Overview
This project assessed immediate threats to intact peat swamp forest, which remains in the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) Mawas study area, and identified ways to counteract those threats and maintain these key reference ecosystems in Indonesia.
The outputs of this study will allow the development of a targeted conservation action plan for this area, as well as provide a model and methodology for the assessment of peat swamp forest in other areas and raise awareness of the understudied threats facing these forests.
Tropical peatlands are a critical global ecosystem; their environmental services provide important carbon storage. Indonesia hosts the greatest global extent of tropical peatlands, yet, less than 7% of its natural-state peat swamp forest (PSF) is still classified as intact (Miettinenet al. 2016; Page et al. 2011). Without focused management, these remnants will be lost. Remaining intact PSF is essential to tropical peatland restoration because it is the reference ecosystem that informs restoration targets, gauges success, and provides source biota for surrounding area restoration (Gann et al., 2019).
