Climate Change Mitigation Through Forest Fire Prevention and Peatland Rewetting Programs in Central Kalimantan Indonesia

Peat forest plays a principal role in climate change mitigation in Indonesia. Considering the potential releases of GHGs from a forest fire and degraded peatland, it is important to conserve peatland forests. Besides being essential for ecological balancing, the role of peatland forest expands to the economic and social aspects. The purpose of this research was to calculate CO2 emissions that can be avoided by the community-based fire prevention and rewetting program. This research utilized spatial analysis to calculated avoided CO2 emissions in six villages in Central Kalimantan. Data and information for the calculation were generated from field observations, interviews, and desk study. Spatial analysis using Arc GIS 10.5 was applied to compute the incombustible areas. The result from the analysis found that fire prevention and rewetting programs managed to prevent approximately 1 million Mg C or equivalent to 3.7 million CO2. The program managed to prevent emission from the vulnerable area including swamp shrubs, plantations and dry land agriculture. The finding of this study suggests that community-based fire prevention and peatland rewetting programs could become a strategic program in climate change mitigation in Indonesia.