SUSTAINABLE REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL PEAT SWAMP FOREST ECOSYSTEM IN GIAM SIAK BIOSPHERE RESERVE, RIAU, INDONESIA: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

Abstract

There arc four main reasons that sustainable rehabilitation should be important to be promoted in Giam Siak Biosphere Reserve; 1) large degraded peatland and forest areas due to high fire intensity, poor canal drainage and illegal logging activities, 2) forest encroachment and conversion, 3) problems in livelihoods for local people, and 4) the important to rehabilitate carbon sequestration and protection of remaining peat carbon stocks. Three keys issues in sustainable rehabilitation of degraded tropical forest lands; promoting local participation, livelihood needs, and institutional arrangements. This paper highlighted currently results of rehabilitation experiments including to estimate amount of sequestered carbon, survival rate, relative growth rate, and discuss future working in order to continue efforts to promote sustainable rehabilitation in biosphere reserve. Two different locations was selected. First, forest degradation by illegal logging and second, peatland degradation due to severe fire yearly and intensively agriculture in transition areas with extent 304,000 ha. Diameter increment was used to estimate increment of biomass, carbon storage and their sequestration in rehabilitation and forested site. The allometric equation was used: Y=-2.13+2.53*ln DBH, Relative Growth Rate was calculated by RGR^ (In GOO-ln G99)/t. The carbon content was calculated by multiplying the 0.5 conversion factor to the above ground biomass. The survival rate show decreasing in all tree species was planted. The greatest relative growth rate (RGR) was Cratoxylon arborescens (1.97 cm yr"1), followed Tetramerista glabra (1.41 cm yr" ), Palaquium sumatranum (1.04 cm yr'1), Dyera lowii (0.93 cm yr"1), and the lowest Palaquium burckii (0.80 cm yr'1). The total amount of carbon sequestration was 0.72 Mg C ha'1 in both experimental sites and forested areas. Strengthen local institution in village level, e.g. KMPII {Forest Conservation Community Group} Tcm, and KMLHG (Peat Conservation Community Group) in Tanjung Leban Village, and doing continuously camping programs involved wider communities and stakeholders were efforts to promote sustainable rehabilitation in biosphere reserve.