indonesia burning the impact of fire on tropical peatlands : focus on central...
TRANSCRIPT
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Indonesia BurningThe Impact of Fire on Tropical Peatlands :
Focus on Central Kalimantan
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A collaborative research programme:
*Sue Page, Univ. of Leicester, UK*Jack Rieley, Univ. of Nottingham, UK
*Florian Siegert, Ludwigs Maximilians Univ., Germany*Suwido Limin & Adi Jaya, Univ. of Palangkaraya,
Indonesia
Funded by:
The European Union and UK Darwin Initiative
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The focus of this presentation
Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia:Location and extent
Carbon storage
Case study : Central KalimantanThe 1997 and 2002 fires
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Sumatra8.3 M ha Kalimantan
6.8 M ha
West Papua4.6 M ha
The peatlands of Indonesia comprise
approx. 50% of global total on an
area basis
Tropical peatlands cover ~ 42 Mha (0.42 Mkm2) with most located in SE Asia
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They cover vast areas ofthe lowlands ….
…. and support a natural vegetation of peat swamp forest
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Tropical Peatlandslarge aerial extent - deep peat layers - high C content
Tropical peatland carbon pool
estimated at 60 – 70 Gt C~ 12% of the global peatland carbon pool
~ 3% of the global soil carbon pool
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Tropical peatlands and fire
The Indonesia Burning research project
Aim: To investigate the role of peatland in the release of carbon to the atmosphere during the 1997 fires
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BRUNEIBRUNEIBRUNEIBRUNEI
SARAWAKSARAWAKSARAWAKSARAWAK
SABAHSABAHSABAHSABAH
CENTRAL CENTRAL CENTRAL CENTRAL
KALIMANTANKALIMANTANKALIMANTANKALIMANTAN
WEST KALIMANTAN
EAST KALIMANTAN
South China Sea
Java Sea
N
Choice of study area: 2.5 Mha, Central Kalimantan
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Until recently …..• Large area of near pristine tropical peatland in lowland
Central Kalimantan
• Peat swamp forest used for selective timber extraction
• Agricultural use restricted to shallow peat near rivers
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…. but• During the early 1990s, Indonesia lost self-
sufficiency in rice production � Mega Rice Project (MRP) established - 1995� deforestation and drainage to convert one million
hectares of peatland in Central Kalimantan for agricultural use
• In 1997, a strong El Niño produced a prolonged dry season across SE-Asia� widespread forest and peatland fires, particularly on
the peatland areas of Kalimantan and Sumatra
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Channel construction Mega Rice Project
> 4000 km of drainage/irrigation channels constructed across peat domes up to 12 m thick
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Two years after MRP commenced :1997 El Niño promoted widespread forest fires
Peatland fires were widespread in Kalimantan and Sumatra
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“Haze” from the forest/peatland fires blankets much of SE Asia - Sept. 1997
(NASA satellite image)
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Indonesia burning: specific objectives
�To provide accurate information on the location and extent of fires in a 2.5 Mha study area
�To compare the extent of fire damage between pristine and degraded peatland
�To estimate the scale of carbon emissions arising from the combustion of peat and vegetation
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Study area in Central Kalimantan – 2.5 Mha
Sg. Sebangaucatchment : undrained peatland with + intact forest cover
Mega Rice Project area (blocks A,B,C & D), showing drainage channels
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Methods
• Combination of optical satellite (Landsat TM/ETM) and radar imagery (ERS-SAR)
• Delimitation of land cover/vegetation typesand extent of peatland soils
• Mapping of burned areasand assessment of fire damage
• Extensive ground and aerial surveys, both pre- and post-fire
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Before the 1997 fires
Total study area
86% peat covered
Peat swamp forest occupied 85% of forested area
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After the fires
32% of investigation area burned, of which 92% was peatland
Fire-damaged peatland area comprised47% peat swamp forest(mainly logged-over &
fragmented)53% deforested peatland
Only 5% of pristine, unlogged forest was burnt
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Implications ….
• Intact peat swamp forest has a low fire susceptibility
• Logging increases fire risk - corroborated by Siegert(2001) in East Kalimantan
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Comparison of burned areas inside and outside the Mega Rice Project (MRP)
20.3289,840Total area burned outside MRP
51.3507,066Total area burned in MRP
% of areaha
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Implications ….
• The effects of forest disturbance and hence fire susceptibility are greatly exacerbated when combined with peatland drainage activities
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How much carbon was lost?Loss of carbon from Block C study area
• Total peat carbon store in Block C (0.38 Mha)- 0.4 – 0.9 Gt carbon
• Estimate of peat/carbon losses in 1997 fires- peat volume loss 0.9 – 1.0 x 109 m3
- peat carbon loss 0.05-0.06 Gt- proportion of peat carbon store lost 6 – 14%
• Estimate of vegetation carbon loss in 1997 fires- biomass carbon loss of 0.01 Gt
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Estimates of carbon losses for the 2.5 M ha study area
0.24 - 0.28Total carbon losses (Gt)
0.05Vegetation carbon loss (Gt)
3.5 - 8.2Loss from peat carbon store (%)
0.19 - 0.23Peat carbon loss (Gt)
2.5 / 2.2Area / peat area (Mha)
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Implications ….
• Most of the carbon released by the fires came from combustion of peat (80%), not from the vegetation (20%).
• Up to 8% of the total carbon store in the peat was released during one fire event.
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Sumatra8.3 M ha Kalimantan
6.8 M ha
West Papua4.6 M ha
During the 1997 fires, all of Indonesia’s peatlands burned – not just those in Central Kalimantan.
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Scaling up : the 1997 peatland fires across Indonesia released 1 – 2+ Gt C
* Annual global emission of C from burning fossil fuel = 6.0 Gt* 1997-98 mean annual global emission of CO2 to atmosphere
nearly doubled (from average 3.2 Gt yr-1 to 6.0 Gt)* 1997-98 increase represents largest single inter-annual
increase since Mauna Loa record began in 1958
Inter Annual Increase in CO2
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
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From Sink to Source• The peatlands of Indonesia represent a globally important
carbon store, perhaps containing as much as 10 % of the global peatland carbon pool.
• Through a combination of deforestation, land-use change and fire, this carbon store, accumulated over 20,000 yrs, is being rapidly converted from a carbon sink to a carbon source.
• During the 1997 fires, an amount of peat/carbon that took 1000-2000 yrs to accumulate was lost over just a few months.
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From the fires then to the fires next time ….
…. what future for this vast tropical peatland carbon store?
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In 2002, forest and peatland fires returned …..
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2002 peatland fires
Analysis of remote sensed images indicates locations for fires strongly correlated with:
• previously burnt land• strongly degradedvegetation• illegal logging
Positive feedback mechanisms lead to a progressive degradation of forest to fire prone bushland.
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Aftermath of the fires ….
…… loss of hydrological integrityloss of forest cover
loss of biodiversity
……….increased risk of further fires !
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Urgent requirement for remedial measures:
• To prevent further fires• To prevent further global-
scale emissions of carbonto the atmosphere
• To prevent further loss of carbon sequestrationpotential of the peatland
• To prevent further erosion of other peatland natural resources… biodiversity, water resources, fisheries …..
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If you have been, thank you for listening !
….. To prevent further loss of this
unique tropical ecosystem.