PEATLAND REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES IN BRUNEI

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1 PEATLAND REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES IN BRUNEI JON DAVIES, HEART OF BORNEO, BRUNEI PRESENTED AT: INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT AND REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL PEATLANDS Pearl International Hotel Kuala Lumpur 26 November, 2009

2 BRUNEI PEATLAND REHABILITATION PROJECT FIRST STAGE: AWARENESS RAISING, CAPACITY BUILDING AND SUPPORT GATHERING. NEXT STAGE: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF REHABILITATION WORKS AN ACTION PLAN FOR THE PEATLANDS WITHIN THE HEART OF BORNEO AREA IN THE CONTEXT OF REHABILITATING DEGRADED PEATLANDS AND REDUCING CO2 EMISSIONS

3 BACKGROUND FIRE & HAZE PROBLEMS: ASEAN PEATLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY (2002) BRUNEI NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON PEATLANDS (2008) HEART OF BORNEO INITIATIVE (Most Brunei peatlands included in HoB area) THIS PROJECT ( )

4 THIS PROJECT: FUNDED BY THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE OF THE UK GOVERNMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMME AND STANDARD CHARTERED BANK SCB FUNDING IS PART OF DONATION FOR BRUNEI WINNING THE RACE FOR A LIVING PLANET ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE. FUNDS ARE DONATED TO HoB PROJECTS IN THE COUNTRY MANAGED BY WWF AND WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL-MALAYSIA AND SUPPORTED BY WWF HoB INITIATIVE NETWORK BRUNEI GOVERNMENT LEAD AGENCY: DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND RECREATION (JASTRe), MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENT.

5 PEATLAND: C 17% OF LAND AREA; MOST IN BELAIT DISTRICT PEAT: > 65% ORGANIC MATTER; WATERLOGGED IN NATURAL CONDITION NATURAL VEGETATION IS PEAT SWAMP FOREST

6 HoB BOUNDARIES IN BRUNEI

7 THE BARAM / BELAIT PEATLANDS: SHARED BETWEEN BRUNEI AND SARAWAK HoB BOUNDARY FOLLOWS INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY MIRI DIVISION PEATLANDS OUTSIDE HoB AREA

8 LOWER BELAIT PEATLANDS: 80% INTACT ON BRUNEI SIDE SHARED PEATLANDS DISTURBED ON SARAWAK SIDE CONSERVATION OF INTACT PEATLANDS COMBINED WITH REHAB OF DISTURBED AREAS (PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE)

9 BENEFITS OF PEATLANDS HUGE CARBON STORE ACCUMULATE CARBON AS PEAT HIGH WATER STORAGE CAPACITY: MAINTAIN MINIMUM FLOW IN RIVERS DURING DRY PERIODS AND PREVENT SALINE WATER INTRUSION (VITAL FOR BRUNEI) HIGH BIODIVERSITY VALUES: GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT VEGETATION COMMUNITIES MITIGATION OF LONG TERM CLIMATE CHANGE (SEA LEVEL RISE)

10 DRAINAGE: WATER TABLE LOWERED PEAT DRIES OUT AND DECOMPOSES LAND SUBSIDENCE FLOODING DAMAGE TO INFRASTRUCTURE VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO FIRE CO2 EMISSIONS: CONTRIBUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING SMOG: HEALTH HAZARD LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

11 ECONOMIC ASPECTS: AN UNDERSTANDING & APPRECIATION OF THE BENEFITS THAT INTACT PEATLANDS PROVIDE WILL AVOID CONVERSION TO OTHER USES WHICH MAY HAVE DISASTROUS EFFECTS INTACT PEATLANDS IN BELAIT PROTECT THE VITAL OIL & GAS INDUSTRIES OF BRUNEI THEY SAFEGUARD YEAR-ROUND GOOD QUALITY DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY BEING C02 ABSORBERS, MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDS THROUGH SCHEMES SUCH AS REDD AND AVOIDED CARBON EMISSIONS etc. SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY (RAMIN, MERANTI, JELUTONG etc) ECOTOURISM: BASED ON BELAIT RIVER & Sg BADAS MORE VALUABLE LEFT INTACT THAN IF THEY WERE CONVERTED

12 ESTIMATES OF CARBON STORE & SEQUESTRATION IN BRUNEI INTACT BRUNEI PEATLANDS (70,000 HA) ARE ESTIMATED TO BE SEQUESTERING 462,420 METRIC TONNES OF CO 2 EACH YEAR. THE CARBON STORE IN BRUNEI PEATLANDS IS ESTIMATED TO BE MEGATONNES (1 Megatonne = One Million Tonnes (10 6 )). SARAWAK AND SABAH PEATLANDS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE NET CO 2 EMITTERS BRUNEI PEATLANDS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE NET CO 2 ABSORBERS

13 2 MAJOR THREATS TO BRUNEI PEATLANDS SAND MINING CONVERSION TO RICE PRODUCTION (DESIRE FOR FOOD SECURITY)

14 SAND MINED FROM UNDERNEATH PEAT IN ALREADY DISTURBED AREAS TO BUILD UP LAND FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS

15 DESIRE FOR COOPERATION WITH SARAWAK: CATCHMENT SHIFT SOURCE: WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL-INDONESIA

16 THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES FIRE & HAZE: NATIONAL AND REGIONAL CONCERN CO2 EMISSIONS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: GLOBAL CONCERN AIM: TO GARNER SUPPORT AND ESTABLSH CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PILOT REHABILITATION STUDIES: TO MAINTAIN AND RECOVER VALUABLE FUNCTIONS OF PSF INVOLVES PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE THREE HoB COUNTRIES: BRUNEI, INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL- INDONESIA IN THE CENTRAL KALIMANTAN PEATLAND PROJECT (CKPP) CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION WITH SARAWAK (???) EXTENSIVE CONSULTATIONS WITH STAKEHOLDERS

17 REHABILITATION OF DEGRADED PEATLANDS INVOLVES TWO STRATEGIES: 1. RAISING OF THE WATER TABLE TO ITS ORIGINAL LEVEL (CANAL BLOCKING) 2. REFORESTATION / NATURAL SUCCESSION NEXT STAGE: OUTLINE PROPOSAL FOR DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF REHABILITATION WORKS DEVELOPED AND CIRCULATED TO STAKEHOLDERS FOR COMMENTS--- DEVELOPMENT OF FULL PROPOSAL

18 HYDROLOGICAL RESTORATION OF PEATLANDS: A VERY COST-EFFECTIVE WAY OF REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS STRATEGY MILLIONS EUROS Shell + Statoil in Norway 600 Germany 100 World Bank in China 80 UK 34 Indonesian peatlands 0.15 Cost of investment for different strategies for reducing CO 2 emissions by 1 MT/yr SOURCE: WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL

19 DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF REHABILITATION WORKS

20 REFORESTATION AND PROTECTION OF SAND RIDGES FROM FIRES IS ALSO REQUIRED

21 BADAS FOREST RESERVE: KERANGAS AND PEAT SWAMP FOREST REFORESTATION OF SAND RIDGE ALREADY UNDERWAY THROUGH MILLION TREES PROJECT

22 BRUNEI CAN ADOPT SUITABLE REHAB STRATEGIES FOR BRUNEI AND MOVE THEM FORWARD LESS FIRE LESS HAZE REDUCED CO 2 EMISSIONS 2 PROTECTION OF VITAL INDUSTRIES INCOME FROM FORESTRY & NATURE-BASED TOURISM THANK YOU