ASEAN’s regional efforts to combat peatland degradation in Southeast Asia

Uniqueness and importance of peatland ecosystems in Southeast Asia

• Southeast Asia has about 25 to 30 million hectares of peatlands, which account for about 6% of global peatlands and 40% of tropical peatlands.
• Peatlands are the largest terrestrial carbon storage system, with twice the capacity of the world’s forest biomass (Hooijer et al. 2024; Pertiwi et al. 2022).
• These ecosystems provide critical environmental services for human survival and wellbeing — including climate and water regulation and water supply — and support native biodiversity. Peatlands are sources of a wide range of food, energy and biomaterials for local communities, such as through fisheries, rattan harvesting and other non-timber forest products (Hiller and Fisher 2023; Page 2024).

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