Management Practice and Restoration of the Peat Swamp Forest in Katingan-Mentaya, Indonesia

Katingan Peat Conservation and Restoration Project, or in short, the Katingan-Mentaya Project (KMP) is a working concept of tropical peatland restoration on a large landscape scale run by a private sector in production forests, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. KMP is flanked by the Mentaya River and Katingan River watersheds where more than 43,000 people live in 34 villages along the river banks. The peat swamp forest had been logged for almost 40 years, leaving the degraded peat swamp forest (PSF) and deforested areas. Furthermore, the logging activities have changed the floral composition, vegetation structure, and tree species regeneration of the peat swamp forest. The footprint of logging activity is indicated by the ditch networks in the area. Instead of transporting timber, the ditches drain the peatland water, particularly in the dry season. The drainage has changed the hydrological regime within the KMP area, especially in the deforested areas. These areas, which typically are covered by ferns and grasses, are very prone to fire during the dry season due to the water table depth that becomes relatively low. Given those situations, KMP has implemented the landscape-scale active restoration program since 2013 not only to repair the degraded PSF but also to give benefit to the local stakeholders. The restoration management intervention as part of the nature-based solution is scheduled for completion in 60 years (2013–2073), following the ecosystem restoration concession granted by the Government of Indonesia, including the gradual revegetation in deforested areas, assisted natural regeneration, natural regeneration, rewetting, community-based fire prevention, forest protection, peatland agroecological farmer school, and collaborative management at specific areas inside and outside the concession area. During the restoration program implementation, we have learned that the social component (local stakeholders) and land-use change outside the KMP area shape the restoration activities time by time, driving the KMP management to be adaptive and innovative.