Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-2 (section)

==== 2.6.5.10 Case Study: Addressing the Vulnerability of Peat Swamp Forests in Southeast Asia ====

<div id="h3-58-siblings" class="h3-siblings"></div>

Scale: Regional

Issue: Protecting peatland biodiversity, carbon and ecosystem services from climate change and land degradation

Peatlands in SEA have undergone extensive logging, drainage and land use conversion that have caused habitat loss for endemic species, i.e., the orangutan ( ''Pongo'' spp.) ( [[#Gregory--2012|Gregory et al., 2012]] ; [[#Struebig--2015|Struebig et al., 2015]] ). Prolonged droughts associated with El Niño ( [[IPCC:Wg2:Chapter:Chapter-4#4.4.3|Section 4.4.3.2]] ) compound the effects of drainage, leading to large recurrent fires ( [[#Langner--2009|Langner and Siegert, 2009]] ; [[#Gaveau--2014|Gaveau et al., 2014]] ; [[#Putra--2019|Putra et al., 2019]] ). Under RCP8.5, it is projected that by the end of this century, the annual rainfall over SEA will decrease significantly (by 30%), and the number of consecutive dry days will increase significantly (by 60%) over Indonesia and Malaysia (Supari et al., 2020). Peat degradation and losses to fire result in high GHG emissions ( [[#Miettinen--2016|Miettinen et al., 2016]] ) as well as haze pollution which is a trans-boundary problem in the region ( [[#Heil--2007|Heil et al., 2007]] ).

Improving the resilience of SEA peatlands to fire and climate change through restoration is extremely difficult and presents many challenges. The Indonesian government has tasked the Badan Restorasi Gambut (Peatland Restoration Agency) to restore peatlands ( [[#Darusman--2021|Darusman et al., 2021]] ; [[#Giesen--2021|Giesen, 2021]] ). Other local initiatives exist, such as fire management programmes and restoration projects ( [[#Puspitaloka--2020|Puspitaloka et al., 2020]] ). Since 2016, the government of Indonesia has re-wetted ~380,000 hectares of degraded peatlands, mainly by blocking canals and flooding, but less than 2000 hectares have been successfully restored to sustaining native plant species common to peat swamp forests ( [[#Giesen--2021|Giesen, 2021]] ). Replanting native trees has had relatively little success ( [[#Lampela--2017|Lampela et al., 2017]] ) because such trees have low tolerance to prolonged inundation and no fire adaptation strategies ( [[#Page--2009|Page et al., 2009]] ; [[#Roucoux--2013|Roucoux et al., 2013]] ; [[#Dohong--2018|Dohong et al., 2018]] ; [[#Cole--2019|Cole et al., 2019]] ; [[#Luom--2020|Luom, 2020]] ; [[#Giesen--2021|Giesen, 2021]] ).

The barriers to successful management are complex, and include the disparity in time frames between ecological restoration and political/socioeconomic needs ( [[#Harrison--2020|Harrison et al., 2020]] ) and an over-focus on fire-fighting rather than fire prevention ( [[#Mishra--2021a|Mishra et al., 2021a]] ). Early protection of peat forests has been highlighted as a more effective management strategy than restoration, not only on islands in SEA but also in areas like Papua New Guinea, which may be targeted for the expansion of estate crop plantations ( [[#Neuzil--1997|Neuzil et al., 1997]] ; [[#Dennis--1999|Dennis, 1999]] ; [[#Anshari--2001|Anshari et al., 2001]] ; [[#Anshari--2004|Anshari et al., 2004]] ; [[#Hooijer--2006|Hooijer et al., 2006]] ; [[#Heil--2007|Heil et al., 2007]] ; [[#Page--2009|Page et al., 2009]] ; [[#Page--2011|Page et al., 2011]] ; [[#Posa--2011|Posa et al., 2011]] ; [[#Miettinen--2012|Miettinen et al., 2012]] ; [[#Wetlands%20International--2012|Wetlands International, 2012]] ; [[#Biagioni--2015|Biagioni et al., 2015]] ; [[#Miettinen--2016|Miettinen et al., 2016]] ; [[#Rieley--2016|Rieley and Page, 2016]] ; [[#Adila--2017|Adila et al., 2017]] ; [[#Cole--2019|Cole et al., 2019]] ; [[#Vetrita--2019|Vetrita and Cochrane, 2019]] ; [[#Harrison--2020|Harrison et al., 2020]] ; [[#Hoyt--2020|Hoyt et al., 2020]] ; [[#Ruwaimana--2020|Ruwaimana et al., 2020]] ; [[#Ward--2020|Ward et al., 2020]] ; [[#Cole--2021|Cole et al., 2021]] ).

<div id="2.6.6" class="h2-container"></div>

<span id="limits-to-adaptation-actions-by-people"></span>