How Indonesia Can Better Conserve Sumatra’s Peatland Forests

The current approach isn’t working. The government needs to align its efforts with the economic needs of local communities. Over the past two decades, Sumatra’s peatland forests have undergone a significant decline, losing approximately 3 million hectares at an annual deforestation rate averaging 150 thousand hectares. This loss can be attributed primarily to logging, forest conversion for commercial plantations, drainage for agriculture, and the utilization of fire for land clearing. Collectively, these factors have instigated peatland degradation, leading to recurrent fires, heightened carbon emissions, habitat deterioration, adverse health effects, and economic loss.