Codification to secure Indonesian peatlands: From policy to practices as revealed by remote sensing analysis

Abstract

Indonesian peatlands are facing severe environmental challenges due to unsustainable peatlands management. The Indonesian government has established various regulations in response to international and regional agreements on zero carbon and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study reviews the chronological impact of peatland regulations on land use/land cover (LULC) conditions in Indonesia, in particular four major peatland areas in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Remote sensing data from 1990 to 2020 is used to generate LULC maps, recorded every 5 years, which were compared within the corresponding year in which regulations were established. The results show that the establishment of Indonesian peatland regulations coincided with the ongoing development of international climate change agreements. Historically, temporal image analysis shows massive land-use change between the years 1995–2010. Since 2010 the deforestation rate has slowed and continues to remain low. Improved peatland maps - identifying high carbon stocks with the minimum required accuracy to take action - remain a priority and can also be used to support sustainable development in Indonesia with more effective planning. The lack of detailed mapping of the capability and condition of peatlands is one of the factors that hinder effective policy development, therefore the implementation of digital soil mapping is recommended to support ongoing peatland security through codification.