COLLABORATION RESEARCH UIN JAKARTA, UNIVERSITY OF KYOTO AND UNIVERSITY OF RIAU HAS PUBLISHED'S RESEARCH: LOCAL GOVERNANCE OF PEATLAND RESTORATION IN RIAU, INDONESIA
Friday, March 31 2023. The tropical peatland in Indonesia has drawn global environmental attention since the late of 1990s. When severe forest fires occurred and smoke from fires cause toxic haze not only in Sumatera and Kalimantan islands but also in peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. The researchers started to identify the carbon emission from fires as one of the most serious causes of global warming. With the severity international environmental donors have rushed to support the Indonesian’s government in creating sustainable peatland governance, and the Indonesian’s government itself has started to implement various efforts to curb peat fires.
The book from Maasaki Okamoto, Takamasa Osawa, Wahyu Prasetyawan, and Akhwan Binawan, has a result of locally based transdisciplinary analysis and action oriented research on the actual conditions of communities in and around the peatland and the implementation of sustainable peatland governance, in Riau Province, Indonesia. This research could not have been conducted without the continuous help and support from Riau University and the peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) of the Republic of Indonesia.
Researches from a range of academic and activist backgrounds has participated in the research, allowing them to the address the issues from multiple perspective. First analyzing the mapping of peatlands, the volume immediately identifies the dysfunction of government policies in both the formulation and implementation of spatial planning. The volume then turns to Rantau Baru, investigating the link between land use and villagers’ aspirations for the future. The next two chapters examine fishing in the Kampar River, as it is the main source of livelihood in the village. The limits of traditional fishing methods and the potential of fishing tourism for village development. The following five chapters shed light on the social issues that emerged in Rantau Baru during the process of implementing government policies to prevent peatland fires and improve livelihoods. These social dimensions include the idealized promotion of local wisdom, unequal gender participation in village spatial planning, the asymmetry of political power in decision-making about village budget expenditures, the impact of low incomes and limited access to education on environmental protection measures implemented in cash-poor areas, and the consequences of land grabbing.
A Transdisciplinary Approach: Continuously Directed toward the Future
How, then, given its local, national, regional, and global significance, should the peatland problem be addressed? One possible way is to promote understandings of how different stakeholders think about the peatland problem and to increase mutual understanding among them. The motivations and orientations of stakeholders are not one-dimensional or held in isolation. Each actor has unique intentions, interests, and desires formed in a complex social context. Promoting mutual understanding of these intentions, interests, and desires positively impact communication, negotiation, and cooperation among different stakeholders, which can contribute to “better” solutions to the peatland problem. It is also necessary to pay attention to the specific interface where the concrete social and environmental issues of the peatland problem emerge that is, the local communities and the environment around them. Each location has its own unique social and environmental characteristics, to which no one-size-fits-all solution can be applied. Even within a location, a variety of social and environmental issues result from peatland degradation and fires, and one issue may cause several additional and inter-related issues to emerge. These must be addressed in both concrete and longterm ways. Given that long-term and detailed efforts are required, the main agents of peatland restoration activities are the people of local communities. However, central and local governments, companies, and urban residents are also principal drivers of the peatland problem; local people do not have sufficient capital or labor to address the problem alone. Therefore, all actors must be involved in solving the peatland problem, and appropriate support should be provided by non-locals who are also implicated in the problem.
Academic researchers and NGO staff play an important role in the pursuit of “better” solutions by: (1) identifying social and ecological issues and their interrelationships; and (2) facilitating communication among local residents and other stakeholders. These efforts require flexible, continuous, and tailor-made approaches to address the challenges that emerge in the community. Researchers and NGOs may not always provide innovative, ultimate, or universal solutions. However, given that the peatland problem involves so many stakeholders and at the same time affects such a broad array of social and environmental conditions, it is necessary to maintain continuous and patient responses, staying close to and following up on issues as they emerge in the local community and surrounding environment.
With this outlook in mind, the researchers involved in this investigation have begun to implement suggestions to mitigate or solve the social and ecosystem challenges in Rantau Baru. Here, recent negotiations with the district government around customary land rights and the conservation of floodplains and peat swamps along the Kampar River are of particular importance.
The issues, stakeholders, and solution related to the peatland problem cannot be easily defined or easily addressed. The problem can thus be seen as one of today’s “wicked problem,” which have no true or false solutions, but rather better or worse ones. In addressing this kind of problem, academic researchers and NGO staff can play an important role to identify social and ecological issues and their interrelationships, and to facilitate communication among local residents and other stakeholders. These activities should be done as continuous and flexibel collaboration with local communities to find the better solutions to the peatland problem or to realize a better future for society together with those involved in the problem.
The book from Maasaki Okamoto, Takamasa Osawa, Wahyu Prasetyawan, and Akhwan Binawan, has a result of locally based transdisciplinary analysis and action oriented research on the actual conditions of communities in and around the peatland and the implementation of sustainable peatland governance, in Riau Province, Indonesia. This research could not have been conducted without the continuous help and support from Riau University and the peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) of the Republic of Indonesia.
Researches from a range of academic and activist backgrounds has participated in the research, allowing them to the address the issues from multiple perspective. First analyzing the mapping of peatlands, the volume immediately identifies the dysfunction of government policies in both the formulation and implementation of spatial planning. The volume then turns to Rantau Baru, investigating the link between land use and villagers’ aspirations for the future. The next two chapters examine fishing in the Kampar River, as it is the main source of livelihood in the village. The limits of traditional fishing methods and the potential of fishing tourism for village development. The following five chapters shed light on the social issues that emerged in Rantau Baru during the process of implementing government policies to prevent peatland fires and improve livelihoods. These social dimensions include the idealized promotion of local wisdom, unequal gender participation in village spatial planning, the asymmetry of political power in decision-making about village budget expenditures, the impact of low incomes and limited access to education on environmental protection measures implemented in cash-poor areas, and the consequences of land grabbing.
A Transdisciplinary Approach: Continuously Directed toward the Future
How, then, given its local, national, regional, and global significance, should the peatland problem be addressed? One possible way is to promote understandings of how different stakeholders think about the peatland problem and to increase mutual understanding among them. The motivations and orientations of stakeholders are not one-dimensional or held in isolation. Each actor has unique intentions, interests, and desires formed in a complex social context. Promoting mutual understanding of these intentions, interests, and desires positively impact communication, negotiation, and cooperation among different stakeholders, which can contribute to “better” solutions to the peatland problem. It is also necessary to pay attention to the specific interface where the concrete social and environmental issues of the peatland problem emerge that is, the local communities and the environment around them. Each location has its own unique social and environmental characteristics, to which no one-size-fits-all solution can be applied. Even within a location, a variety of social and environmental issues result from peatland degradation and fires, and one issue may cause several additional and inter-related issues to emerge. These must be addressed in both concrete and longterm ways. Given that long-term and detailed efforts are required, the main agents of peatland restoration activities are the people of local communities. However, central and local governments, companies, and urban residents are also principal drivers of the peatland problem; local people do not have sufficient capital or labor to address the problem alone. Therefore, all actors must be involved in solving the peatland problem, and appropriate support should be provided by non-locals who are also implicated in the problem.
Academic researchers and NGO staff play an important role in the pursuit of “better” solutions by: (1) identifying social and ecological issues and their interrelationships; and (2) facilitating communication among local residents and other stakeholders. These efforts require flexible, continuous, and tailor-made approaches to address the challenges that emerge in the community. Researchers and NGOs may not always provide innovative, ultimate, or universal solutions. However, given that the peatland problem involves so many stakeholders and at the same time affects such a broad array of social and environmental conditions, it is necessary to maintain continuous and patient responses, staying close to and following up on issues as they emerge in the local community and surrounding environment.
With this outlook in mind, the researchers involved in this investigation have begun to implement suggestions to mitigate or solve the social and ecosystem challenges in Rantau Baru. Here, recent negotiations with the district government around customary land rights and the conservation of floodplains and peat swamps along the Kampar River are of particular importance.
The issues, stakeholders, and solution related to the peatland problem cannot be easily defined or easily addressed. The problem can thus be seen as one of today’s “wicked problem,” which have no true or false solutions, but rather better or worse ones. In addressing this kind of problem, academic researchers and NGO staff can play an important role to identify social and ecological issues and their interrelationships, and to facilitate communication among local residents and other stakeholders. These activities should be done as continuous and flexibel collaboration with local communities to find the better solutions to the peatland problem or to realize a better future for society together with those involved in the problem.