Social and Ecological Dimensions of Tropical Peatland Restoration

Tropical peatlands in Indonesia have attracted international and domestic attention and concern in recent decades. Indonesian peatlands provide globally significant climate regulation and biodiversity provisioning ecosystem services and are central to the lives of local communities, yet they have undergone significant degradation via drainage and fire. There is a growing call for scientific knowledge of the social, environmental and practice dimensions of peatland restoration in Indonesia. This Special Volume of Mires and Peat is a collaborative effort by an Indonesian and Australian team of biophysical and social scientists to showcase primary research and systematic reviews that engage with the complexity of tropical peatland fire, conservation and restoration in Indonesia. We explore lives above ground (people and plants) and below ground (microbes, plants and the dynamic peat itself) and identify the following four themes that cut across the individual articles: 1) Livelihoods and land use; 2) Community engagement; 3) Bringing together multiple knowledges; and 4) Carbon; and draw out globally applicable lessons. We suggest that these themes highlight future directions for research which engage with the complexity of tropical peatland restoration in Indonesia, while centring the voices of local communities to support equity and sustainability in the transition to rewet peatlands.