Tag: Peatland Pilot Project

SUPA Component 1 Organised Technical Workshop in Aceh

Posted on | by Wiraditma Prananta

On 26-27 January 2022, Peatland Restoration Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (DPKG-KLHK), Environment and Forestry Agency (DLHK) Aceh, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) organised a hybrid meeting in Banda Aceh to present the results of baseline studies to the national, provincial and district partners. The presentations were also followed by Focus Group Discussions guided by peatland experts: Dr. Marinus K Harun, from BPSILHK Banjar Baru; and Dr. Yusya Abubakar, from Syiah Kuala University Aceh.

At the meeting, participants discussed on how to achieve sustainable peatland management while maximising livelihood opportunities for the ten priority peatland communities, taking into account the commodities currently exploited by the peat communities and the existing peatland site conditions. Two important aspects that need attention when planning for pilot site future interventions are fire and flooding events. The event was closed with a brief presentation by Sustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA) Component 1 on the workplan for the next six months, based on the already agreed general workplan. 

SUPA Component 1, particularly under Work Area 3, aims to generate pilot experiences from Indonesia and Malaysia. The pilot projects aspire to demonstrate how a peatland, within the landscape or peatland hydrological unit, can be restored and/or rehabilitated through sustainable peatland management options. The best practices drawn from the pilot sites will be able to be adopted by others—not limited to Indonesia and Malaysia but to the entire ASEAN region.

As part of the implementation of Work Area 3, SUPA Component 1 will support technical guidance, monitor project’s progress, and technical recommendation on the activities. Last year, SUPA Component 1 carried out a series of baseline studies on the pilot site area in order to best plan for the interventions at the PHU site. The baseline studies included: land cover, land use change and burn scar mapping, socio-economic vulnerability assessment and an assessment of fire situation in the pilot site. 

On the way forward, SUPA Component 1 will hold a Pilot Site Steering Committee Meeting to discuss the workshop results and approval for the pilot site workplan. SUPA Component 1 will also organise workshops with the villages and do a comparative study to another place with experience on sustainable peatland management.

SUPA Component 1 and Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province Held the Launching of SUPA Pilot Site in Aceh, Indonesia

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As a follow up to the signing of the agreed minutes for technical cooperation on Sustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA) Component 1 on 25 May 2021, GIZ and Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province held the launching of SUPA Pilot Site in Aceh, Indonesia on 15 June 2021. This launching is the opening of a series of events related to SUPA Pilot Site in Aceh.

The virtual ceremony was attended by Sri Parwati Murwani Budisusanti, Director of Peatland Degradation Control; Anizar, MP, Secretary of Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province, and other relevant stakeholders. 

Reading the opening remarks of Head of Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province, Anizar shared some of the efforts that Aceh Province has done in peatland conservation. “Government of Aceh Province through the Environment and Forestry Office hopes that this SUPA programme will run smoothly and all the programme’s objectives can be achieved as planned.”

On 16-17 June 2021, a focus group discussion workshop was held to develop SUPA Pilot Site Work Plan. The workshop was attended by relevant stakeholders from Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province, NGOs, academics, and private sectors. The workshop generated valuable inputs and feedbacks from stakeholders that will be incorporated in the SUPA Pilot Site Work Plan.

The last meeting in this series of events is the preliminary meeting to prepare the 1st Project Steering Committee of SUPA Pilot Site in Aceh, Indonesia. With guidance from Ministry of Environment and Forestry and Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province, SUPA Component 1 will organize the 1st Project Steering Committee of SUPA Pilot Site in Aceh in due course.

SUPA Component 1 and Ministry of Environment and Forestry of The Republic of Indonesia Signed Agreed Minutes for Technical Cooperation in Aceh, Indonesia

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GIZ and Ministry of Environment and Forestry of The Republic of Indonesia (MoEF) signed the agreed minutes for technical cooperation on Sustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA) Component 1 on 25 May 2021. The signed agreed minutes is specific for Work Area 3: Generating Pilot Experiences in Aceh, Indonesia.

The virtual ceremony was attended by Sri Parwati Murwani Budisusanti, Director of Peatland Degradation Control; Warthane Puvanarajah, First Secretary, Climate and Environment at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Jakarta; A. Hanan, Head of Environment and Forestry Office of Aceh Province, and other relevant stakeholders. 

Reading the opening remarks of Director General of Pollution and Environmental Damage Control, SPM Budi Susanti said that the cooperation between Peatland Degradation Control Directorate and GIZ is warmly welcomed. “We hope that the cooperation in Aceh Barat and Nagan Raya district in Aceh province can realize the sustainable peatland ecosystem by implementing activities that support the targets and obligations of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in the field of peat protection.”

“The results we achieve on the ground should primarily benefit the partners at the local level. But it is also important that we create good examples and best practices that can be adopted by others—not limited to Indonesia but to the entire ASEAN region,” said Berthold Haasler Principal Advisor of SUPA Component 1.

As a result of a thorough discussion and a list of criteria, the Indonesian government decided that the Aceh province with Nagan Raya and Aceh Barat districts should become the pilot area of SUPA Component 1 in Indonesia. This agreement will officially start the implementation of Work Area 3 in Indonesia.

EU to support sustainable use of peatland and haze mitigation in ASEAN

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JAKARTA, 15 November 2019 – To support ASEAN’s endeavours in combating transboundary haze pollution and peatland fires, the European Union (EU) launched the civil society component of the EUR 24 million programme to support Sustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA). The overall programme is funded with EUR 20 million contributions from the EU and EUR 4 million from the German Government.

This new initiative supports the objectives of the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy through collective actions and enhanced cooperation that improves sustainable peatland management, mitigates the impacts of climate change, manages the risk of wild fires and reduces trans-boundary regional haze. The initiative also supports and sustains local livelihoods while contributing to global environmental management.

The programme is also critical in tackling the root causes of peatland fires in mitigating the impacts of climate change, especially in the wake of recent peatland and forest fires in the region in 2019, with a total of 857,755 hectares burned, an increase from the 529,266 hectares that burned in 2018 and on top of the 2.6 million hectares burned in 2015[1].

The EU’s support to ASEAN’s sustainable peatland management is composed of two mutually reinforcing main components, namely governmental approach and non-state actor approach. The governmental approach is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) while the non-state actor approach is implemented by World Resources Institute Indonesia in collaboration with Tropical Rainforest Conservation & Research Centre Malaysia and the IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative. The two components will work collaboratively to support ASEAN in addressing the root causes of forest fires.

The EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans hopes that this new programme will encourage the ASEAN region to become more resilient and proactive in sustainable peatland management. Although much has been achieved since 2015, to fully realise the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement, efforts to mitigate peatland fires and curb the adverse impacts of climate change requires sustained attention.

The Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi highlighted that the spirit of ASEAN cooperation in addressing regional and transboundary issues remains strong and it is augmented through this year’s ASEAN Chairmanship theme: ‘Advancing Partnership for Sustainability’. ASEAN cooperation and its mechanisms will continue to complement and add-value to the ASEAN Member States’ priorities in many fronts, while simultaneously contributing to the implementation of the UN SDGs.

Further, Dato Lim mentioned that together with the ASEAN-EU High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate Change held earlier this month in Bangkok, and the project on Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in ASEAN, SUPA programme is another opportunity provided by the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework which will act as foundation of knowledge to help ASEAN Member States and relevant institutions in achieving enhanced capacity and regional coordination in sustainable management of forest and peatlands.

Ambassador Driesmans also pointed out that the SUPA Programme marks a significant milestone for the EU and ASEAN, as this is the first regional cooperation under the EU-ASEAN Multi-annual Indicative Programme in the area of climate change. This showcases that both regions are committed to tackle the root causes of peatland fires and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change. In addition, he highlighted that the programme contributes to the EU’s commitment to address global environmental issues, in particular to support mitigation of carbon emissions from carbon-rich peatland areas, as well as conservation of the unique biodiversity of peatland ecosystems.

[1] http://sipongi.menlhk.go.id/pdf/luas_kebakaran