Save the Earth: Empower Communities

Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo is home to peatland forest, significant wildlife and landscapes. These peatland forests naturally sequester a significant amount of the world’s carbon stores, as such it is compared to one of the last lungs of the earth. Large scale exploitation of these landscapes are detrimental on every level:  environmentally, climate change, human health and economic activity. 

 As such peatland restoration is critical to the environmental protection of these landscapes. The strategies used to support protection of peatland is rewetting, revegetation, and revitalization. 

These strategies are intertwined with the empowerment of indigenous communities to manage these landscapes sustainably through growing and harvesting ‘peat-friendly’ commodities. 

• The Lepironia articulata grass or grey sedge stores carbon in significant peatland landscapes of Borneo, also known of one of the last lungs of the earth.
• These grass reeds are harvested leaving the roots intact and regrow within 9 months
• These landscapes provide significant ecological and economic value for local communities:
  • The harvesting of the reed for the production of straws and other handicrafts provides a sustainable income for indigenous and local communities
  • These grasslands especially root systems submerged in water lands are an important habitat for aquatic life and fish providing essential staple food source for communities
  • The creation of sustainable renewable  products such as these eco straws support the economic needs of local communities. This is in turn reduces the instance of illegal logging and exploitation of non-renewable natural resources  
    

References:
https://www.mongabay.co.id/2020/05/06/sedotan-purun-kreativitas-masyarakat-tumbang-nusa-jaga-lahan-gambut/
http://pojokiklim.menlhk.go.id/read/restorasi-dan-perlindungan-gambut