FAO’s work on peatlands

Presented by Adam Gerrand, including work of FAO colleagues:

Maria Nuutinen, Armine Avagyan, Julian Fox, Fracesco Tubiello,
Martial Bernoux, Louis Bockel, Uwe Grewer,
Laure-Sophie Schiettecatte, Bambang Arifatmi, FAO
BRG Peatlands meetings 19 and 22 Feb, 2018
 Why Peatlands matter:

Why Peatlands Matter

FAO and UNEP co-lead the

Global Peatlands Initiative
 What countries need
 High resolution imagery over time on
peatlands and drainage status AND CHANGES;

 Capacity building:
 Land use monitoring system (LC change, fire);
 rewetting and wet use options (Paludiculture =
GHG Mitigation);
 how to do it on the ground =
implementation.

 Agency coordination to harmonize

policies on land use management;
‽ Finance to develop and implement
land use options and implement them.
 FAO peat-related work
1. Sharing knowledge, data and policy
2. FAO Technical guidance & capacity development support
3. FAO networks, partners and experts
• e.g. Global Peatlands Initiative
4. FAO data and systems for peatland mapping, analysis and
reporting
• (e.g. satellite data systems, inventory and emission factors, data
and tools for GHG calculations etc.)
5. Indonesia requested activities for 2018+

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 FAO Sharing knowledge
1. Knowledge sharing, policy &
capacity development
• support to countries (incl. UNFCCC)
• publications and case studies
• data: FAOSTAT Greenhouse gas emission
database; process guidance  reporting
2. Technical guidance & support
• Peat, forest and landscape restoration
• Technical manuals, decision-support tools
• REDD+: reduced emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation
• National processes e.g. NAMAs, NAPs
 NDCs (land use & tenure; climate)
http://www.fao.org/in-action/micca/resources/learning/en/ 7
 FAO Peatland work in Indonesia
1. Focus: sustainable peatland restoration and management,
wildfire, GHG and smoke prevention and reduction through high-
level collaboration
2. Activities:
1. Developing alternative livelihoods incl. Paludiculture
2. Support to national agencies
3. Support REDD+, mapping deforestation, inventory, EF
3. Results so far
1) Raised awareness, interest in sustainable mgt. e.g. Paludiculture
2) Support to Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG)
• BRG-FAO Paludiculture workshop May 2016
• GHG calculations using FAO Ex-ACT tool 2016 (Jak) and 2017 (Bkk)
• Satellite data training using SEPAL system (Bogor, Dec 2017)
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 BRG-FAO Paludiculture workshop
10-11 May 2016: Conclusions
Halt peatlands drainage, address
drivers, rewet already drained
areas, and monitor the progress
and emissions.

Piloting, testing and promotion

and developing market for
paludiculture commodities is
required.

Paludiculture cultivation is FAO + Indonesia project to

line with the strategic plans pilot paludiculture-
of the Peatlands Restoration aquaculture to provide clear,
Agency and MOEF quantifiable evidence
 Data & systems for peatland mapping
1. Google–FAO support monitoring
• Sample-based approach
• Uses high-resolution data
+ countries expert knowledge
 Combine with other data (e.g. soil
maps) could provide solutions for
peatland CHANGE monitoring
2. Huge satellite data time-series available
3. Radar processing – OpenSARKit
FAO COLLECT EARTH

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COLLECT EARTH WORKSHOP AND
INDONESIAN CASE STUDY
FAO COLLECT EARTH USES GOOGLE
EARTH • Collect Earth
uses Google
Earth
underneath
• Plus extra
menus for
easily
classifying
land cover or
land use
• Easy to use
interface
familiar to
millions of
users
• Regularly
updated and
increasingly
high resolution
remote
COLLECT EARTH INDONESIAN GRID
36 people
completed over
8,000 points
across Indonesia,
in 5 days
SEPAL WORKSHOPS INDONESIA 2017
SEPAL aims to
improve access to
and processing
capacity for
satellite imagery

Workshop point
data from CE and
Indonesian LC
maps from
LANDSAT to
improve
estimates of
forest extent and
change, burnt
areas
 processi
ng

• Landsat image processes in minutes

= saves hours or days of work
• Scripts for common tasks like deforestation
• Full country ownership - secure with password
• Powerful computers (Up to 128 CPU) &
petabytes of data
 Global Peatlands Initiative
1. Partnership between 11 organizations
2. UNEP (coordination), FAO Co-lead, RAMSAR,
UNCCD, CBD, FAO, Wetlands International,
Greifswald Mire Centre, WRI
3. Objectives:
• Raise awareness, provide more accurate info
• provide technical, policy guidance and support
• Advance sustainable peatland management, conservation,
restoration of degraded peatlands.
4. 2nd GPI Partners meeting held Indonesia May 2017
5. 3rd GPI Partners meeting to be held DRC Africa 2018

https://www.globalpeatlands.org/ 17
 FAO EX-ACT tool for GHG estimation from
peatlands management
○ Based on IPCC 2006 methodology updated with Wetlands
Supplement 2013. Approved / required for World Bank projects
○ Land use GHG emissions can be estimated for:
– Peatland drainage, fire, and rewetting
– User can insert own / national data on GHG emissions
○ Training for Indonesian Peatland Restoration Agency
○ Customisation of the tool for Indonesia in 2018:
– GHG Emission factors, link to satellite land cover change, Bahasa?
– estimate the GHG emission reduction potential of restoration of
2 million ha of drained and degrading peatland under different
management practices

http://www.fao.org/tc/exact/carbon-balance-tool-ex-act/en/
What is FAO doing to support peat mapping and
monitoring in 2018?
FAO proposal for BRG Peat Restoration Monitoring System
(PRMS)
1. Creation of a fit-for-purpose PRMS using FAO SEPAL
system satisfying the monitoring needs of BRG and
other stakeholders as identified through consultations.
2. Capacity development and institutionalization and
installation of infrastructure for the PRMS within BRG.

FAO is willing and able to assist with supporting a lot of

the peat and forest monitoring work to help Indonesia
develop technical support packages and seek donor
funding in 2018.
 What is FAO doing to support forest mapping
and monitoring?
Indonesian MoEF requested FAO support to
1.help improve
Help develop ait’s NFMS:for improving Indonesia’s NFMS
“Roadmap”
2. Help Indonesia redesign the National Forest Inventory (NFI)
• improve accuracy, reduce uncertainty of NFMS, reduce costs
3. Help Indonesia design forest land-cover monitoring strategy:
• MoEF and other agencies (e.g. FORDIA, LAPAN) to improve forest
mapping methods using more automated, consistent time series
• Develop consistent time-series maps of burnt areas and emission
factors for fires, especially on peatlands.
4. Enhance human resources capacity short & long term
5. Upgrade computer infrastructure
• remote sensing storage and database servers, web-servers for
public information platform, desktops and field
 Objectives of this meeting
1. Overview of the current state of affairs on peatland

2. Coordination among Development Partners and BRG 
3. Identify new and additional potential funding and other support

4. Inventory, up-date, on-going, planned and potential support to
peatland restoration 
5. Invite more partners to support peatland restoration in Indonesia

6. Confirmation and inputs from development partners on map of

development partners support in Indonesia provinces.
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