Indonesia ready to lead tropical peatland management efforts at GPI-4 in Peru
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government, through the Ministry of Forestry, has declared its readiness to lead the strengthening of the International Tropical Peatland Centre (ITPC) as an international collaboration platform for tropical peatland-owning nations.
This was stated by the Head of the Ministry of Forestry Delegation and Head of the Bureau of Public Relations and Foreign Cooperation, Ristianto Pribadi, during 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 to manage more than 70 per cent of peatland areas within state forest areas, we are ready to lead the strengthening of the ITPC as a centre for knowledge, innovation, and international cooperation for the future of global peatlands,” Ristianto said in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He noted that this leadership will be directed towards strengthening knowledge exchange, developing science-based policies, increasing human resource capacity, conducting joint research, fostering technological innovation, and mobilising international partnerships to support sustainable tropical peatland management.
Ristianto explained that the Ministry of Forestry has established a comprehensive peatland governance system through regulatory strengthening, peatland area protection, ecosystem restoration, landscape-based management, and community empowerment through Social Forestry.
These various policies, he continued, serve as the primary foundation in supporting the achievement of Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 targets and Indonesia’s commitment to climate change control.
“As a country with one of the largest tropical peatland expanses in the world, Indonesia believes that the challenges of peatland preservation cannot be solved in isolation,” said Ristianto.
In this 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 global collective action, expanding cross-border 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 leadership, innovation, and tangible collaboration,” Ristianto concluded.