Peat swamp forest and palm oil:
- Where and what are peatlands
- Peatland loss and carbon emissions
- Biofuels, palm oil and peatland loss
- What is / should be done
23. Some facts and figures Peatlands in SE Asia: < 0,1 % of global land area 1000 million tonnes emitted annually Equivalent to 3 % of total global emissions A concentrated problem…
This picture shows the location of a peat dome in the flood plain in between two lowland rivers. A substantial part of the peat dome is located above river water surface. These forms of peatlands are called bogs, they are oligotrophic (poor in nutrients) and rain water fed. The peat lies like a gigantic drop a water on the lowland plain, held together by the dead organic material and protected by a blanket of living forest that maintains a humid micro-climate and prevents direct solar impact.
Nepenthes grows in soils with N deficiencies. It compensates this by capturing insects in its cup-shaped leaves. Many indigenous peat swamp forest plants and trees can survive long-inundation. They can form floating islands, such as the Pandanus, or have aerial roots or pneumatophores, that help them to breath.
Drainage - aeration of the peat soil – aerobic decomposition of peat (carbon content of 60kg/m3) – sustained release of CO2 and subsidence of peat dome – flooding downstream Loss of carbon sink capacity, at least 40Mt/yr due to present loss of peatswamp forests
Melling’s study is often used to claim that peat swamp forests would emit more CO2 than palm oil plantations. The study did, however, not measure the ecosystem carbon balance but only the soil emissions without distinguishing between CO2 emissions from peat oxidation and CO2 emissions from root respiration. It is logical that the latter will significantly impact on results. If peat swamp forest would indeed lead to a net higher CO2 emission, peat could never have been formed. The proof is in the peat.