KLH: 350 Peatland-Conscious Independent Villages Deliver Economic Benefits to Communities

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment/Environmental Control Agency (KLH/BPLH) has stated that 350 active Peatland-Conscious Independent Villages (DMPG) across Indonesia are delivering economic benefits to communities through sustainable plantation management. “So we have around 350 DMPGs that have proven successful. The concept involves rewetting, then revegetation activities, planting vegetation. Additionally, there must be economic revitalisation for the community because to protect nature, they must derive economic benefits,” said Sigit Reliantoro, Deputy for Environmental Management and Sustainable Natural Resources at KLH/BPLH, while accompanying Minister of Environment/Head of BPLH Moh Jumhur Hidayat on a visit to Palalawan Regency, Riau, on Thursday. He explained that in several locations, communities are empowered to cultivate various commodities and engage in livestock farming as part of the DMPG empowerment programme. “For example, there are pineapples, so we assist with pineapples, we provide goats, we help with fish ponds and so forth, because if an area is blocked, it can actually become a fish pond as well. But of course, we must ask the community what they want; we cannot simply say, ‘Oh yes, plant this.’ We must ask what they want, we design it, then we facilitate it,” Sigit said. Meanwhile, Minister of Environment/Head of BPLH Moh Jumhur Hidayat visited Palalawan Regency, Riau, to observe the construction of canal blocks on peatland, which are useful for preventing forest and land fires. Jumhur stressed that Indonesia requires 540,000 canal blocks to reduce forest and land fires to near zero. He emphasised the unavoidable fact that many regions across the country have extensive peatlands, and if peatlands are not continuously inundated while simultaneously exposed to sunlight, the land becomes potentially hot and combustible. “Speaking of Indonesia, we need to build canal blocks so that fires can be reduced to near zero. We need to build 540,000 canal blocks, yet we have only built around 50,000 in total so far, so it is still just 10 percent. Therefore, financing and education are certainly needed,” he said. During the construction of canal blocks, Jumhur also stressed the importance of compensating for any potential disruption to surrounding communities, so budget calculations for the development must prioritise community empowerment.