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Library Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm

Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm

Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm

Resource information

Date of publication
december 2011
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
AGRIS:US201600192237
Pages
5127-5132

Rising global demands for food and biofuels are driving forest clearance in the tropics. Oil-palm expansion contributes to biodiversity declines and carbon emissions in Southeast Asia. However, the magnitudes of these impacts remain largely unquantified until now. We produce a 250-m spatial resolution map of closed canopy oil-palm plantations in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia (2 million ha), Borneo (2.4 million ha), and Sumatra (3.9 million ha). We demonstrate that 6% (or [almost equal to]880,000 ha) of tropical peatlands in the region had been converted to oil-palm plantations by the early 2000s. Conversion of peatswamp forests to oil palm led to biodiversity declines of 1% in Borneo (equivalent to four species of forest-dwelling birds), 3.4% in Sumatra (16 species), and 12.1% in Peninsular Malaysia (46 species). This land-use change also contributed to the loss of [almost equal to]140 million Mg of aboveground biomass carbon, and annual emissions of [almost equal to]4.6 million Mg of belowground carbon from peat oxidation. Additionally, the loss of peatswamp forests implies the loss of carbon sequestration service through peat accumulation, which amounts to [almost equal to]660,000 Mg of carbon annually. By 2010, 2.3 million ha of peatswamp forests were clear-felled, and currently occur as degraded lands. Reforestation of these clearings could enhance biodiversity by up to [almost equal to]20%, whereas oil-palm establishment would exacerbate species losses by up to [almost equal to]12%. To safeguard the region's biodiversity and carbon stocks, conservation and reforestation efforts should target Central Kalimantan, Riau, and West Kalimantan, which retain three-quarters (3.9 million ha) of the remaining peatswamp forests in Southeast Asia.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Koh, Lian Pin
Miettinen, Jukka
Liew, Soo Chin
Ghazoul, Jaboury

Data Provider
Geographical focus