degraded land Archives - Page 7 of 7 - Resilient Landscapes (RL)

Landowner perceptions towards bioenergy production on degraded lands in Indonesia

Various tree species have been identified as having potential for bioenergy and restoration of degraded land. Using degraded land for bioenergy production provides Indonesia with an opportunity to meet its rapidly growing energy demand while creating productive landscapes. However, bioenergy production is not feasible without landowner participation. This study investigates factors affecting preferences for restoration tree species by analysing responses from 150 landowners with fire experience in Buntoi village in Central Kalimantan l. Results indicate 76% of landowners preferring familiar species with readily available markets, such as Albizia chinensis (sengon) and Hevea brasiliensis (rubber), for restoration on degraded land, with only 8% preferring Calophyllum inophyllum L. (nyamplung) for bioenergy production. The latter group of landowners revealed a capacity to handle the uncertainty of the bioenergy market as they had additional jobs and income, had migrated from Java where nyamplung is prevalent, or preferred agricultural extension to improve their technical capacity. These results contribute to identifying key conditions for a bottom-up approach to bioenergy production on degraded land in Indonesia: a stable bioenergy market for landowners, application of familiar bioenergy species, and agricultural extension support for capacity building.

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Mapping degraded lands in Indonesia for bioenergy production potential

This study conducted a spatial analysis in Indonesia to estimate degraded lands potentially suitable for growing biodiesel species (Calophyllum inophyllum, Pongamia pinnata and Reutealis trisperma) and biomass species (Calliandra calothyrsus and Gliricidia sepium). Degraded lands have limited functions for food production, carbon storage, and conservation of biodiversity and native vegetation. Thus, identifying their potential to produce bioenergy can contribute to sustainable development by helping society to meet increasing energy demands and secure a new renewable energy source. The identified potential degraded lands were further examined with two scenarios: 1) an all-five-species scenario, examining the growth of all five species, and 2) a biodiesel-species-only scenario, analysing the growth of only biodiesel species. Study results illustrated approximately 3.5 million ha of degraded lands potentially suitable for these species in Indonesia. The all-five-species scenario indicated that these lands had the potential to produce 1,105 PJ yr¯¹ of biomass and 3 PJ yr¯¹ of biodiesel. The biodiesel-species-only scenario illustrated that these lands had the potential to produce 10 PJ yr¯¹ of biodiesel. In addition, many of these degraded lands were limited to support economies of scale for biofuel production due to their small land sizes. The study findings contribute to identifying lands with limited functions, modelling the growth of biofuel species on regional lands, and estimating carbon stocks of restored degraded lands in Indonesia.

See the whole book and other chapters here

1 million trees (and growing) to electrify Yangambi

Since 2018, CIFOR-ICRAF and its partners are promoting forest landscape restoration in Yangambi. Their goal is to bring degraded land back to productivity to create green jobs, reactivate the local economy, enrich soils, and increase energy supply.

1 million d’arbres (sans cesse croissants) pour approvisionner Yangambi en électricité

Depuis 2018, le CIFOR-ICRAF et ses partenaires œuvrent en faveur de la restauration des paysages forestiers de Yangambi. Leur objectif : faire que les terres dégradées redeviennent productives, qu’elles soient sources d’emplois verts et moteur de l’économie locale, qu’elles enrichissent les sols et contribuent à la production d’électricité.

Defining ecological restoration of peatlands in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Indonesia declared an ambitious plan to restore its degraded and fire-prone peatlands, which have been a source of significant greenhouse gas and haze. However, the progress has been slow and the plan cannot succeed without sustained social supports and political will. Although many previous studies argued for the need to see ecological restoration in socio-economic contexts, empirical assessments have been lacking for how restoration is operationalized on the ground. We interviewed 47 key informants involved in four different projects in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and assessed their definitions, goals, and practices of peatland restoration. Most of the actors we interviewed defined peatland restoration primarily in an ecological context following the global concept of ecological restoration. However, all four restoration projects were designed without determining reference and trajectory conditions. Their intermediate goals and practices were more focused on engaging local communities and developing sustainable livelihood options than improving the ecological conditions of peatlands. To be internally consistent, peatland restoration needs to recognize a social dimension in its process, as well as in its goal. Setting clear trajectory conditions is also important to clarify achievable goals and measurable intermediate outcomes. We propose the following definition of peatland restoration: a process of assisting the recovery of degraded peatland ecosystems to achieve the appropriate trajectories defined through multi-stakeholder collaboration within social-ecological contexts. We hope to generate healthy debates to further refine the definition that encompasses both social and ecological dimensions to generate broader support for sustaining and expanding peatland restoration projects in Indonesia.

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