Indonesia ready to lead tropical peatland management efforts at GPI-4 in Peru

The Indonesian Government, through the Ministry of Forestry, has stated its readiness to lead the strengthening of the International Tropical Peatland Center (ITPC) as an international collaboration platform for countries with tropical peatlands. This was conveyed by the Head of the Ministry of Forestry Delegation, who is also Head of the Bureau of Public Relations and Foreign Cooperation at the Ministry of Forestry, Ristianto Pribadi, at The Fourth Meeting of the Partners of the Global Peatlands Initiative (GPI-4) in Lima, Peru. “With Indonesia’s experience in protecting and managing peatland ecosystems, and the Ministry of Forestry’s mandate managing over 70 per cent of peatland areas within state forest zones, we are ready to lead the strengthening of the ITPC as a centre of knowledge, innovation, and international cooperation for the future of the world’s peatlands,” Ristianto said in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday. He stated that this leadership would be directed towards strengthening knowledge exchange, developing science-based policies, enhancing human resource capacity, joint research, technological innovation, and mobilising international partnerships to support sustainable tropical peatland management. Ristianto explained that the Ministry of Forestry has built a comprehensive peatland governance system through strengthening regulations, protecting peatland areas, ecosystem restoration, landscape-based management, and community empowerment through Social Forestry. These various policies, he continued, serve as the main foundation for supporting the achievement of Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 target and the country’s commitment to climate change control. “As a country with one of the largest tropical peatland landscapes in the world, Indonesia views that the challenges of peatland conservation cannot be solved individually,” Ristianto said. At the international forum, Indonesia also invited all member countries of the Global Peatlands Initiative, international organisations, research institutions, the private sector, and development partners to participate in the Peatland Forest Forum 2026, which will be held in Indonesia in October 2026. The forum is expected to become a new milestone in strengthening collective global action, expanding cross-country collaboration, and producing concrete steps in the protection and management of tropical peatland ecosystems. “Indonesia is ready to be part of the global solution through real leadership, innovation, and collaboration,” Ristianto concluded.