SUMMARY: RSPO MANUAL on BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (Bmps)
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SUMMARY: RSPO MANUAL ON BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs) FOR MANAGEMENT AND REHABILITATION OF NATURAL VEGETATION ASSOCIATED WITH OIL PALM CULTIVATION ON PEAT SUPPORTED BY: SUMMARY: RSPO MANUAL ON BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs) FOR MANAGEMENT AND REHABILITATION OF NATURAL VEGETATION ASSOCIATED WITH OIL PALM CULTIVATION ON PEAT Authors: Summary prepared by: Faizal Parish Si Siew Lim Si Siew Lim Balu Perumal Wim Giesen SUMMARY: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS RSPO MANUAL ON RSPO would like to thank all PLWG members and the Co-Chairs (Faizal Parish of BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPS) GEC and Ibu Rosediana of IPOC) for the successful completion of this Summary. SUPPORTED BY: FOR MANAGEMENT AND REHABILITATION The compilation of information and editing of this Summary has been done by OF NATURAL VEGETATION ASSOCIATED Faizal Parish of GEC and Si Siew Lim of Grassroots. Field visits were hosted by WITH OIL PALM CULTIVATION ON PEAT GEC (Selangor, Malaysia). Thanks are due to the staff of GEC, IPOC and RSPO Parish F., Lim, S. S., Perumal, B. and Giesen, W. (eds) who supported activities and meetings of the PLWG. Photographs were mainly 2013. Summary: RSPO Manual on Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Management and Rehabilitation provided by Faizal Parish, Balu Perumal, Julia Lo Fui San and Jon Davies. of Natural Vegetation Associated with Oil Palm Cultivation on Peat. RSPO, Kuala Lumpur. Funding to support the PLWG was provided by the RSPO and a range of agencies Authors: from the UK Government. The input by staff of GEC was supported through Faizal Parish Si Siew Lim grants from IFAD-GEF (ASEAN Peatland Forests Project) and the European Balu Perumal Wim Giesen Union (SEAPeat Project). Summary prepared by: Si Siew Lim Disclaimer: The statements, technical information and recommendations contained in this Summary are ISBN 000-000-00000-0-0 based on best practice and experience and have been e-book prepared by the members of the RSPO Peatland Working Group (PLWG) established by decision of Book design: the RSPO General Assembly. The guidance in this Yap Ni Yan Summary does not necessarily reflect the views of the RSPO Secretariat or any of the individual contributors, III This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part sponsors and supporters of the process. and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, The publication of this Summary does not constitute provided acknowledgement of the source is made. an endorsement by RSPO, the PLWG or any participants or supporters of the development of new No use of this publication may be made for resale or oil palm plantations in peatland areas. Every effort has for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without been made to make this Summary as complete and express written consent from the Roundtable on accurate as possible. However there may be omissions Sustainable Palm Oil. or errors, both typographical and in content and over time the contents may become superseded. Therefore Please direct all inquiries to this text should be used as a guide and not the sole RSPO Secretariat Sdn Bhd basis for management and rehabilitation of natural Unit A-37-1, Menara UOA Bangsar vegetation associated with oil palm cultivation on No. 5 Jalan Bangsar Utama 1 peat. Implementation of these best practice guidance 59000 Kuala Lumpur is voluntary and results will vary according to local Malaysia situations. Neither RSPO nor the PLWG or any contributors or supporters of the process can be held [email protected] liable for the results of application of the guidance. http://www.rspo.org/ First Edition in English, designed for digital screen, e-book, published October 2013 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS TABLE OF CONTENTS RSPO — ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III IPOC — ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS IV GEC — TABLE OF CONTENTS V PLWF IFAD-GEF 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 Do we need this? 2.0 PEAT SWAMP FOREST ECOSYSTEMS 3 3.0 Management of EXisting Peat Swamp Forest Areas 12 in or ADJacent to Oil Palm Plantations 4.0 REHABILITATION OF PEAT SWAMP FORESTS 22 IN DEGRADED SITES IV V 5.0 IMPLEMENTING PEAT SWAMP FOREST REHABILITATION 28 6.0 Partnership Mechanisms 46 Involving Local Communities, Government, NGOS and Incentives — REFERENCES 48 S U M M A R Y: RS P O MA N UA L O N B E S T MA N A GE M E N T P RA CTICE S ( B M P s ) F O R MA N A GE M E N T A ND R EH A BILITAT I O N O F N AT URA L V E G E TAT I O N ASS OCI ATED WITH OIL PA L M C U LTIVAT I O N O N P E AT 1.0: INTRODUCTION The need for an ‘RSPO Manual on Best Management Practices (BMP) for Management and Rehabilitation of Natural Vegetation Associated with Oil Palm Cultivation on Peat’ was included in the work plan of the RSPO Peatland Working Group (PLWG) after it was established in 2009. This Manual is dedicated to maintenance and rehabilitation of peat swamp vegetation in and around oil palm plantations on peat. It supplements the ‘RSPO Manual on Best Management Practices (BMP) for Cultivation of Oil Palm on Tropical Peat.’ The objective of this Manual is to provide practical guidelines for BMPs that are important for the rehabilitation and management of degraded peat sites within existing oil palm plantations on peat or areas adjacent to them e.g. permanently undrainable patches after prolonged oil palm cultivation and logged over river reserves and HCV areas. This Manual draws on experience of peatlands rehabilitation in SE Asia. It also draws on and refers to existing national regulations and guidelines especially from Indonesia and Malaysia where there are ongoing peat rehabilitation initiatives. 1 It is noted that restoration of degraded peatlands to its original pristine condition is almost impossible given that much is irreversibly changed in degraded peatlands (e.g. peat compaction and loss) and so the best strategy is to conserve peatland vegetation in its natural form at the time of plantation development. S U M M A R Y: RS P O MA N UA L O N B E S T MA N A GE M E N T P RA CTICE S ( B M P s ) F O R MA N A GE M E N T A ND R EH A BILITAT I O N O F N AT URA L V E G E TAT I O N ASS OCI ATED WITH OIL PA L M C U LTIVAT I O N O N P E AT 1 . 0 INT R OD U CTION 2.0: Peat Swamp Forest Ecosystems Reasons for Management and Rehabilitation of Peat Swamp Forests and Their Importance Peat Swamp Forests in ConJunction with Oil Palm Peat swamp forests are unique habitats for fauna and flora, commonly with a high Cultivation on Peat proportion of endemic species that give these areas worldwide significance not only for The challenges attributed to peatland cultivation of palms (as opposed to ideal soil- unusual species but as a gene bank with untapped and even undiscovered resources for types) are also linked to many social and environmental problems in surrounding medicinal and other important human uses. They play an important part in stabilizing the peatlands, waters and forests. It should also be noted that the rehabilitation of ecosystem, particularly in the control of drainage, microclimate, water purification and soil certain sites within a larger area of plantation may provide benefit for the estate, formation. Coastal peat swamps act as a buffer between marine and freshwater systems, environment and communities that are dependent on peatlands. The following preventing excessive saline intrusion into coastal land and groundwater. At a global scale are specific reasons for management and rehabilitation of peat swamp forests in the peat swamp forests contribute to the storage of atmospheric carbon that is an agent of conjunction with oil palm cultivation on peat: global warming, helping to regulate climate change and contribute to the cooling of the planet. Peat swamp forests can also be very productive through the managed extraction of • presence of High Conservation Values (HCVs) within or adjacent to fish, timber and other non-timber forest products (UNDP, 2006). plantation areas, • importance of wildlife corridors, Further benefits provided by intact peat swamp forests focusing on the provision 2 • importance of river reserves or boundary buffer zones, of ecosystem services include flood mitigation, maintenance of base flows in 3 rivers, prevention of saline water intrusion, sediment removal, nutrient and • undrainable areas within plantations, toxicant removal as well as carbon store and sequestration. • prevention of disruption of hydrology of adjacent peat swamp forest, • fire prevention, Characteristics of soils in Peat Swamp Forests • management of disturbance/encroachment, and The soil in peat swamp forests is organic or peat soil. The soil is derived from • presence of water catchment/retention areas and for increasing carbon stocks. the accumulation of dead plants that are not decomposed due to the high water content and low oxygen levels in the soil. Soil thickness varies, depending on the length of time of deposition of organic matters and damaging factors such as wild fires. Most coastal ombrogenous peat along the east coast of Sumatra and south coast of Kalimantan has been formed in the past 6000-10000 years and often has a maximum depth in the range of 6-12 meters. As for the properties of organic soil in peat swamps, it is found that the peat soil in SE Asia is of a low bulk density of 1.3-1.6g/ml. The color of peat swamp soil varies with the depth of the soil, from dark gray to dark reddish brown.