SUPA Component 1 Organised Peatlands Conservation in Times of COVID-19 Webinar

Author: GIZ  |   November 27, 2020  |   Initiatives

People generally affected by haze pollution, are more prone to COVID-19 complications if infected. Therefore, peatland sustainable management and conservation is a key best practice to decrease the risk of impacts and increase resilience. This was the main topic discussed in the webinar: “Livelihoods and Conservation on Peatlands – Strengthening Resilience in Response to COVID-19” organized by Sustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA) Component 1 on the 26th November 2020.

The Deputy Head of Mission of EU Mission to ASEAN, Lukas Gajdos, and the Federal Republic of Germany Embassy’s First Secretary responsible for Climate and Environment Issues, Warthane Puvanarajah, delivered the opening remarks. The thematic reflections were opened by Johanna Son, from Reporting ASEAN, who shared her take on “Will ASEAN go greener in response to COVID-19?” A dedicated session to “Livelihoods on Peatlands” followed, with two presentations, one from Maria Nuutinen, from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in which she talked about livelihoods in wet peatland landscapes, and another lead by Sonya Dewi and Telly Kurniasari, from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), discussing some of the different methods available for establishing sustainable peatland management on tropical peatlands of ASEAN in times of pandemics. In the session dedicated to “Conservation on peatlands,” Francesco Ricciardi, from Asian Development Bank (ADB), presented about biodiversity conservation and the way forward to mitigate pandemic risks like COVID-19, followed by a presentation by Theresa Lim, from ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, who informed the participants about ASEAN’s response to address future pandemics. The last session was presented by Orbita Roswintiarti, from the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN). She shared LAPAN´s most recent work: the use of remote sensing to map COVID-19 hotspots in Indonesia. The webinar was concluded with a panel discussion followed by Q&A with the audience.

During the webinar, we welcomed almost 200 participants, and reached more than 3,000 people on Facebook live. The event report compiles the inputs from the experts and target groups on how to maximize the resilience of ASEAN peatlands and wetlands and how the impact from future pandemic situations can be prevented. It will be used as reference for developing training material and practice briefs for sustainable livelihoods and conservation on peatlands. To watch the full session, visit https://bit.ly/SUPAWebinar.

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