Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T19:05:04.065Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Research agendas for the sustainable management of tropical peatland in Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2014

RORY PADFIELD ,
SUSAN WALDRON ,
SIMON DREW ,
EFFIE PAPARGYROPOULOU ,
SHASHI KUMARAN ,
SUSAN PAGE ,
DAVE GILVEAR ,
ALONA ARMSTRONG ,
STEPHANIE EVERS  and
PAUL WILLIAMS
...Show all authors
RORY PADFIELD*
Affiliation:
Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
SUSAN WALDRON
Affiliation:
School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
SIMON DREW
Affiliation:
School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
EFFIE PAPARGYROPOULOU
Affiliation:
Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
SHASHI KUMARAN
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin NT 0909, Australia
SUSAN PAGE
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
DAVE GILVEAR
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science and Environment, Portland Square Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
ALONA ARMSTRONG
Affiliation:
School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
STEPHANIE EVERS
Affiliation:
School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan 43500, Malaysia
PAUL WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Institute for Global Food Security, Queen's University Belfast, David Keir Building, Malone Road, Belfast BT9 5BN, Northern Ireland, UK
ZURIATI ZAKARIA
Affiliation:
Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
SING YUN CHIN
Affiliation:
Global Environment Centre, Petaling Jaya, Selangor 47300, Malaysia
SUNE BALLE HANSEN
Affiliation:
UTM Palm Oil Research Center, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
AHIMSA CAMPOS-ARCEIZ
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan 43500, Malaysia
MOHD TALIB LATIF
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
ALEX SAYOK
Affiliation:
Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
MUN HOU THAM
Affiliation:
Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia
*
*Correspondence: Dr Rory Padfield Tel: +60 1366 32037 e-mail: rorypadfield@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

There is a need for coordinated research for the sustainable management of tropical peatland. Malaysia has 6% of global tropical peat by area and peatlands there are subject to land use change at an unprecedented rate. This paper describes a stakeholder engagement exercise that identified 95 priority research questions for peatland in Malaysia, organized into nine themes. Analysis revealed the need for fundamental scientific research, with strong representation across the themes of environmental change, ecosystem services, and conversion, disturbance and degradation. Considerable uncertainty remains about Malaysia's baseline conditions for peatland, including questions over total remaining area of peatland, water table depths, soil characteristics, hydrological function, biogeochemical processes and ecology. More applied and multidisciplinary studies involving researchers from the social sciences are required. The future sustainability of Malaysian peatland relies on coordinating research agendas via a ‘knowledge hub’ of researchers, strengthening the role of peatlands in land-use planning and development processes, stricter policy enforcement, and bridging the divide between national and provincial governance. Integration of the economic value of peatlands into existing planning regimes is also a stakeholder priority. Finally, current research needs to be better communicated for the benefit of the research community, for improved societal understanding and to inform policy processes.

Keywords

Malaysiaresearch agendassustainable managementstakeholder engagementtropical peatland
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 73 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ASEAN Secretariat (2007) ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy 2006. 16th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME), 10th November 2006, Cibu, Phillipines [www document]. URL http://haze.asean.org/docs/1245724927/APMS_whole.pdf/view Google Scholar
Awang, A. (2006) Economic valuation of forest ecosystem services in Malaysia. Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia [www document]. URL http://www.jst.go.jp/asts/asts_m/files/0311pdf/09_Seminar_ASTS_Penang_10–14_March_2006_Awang_Noor.pdf Google Scholar
Bain, C.G., Bonn, A., Stoneman, R., Chapman, S., Coupar, A., Evans, M., Gearey, B., Howat, M., Joosten, H., Keenleyside, C., Labadz, J., Lindsay, R., Littlewood, N., Lunt, P., Miller, C.J., Moxey, A., Orr, H., Reed, M., Smith, P., Swales, V., Thompson, D.B.A., Thompson, P.S., van de Noort, R., Wilson, J.D. & Worrall, F. (2011) IUCN UK Commission of Inquiry on Peatlands. IUCN UK Peatland Programme, Edinburgh, UK [www document]. URL http://www.iucnukpeatlandprogramme.org/commission/findings Google Scholar
Billett, M.F., Charman, D.J., Clark, J.M., Evans, C.D., Evans, M.G., Ostle, N.J, Worrall, F., Burden, A., Dinsmore, K.J., Jones, T., McNamara, N.P., Parry, L., Rowson, J.G. & Rose, R. (2010) Carbon balance of UK peatlands: current state of knowledge and future research challenges. Climate Research 45: 13–29.Google Scholar
Bonnett, S., Ostle, N. & Freeman, C. (2006) Seasonal variations in decomposition processes in a valley-bottom riparian peatland. Science of the Total Environment 370 (2): 561–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boykoff, M. & Boykoff, J. (2007) Climate change and journalistic norms: a case study of US mass-media coverage. Geoforum 38: 1190–1204.Google Scholar
Brown, L., Mitchell, G., Holden, J., Folkard, A., Wright, N., Beharry-Borg, N., Berry, G., Brierley, B., Chapman, P., Clarke, S.J., Cotton, L., Dobson, M., Dollar, E., Fletcher, M., Foster, J., Hanlon, A., Hildon, P., Hiley, P., Hillis, P., Hoseason, J., Johnston, K., Kay, P., McDonald, A., Parrott, A., Powell, A., Slack, R.J., Sleight, A., Spray, C., Tapley, K., Underhill, R. & Woulds, C. (2010) Priority water research questions as determined by UK practitioners and policy makers. Science of the Total Environment 409: 256–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carmenta, R., Parry, L., Blackburn, A., Vermeylen, S. & Barlow, J. (2011) Understanding human-fire interactions in tropical forest regions: a case for interdisciplinary research across the natural and social sciences. Ecology and Society 16 (1): 53.Google Scholar
Couwenberg, J. (2011) Greenhouse gas emissions from the managed peat soils: is the IPCC reporting guidance realistic? Mires and Peat 8 (2): 1–10.Google Scholar
Farmer, J., Matthews, R., Smith, P. & Smith, U. (2013) The tropical peatland plantation-carbon assessment tool: estimating CO2 emissions from tropical peat soils under plantations. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change [www document] URL http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11027-013-9517-4#page-2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glavič, P. & Lukman, R. (2008) Review of sustainability terms and their definitions. Journal of Cleaner Production 15 (18): 1875–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogg, E., Lieffers, V. & Wein, R. (1992) Potential carbon losses from peat profiles: effects of temperature, drought cycles, and fire. Ecological Applications 2 (3): 298–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
IPCC (2006) 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme Report, ed. Eggleston, H., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. & Tanabe, K.. IGES, Hayama, Japan [www document]. URL http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.html Google Scholar
Johnson, D., Ambrose, S., Bassett, T., Bowen, M., Crummey, D., Isaacson, J., Johnson, D., Lamb, P., Saul, M. & Winter-Nelson, A. (1997) Meanings of environmental terms. Journal of Environmental Quality 26 (3): 581–589.Google Scholar
Koh, L., Miettinen, J., Liew, S. & Ghazoul, J. (2011) Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists USA 108: 5127–5132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Komulainen, V., Nykänen, H., Martikainen, P. & Laine, J. (1998) Short-term effect of restoration on vegetation change and methane emissions from peatlands drained for forestry in southern Finland. Canadian Journal Forest Research 28: 402–411.Google Scholar
Heikurainen, L. & Päivänen, J. (1970) The effect of thinning, clear cutting, and fertilization on the hydrology of peatland drained for forestry. Acta Forestalia Fennica 104: 1–23.Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (2010) Why it matters how we frame the environment. Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture 4 (1): 70–81.Google Scholar
Manzo, K. (2008) Imaging humanitarianism: NGO identity and the iconography of childhood. Antipode 40 (4): 632–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melling, L., Hatano, R. & Goh, K. (2005) Methane fluxes from three ecosystems in tropical peatland of Sarawak, Malaysia. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37 (8): 1445–1453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, S., Evans, C., Page, S., Garnett, M., Jones, T., Freeman, C., Hooijer, A., Wiltshire, A., Limin, S. & Gauci, V. (2013) Deep instability of deforested tropical peatlands revealed by fluvial organic carbon fluxes. Nature 493: 660–663.Google Scholar
MOSTI (2004) National Wetlands Policy. Government of Malaysia. Putrajaya, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Murdiyarso, D., Hergoualc'h, K. & Verchot, L. (2010) Opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in tropical peatlands. Proceedings of the National Academy Science USA 107: 19655–19660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nisbet, M. (2009) Communicating climate change: why frames matter for public engagement. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 51 (2): 12–23.Google Scholar
NRE (2011) National Action Plan for Peatland. Government of Malaysia. Putrajaya, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Padfield, R., Richards, C., Yusop, Z., Parkey, J., Harrison, O & Preece, C. (2014) Tackling wicked problems in the Malaysian water industry: a framework for university-industry research partnerships. Journal of Governance and Development (in press).Google Scholar
Page, S., Hooijer, A., Rieley, J., Banks, C. & Hoscilo, A. (2012) The tropical peat swamps of Southeast Asia: human impacts on biodiversity, hydrology and carbon dynamics. Systematics Association 82: 406–433.Google Scholar
Page, S., Hoscilo, A., Langner, A., Tansey, K., Siegert, F., Limin, S. & Rieley, J. (2009 b) Tropical peatland fires in Southeast Asia. In: Tropical Fire Ecology, ed. Johnson, E. & Miyanish, K., pp. 263–87. Berlin, Germany: Springer Praxis.Google Scholar
Page, S., Hoscilo, A., Wösten, H., Jauhiainen, J., Silvius, M., Rieley, J., Ritzema, H., Tansey, K., Graham, L., Vasander, H. & Limin, S. (2009 a) Ecological restoration of tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia. Ecosystems 12: 888–905.Google Scholar
Page, S., Morrison, R., Malins, C., Hooijer, A., Rieley, J. & Jauhiainen, J. (2011 a) Review of peat surface greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations. In: Southeast Asia. White Paper Number 15, September 2011. Indirect Effects of Biofuel Production Series. International Council on Clean Transportation. Washington DC, USA.Google Scholar
Page, S., Rieley, J. & Banks, C. (2011b) Global and regional importance of the tropical peatland carbon pool. Global Change Biology 17: 798–818 Google Scholar
Page, S., Rieley, J. & Wüst, R. (2006) Chapter 7: Lowland tropical peatlands of Southeast Asia. Developments in Earth Surface Processes 9: 145–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parish, F., Sirin, A., Charman, D., Joosten, H., Minayeva, T., Silvius, M. & Stringer, L. (2008) Assessment on peatlands, biodiversity and climate change: main report. Global Environment Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Wetlands International, Wageningen, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Rawlins, A. & Morris, J. (2010) Social and economic aspects of peatland management in Northern Europe, with particular reference to the English case. Geoderma 154 (3–4): 242–251.Google Scholar
Rosli, N., Gandaseca, S., Ismail, J. & Iqbal, J. (2010) Compartice study of water quality at different peat swamp forest of Batang Igan, Subu Sarawak. American Journal of Environmental Science 6 (5): 416–421.Google Scholar
SarVision (2011) Impact of oil palm plantations on peatland conversion in Sarawak 2005–2010. Report. Wetland International, Wageningen, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Scottish Government (2009) Scottish Soil Framework. The Scottish Government, Edinburgh, UK [www document]. URL http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/273170/0081576.pdf Google Scholar
Shantz, M. & Price, J. (2006) Hydrological changes following restoration of the Bois-des-Bel Peatland, Quebec, 1999–2002. Journal of Hydrology 331 (15): 543–553.Google Scholar
Silvius, J. & Suryadiputra, N. (2010) Review of policies and practices in tropical peat swamp forest management in Indonesia. Report. Wetlands International, Wageningen, the Netherlands [www document]. URL http://portals.wdi.wur.nl/files/docs/File/wffae/ReviewPoliciesPracticesPeatswampManagement.pdf Google Scholar
Tsuyuki, S., Goh, M., Teo, S., Kamlun, K. & Phua, M. (2011) Monitoring deforestation in Sarawak, Malaysia using multitemporal Landsat data. Kanto Forest Research 62: 87–90.Google Scholar
van Stappen, F., Brose, I. & Schenkel, Y. (2011) Direct and indirect land use changes issues in European sustainability initiatives: state-of-the-art, open issues and future developments. Biomass and Bioenergy 35 (12): 4824–4834.Google Scholar
Wetlands International (2010) A quick scan of peatlands in Malaysia. Report. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia [www document]. URL http://malaysia.wetlands.org/Library/tabid/519/mod/1570/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2675/A-Quick-Scan-of-Peatlands-in-Malaysia.aspx Google Scholar
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Worrall, F., Armstrong, A. & Holden, J. (2007) Short-term impact of peat drain-blocking on water colour, dissolved organic carbon concentration, and water table depth. Journal of Hydrology 337 (3–4): 315–325.Google Scholar
Wösten, J., Ismail, A. & Wijk, A. (1997) Peat subsidence and its practical implications: a case study in Malaysia. Geoderma 78: 25–36.Google Scholar
Wright, R. & Stein, M (2005) Snowball sampling. In: The Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, ed. Kempf-Leonard, K., pp. 495–500. San Diego, CA, USA: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, C. (2010) Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in Indo-Malayan peat swamp forest. Biodiversity Conservation 19: 393–409.Google Scholar