Deforestation, Forest Degradation, Biodiversity Loss and CO2 Emissions in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia
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Deforestation, Forest Degradation, Biodiversity Loss and CO2 Emissions in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia One Indonesian Province's Forest and Peat Soil Carbon Loss over a Quarter Century and its Plans for the Future WWF Indonesia Technical Report www.wwf.or.id 27 February 2008 Authors Yumiko Uryu, Consultant for World Wildlife Fund, Washington DC, USA Claudius Mott, Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH, Munich, Germany Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia Kokok Yulianto, WWF-Indonesia, Pekanbaru, Indonesia Arif Budiman, WWF-Indonesia, Pekanbaru, Indonesia Setiabudi, Consultant for WWF-Indonesia, Indonesia Fumiaki Takakai, University of Hokkaido, Japan Nursamsu, WWF-Indonesia, Pekanbaru, Indonesia Sunarto, WWF-Indonesia, Pekanbaru, Indonesia Elisabet Purastuti, WWF-Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia Nurchalis Fadhli, WWF-Indonesia, Pekanbaru, Indonesia Cobar Maju Bintang Hutajulu, WWF-Indonesia, Pekanbaru, Indonesia Julia Jaenicke, Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH, Munich, Germany Ryusuke Hatano, University of Hokkaido, Japan Florian Siegert, Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH, Munich, Germany Michael Stüwe, World Wildlife Fund, Washington DC, USA Photo on front cover: Morning light in Bukit Tigapuluh dry lowland forest, Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia © WWF-Indonesia/Sunarto. Photo on back cover: Three elephant calves in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia @ WWF-Indonesia/Samsuardi. Quote as: Uryu, Y. et al. 2008. Deforestation, Forest Degradation, Biodiversity Loss and CO2 Emissions in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia. WWF Indonesia Technical Report, Jakarta, Indonesia. Contact: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Content 1. Executive Summary................................................................................................2 2. Introduction .............................................................................................................5 3. Acknowledgements ................................................................................................6 4. Background .............................................................................................................7 4.1 Deforestation and CO2 Emissions ....................................................................................... 7 4.2 Past and Future of Deforestation in Riau ............................................................................ 9 4.3 What is at Stake? .............................................................................................................. 10 4.4 What is in the Future? ....................................................................................................... 11 5. Study Areas ...........................................................................................................13 6. REDD – Deforestation...........................................................................................14 6.1 Deforestation of Riau 1982 - 2007 .................................................................................... 14 6.2 Deforestation of Riau’s Protected Areas ........................................................................... 17 6.3 Deforestation of Riau’s TNBTK Landscape 1990 - 2007 .................................................. 18 6.3.1 Replacement of Dry Lowland versus Peatland Forest ................................................ 19 6.3.2 Replacement of Closed Canopy Forests..................................................................... 20 6.4 Predicted Deforestation of Riau 2007-2015 ...................................................................... 23 6.4.1 Predicted Forest Cover of Riau in 2015 ...................................................................... 23 6.4.2 Predicted Replacement of Forest in Riau by 2015...................................................... 24 6.4.3 Predicted Replacement of Dry Lowland versus Peatland Forest ................................ 25 6.4.4 Predicted Replacement of Closed Canopy Forests by 2015....................................... 26 7. REDD – Degradation .............................................................................................28 7.1 Forest Degradation in Riau’s TNBTK Landscape 1990– 2007 ......................................... 28 7.2 Forest Degradation in Riau’s Protected Areas.................................................................. 28 8. Fires (1997 – 2007) ................................................................................................29 9. Biodiversity ...........................................................................................................37 9.1 Forest Diversity in Riau ..................................................................................................... 37 9.2 Status of Riau’s Sumatran Elephant Population and Habitat............................................ 39 9.3 Status of Riau’s Sumatran Tiger Population and Habitat.................................................. 42 10. REDD – Emissions................................................................................................45 10.1 CO2 Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation of Above Ground Biomass ............. 46 10.1.1 Emissions in Riau’s TNBTK Landscape 1990 – 2007............................................. 46 10.1.2 Emissions from Land Cover Change in Riau 1982 – 2007...................................... 47 10.1.3 Predicted Emissions in Riau 2007-2015 ................................................................. 47 10.2 CO2 Emissions from Decomposition and Burning of Below-ground Peat Biomass........... 48 10.2.1 Emissions from Peat Decomposition in Riau’s TNBTK Landscape 1990–2007...... 48 10.2.2 Emissions from Peat Burning in Riau 1997–2007................................................... 49 10.3 Total CO2 Emission in Riau’s TNBTK Landscape 1990-2007........................................... 50 10.4 CO2 Emissions in Riau 1990-2007.................................................................................... 52 11. Conclusions ..........................................................................................................54 12. Appendices............................................................................................................59 13. References.............................................................................................................72 WWF | 1 1. Executive Summary Riau Province, in central Sumatra, is covered by vast peatlands estimated to hold Indonesia’s largest store of carbon. Riau’s remaining forests are home to the endangered Sumatran tiger and elephant. Found nowhere else on Earth, their populations have been declining rapidly across the island of Sumatra. This report documents pulp wood- and palm oil-driven deforestation and degradation of natural forests and shows how that has caused the decomposition and burning of carbon-rich soil in Riau’s vast and deep peatlands. This has resulted in globally significant CO2 emissions and the much-reported trans-boundary haze across the Malacca Straits. And it has threatened the local extinction of Sumatran elephants and tigers, which have been disappearing faster even than their forests in Riau, largely due to an increase in human-wildlife conflict as animals are driven from the disappearing forest. The study analyzes deforestation and forest degradation over the last quarter century, between 1982 and 2007. It identifies drivers of deforestation by mapping the land covers that replaced the natural forests. The term “forest” in this report always refers to natural forests and not any industrial and agricultural plantations or other land covers which replace them. Forest cover in Riau declined by 65 percent over the past 25 years. Deforestation was largely driven by industrial plantation companies despite the fact that large areas of cleared forest remain unused. Riau has almost 900,000 hectares of “waste” lands where plantations could potentially be developed without cutting more natural forest. The study estimates historical and future CO2 emissions related to deforestation, degradation of forests, degradation of peat soils and burning (the deliberate use of fire in land clearing and “runaway” fires). Two scenarios for deforestation until the year 2015 were modeled. Looking to the future, the “business as usual” scenario suggests that Riau’s natural forest cover would decline to 6% by 2015, from 27% today. The second scenario, assuming full implementation of Riau’s draft provincial land use plan, suggests that mainland natural forest cover would decline to 15% by 2015. Of the new deforestation, 84% would happen on peat soil. The deforestation would be driven by the pulp & paper industry (74% of all deforestation). Assuming that all natural forest inside an area zoned for plantation would be converted, by 2015 industrial acacia plantations would have replaced 36% (1.9 million hectares) and oil palm plantations 27% (1.4 million hectares) of all the forest lost since 1982. Open is how much, if any, natural forest would be kept standing inside the plantations. CO2 emissions caused by deforestation, forest degradation, peat decomposition and peat fires were estimated based on remote sensing analysis. Average annual CO2 emissions in Riau between 1990 and 2007 were