Decline of sumatran peat swamp forests since 1990

Abstract

In this paper we highlight the dramatic decline of Sumatran peat swamp forests since 1990. Comparison of three recently produced land cover maps (1990-2000- 2010) revealed that the proportion of forested peatland in Sumatra plunged from 75% to 28% between 1990 and 2010, corresponding to over 30 000 km2 of deforested peatland. These areas were primarily converted to plantations or taken over by secondary regrowth, with some areas reduced to extremely degraded open fernland. More detailed provincial level analysis on the three primary peat provinces in Sumatra revealed that South Sumatra province lost majority of its peat swamp forests already by the year 2000, while the deforestation continued on a very high level in Riau and Jambi provinces between 2000 and 2010. This ongoing rapid deforestation of peatlands not only jeopardizes the existence of the entire peat swamp forest ecosystem in Sumatra, but may have direct global consequences through elevated levels of carbon emissions.