to 100 t CO2-eq ha-1 y-1…that continue for many decades
Kalimantan, Indonesia

5. SE Asian peatland emissions disproportionately high
Peat Area
SE Asia
Russia
N America
CO2 Emissions
Emissions from peat in Indonesia:
~500 Mt from drainage
~400 Mt from peat fires
6% of global peat area = 50-60% of global peat emissions
Most concentrated land-use related CO2 emissions in the world
Greater
Indonesia

6. Peatland problems
Deforestation
Degradation
Drainage
Fires

7. Tropical peat forest deforestation
Peatland deforestation:
since 2000: 1.5%/yr: twice the rate for non-peatlands
currently 45% deforested
96% degraded
Peat forest conservation
< 5% of total peatland area

8. Logging and drainage 1
Channels used to transport equipment and logs

9. This makes it a totally different ball game from forests
Logging and drainage 2
A total of about 13 million ha of SE Asian peat swamps have been drained for agriculture and plantations
Even when the rate of peatland conversion decreases, annual peatland emissions will continue to increase
This makes it a totally different ball game from forests
Stopping the rate of conversion is not enough. To decrease peatland emissions eco-hydrological restoration (rewetting & replanting) is necessary

10. Peat drainage increases the risk of fires
Between 1997 and 2006: over 60,000 fires in peat swamp areas on Borneo in 3 out of 10 years (1997, 1998, 2002)
Most affected were deforested and drained peatlands

11. Rewetting
CO N2O CH4
The methane emissions are in particular an issue in temperate and boreal zones, for tropical areas relatively low. In temperate and boral zones the metane emissions upon rewetting are less significant than the carbon dioxide and nitrous dioxide emissions that are reduced. The balance is positive.

12. What if current ignorance continues
No incentive mechanism to address these emissions

13. Peat in REDD Include all 5 carbon pools (IPCC 2006)
Include protection of remaining undrained areas and restoration of degraded peat swamp forests (rewetting/revegetation)
Also include peat forests that have no crown cover anymore (deforested) from past deforestation
Exclude drained plantations from support
Similar mechanism needed for non-forest peatlands

14. A WIN4all Added value Climate change mitigation
Biodiversity conservation
Poverty reduction
Reduced land degradation
A WIN4all

15. THANK YOU Further reading… More information:
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