Are Southeast Asia's Peatlands Going Down the Drain?

How the drainage of Southeast Asia’s peatlands is altering the fragile ecosystems and causing a rise in CO2 emissions.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary driver of recent climate change. Today, in 2015 concentrations of atmospheric CO2 have just exceeded 400 ppm (parts per million), which is approximately 40% higher than at any time in the last 20 million years. If these levels continue to rise at the current rate, we will witness severe changes to our climate worldwide.

Forested tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia are a significant store of soil carbon, locking away at least 42000 Million metric tonnes (Mt). However, the stability of this large store is under threat from human activity and climate change, with agricultural development being the chief offender.

In 2006, CO2 emissions from peatland drainage in Southeast Asia were on average 500 metric tonnes (Mt)* which equates to the amount of CO2 produced by 220 British motorists annually.

What can be done to prevent this?

Appropriate water management would cause a rise in groundwater levels, therefore leading to a decrease in CO2 emissions.

A change in land use could also help to combat CO2 emissions from tropical peatlands. Emissions vary depending on the land use, with the largest emissions coming from large scale cropland areas such as plantations. If more of the large scale cropland areas were ‘set aside’ for smaller scale mixed cropland or reforestation schemes, the groundwater would return to a higher level thus reducing the amount of CO2 emitted.

Future management and mitigation strategies

Previously overlooked, CO2 emissions from drained tropical peatlands should be included in analyses of land use, land use change and forestry as well as greenhouse gas emission budgets as considered by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Greater understanding of peatland ecosystems combined with strategic water and land management practices could result in an overall reduction in carbon emissions from tropical peatlands, an outcome that would benefit the environment on a global scale.

Further Reading

Hooijer, A., Page, S., Canadell, J. G., Silvius, M., Kwadijk, J., Wösten, H., & Jauhiainen, J. (2010). Current and future CO2 emissions from drained peatlands in Southeast Asia. Biogeoscience, 7, 1505-1514.

Pearson, P. N., & Palmer, M. R. (2000). Atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the past 60 million years. Nature, 406, 695-699.