Local Governance of Peatland Restoration in Riau, Indonesia A Transdisciplinary Analysis

• Other Authors: Okamoto, Masaaki (Editor), Osawa, Takamasa (Editor), Prasetyawan, Wahyu (Editor), Binawan, Akhwan (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature 2023
• Series: Global Environmental Studies
• Subjects: Conservation of the environment; Environmental management; Sustainability; Ecological science, the Biosphere; Media studies; Environmental governance; Global warming; CO2 emissions; Rural community research; Resource governance; Peatland conservation; Peatland degradation; Peatland rehabilitation; Peat swamp forest; Peatland ecosystems; Tropical peatland; SDG 1; SDG 5; SDG 13; SDG 15
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

This open access book is one in a series of four volumes introducing peatland conservation and restoration in Indonesia. It focuses on local governance, in particular on regional and local perspectives in Riau, the most peat-destructed province of Indonesia. The book fills a vital gap in the existing literature that overlooks social science and humanities perspectives. Written by authors from different disciplines and backgrounds (including scholars and NGO activists), the approaches to the topic are various and unique, including analysis of GPS logs, social media, geospatial assessments, online interviews (conducted due to the Covid-19 pandemic), and more conventional questionnaires and surveys of community members. The chapters cover an interdisciplinary understanding of peatland destruction and broadly offer insights into environmental governance. While presenting combined studies of established fieldwork methodologies and contemporary technology such as drones and geospatial information, the book also explores the potential of long-distance research with rural communities through online facilitation, which was brought about by Covid-19, but that may have long­term implications. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the complexities surrounding peatland conservation and restoration and recognize the significance of locally inclusive approaches that use contemporary but accessible technologies to sustainably govern the globally important resource of peatland. That approach would be useful for other environmentally fragile but important regions and give some ideas to achieve the United Nations' SDGs for 1)No Poverty, 5)Gender Equality, 13)Climate Action, 15)Life of Land.