Peatland degradation fuels climate change
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Climate mitigation and adaptation
In this article we publisch the findings of the Peat-CO2 study of Delft Hydraulics, Wetlands International and Alterra for the 12th UN-FCCC summit, Nairobi 2006.
The article presents shocking information on climate change caused by wetland destruction in Indonesia.
Over the last decades, a silent disaster has been taking place in Indonesia and is increasing in magnitude. Huge areas of wet peatland forests are drained and logged.
Drainage starts a rapid process of decomposition, made worse by annual peat fires that last for months. Together these contribute large amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Recently calculated emissions of greenhouse gases unexpectedly reveal that Indonesia has the third largest emissions of the world. These figures that change the global picture on greenhouse gas emissions will be presented at the UN-climate Conference in Nairobi, Tuesday the 7th of November 2006.
