Hybrid seminar on “Peatlands Futures: Integrating Data and Community Governance for Nature-Based Climate and Haze Solutions”

Event Highlights

In this hybrid seminar, Professor Dr Matthew Ashfold, Dr Azliyana Azhari, and Professor Dr Alex Lechner discussed the importance of Southeast Asia’s peatland ecosystems, the main drivers of peatland degradation and its resulting “haze” pollution impacts, as well as the policy and governance challenges in tackling such issues. The seminar culminated in a policy brief on community-centred actions for improved peatland governance and the implementation of nature-based solutions (NbS) presented by Associate Professor Dr Helena Varkkey. The research presented in this seminar was supported by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN).

CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAMME SEMINAR

Monday, 24 September 2025 – Professor Dr Matthew Ashfold, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Dr Azliyana Azhari, Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication at Monash University Malaysia and Professor Dr Alex Lechner, Monash University Indonesia introduced the issue of peatland conservation and its connection to haze pollution and nature-based solutions; analysed trends in media and public discourse on haze and climate change; and explored the prevailing challenges of mapping and quantifying peatlands for climate and biodiversity research. The session was moderated by Ms Sharon Seah, Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme at ISEAS.

Left to right: Prof Alex Lechner, Ms Sharon Seah (moderator), Dr Azliyana Azhari, and Prof Matthew Ashfold. (Credit: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)

In her Welcome Remarks, Ms Sharon Seah began by thanking the team behind the recently concluded research project, “Policy and governance approaches to cooperative mitigation of peatland carbon emissions and transboundary haze in Southeast Asia”, supported by APN. She recalled major transboundary haze episodes in the region, including the 1997 event triggered by massive forest fires in Indonesia and the 2015 event caused by prolonged peatland fires exacerbated by El Niño. In those days, research into the connection between intensifying climate impacts, forest fires and haze pollution was still nascent. Now, carbon markets are developing rapidly and the discussion on peatland conservation as a potential source of economic benefits is growing. However, without robust data, harmonisation standards and full compliance, the carbon market integrity of peatland conservation projects would be compromised. This research project advanced understanding on how peatlands can play a critical role in global climate mitigation, inviting policymakers to take note of the importance of community ownership in bridging gaps in data and transparency. Ms Seah thanked Dr Varkkey for initiating the project and gathering a group of regional researchers and practitioners to build a community of governance practice in this field. She also welcomed Dr Azliyana, who led another APN-supported project on media analysis of climate and haze issues, for sharing a communications perspective on the issue.

The Opening Remarks were delivered by Professor Dr Gusti Zakaria Anshari, Universitas Tanjungpura, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. He reiterated that the aforementioned research project addressed important concerns on sustainable peatland management, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. Both countries have the largest peatland extent in Southeast Asia, encompassing at least 20 million hectares. He noted that in the 1970s, there was no civic interest in tropical peatland ecosystems, apart from resource extraction. Peat fires were considered normal occurrences. However, after the 1997 forest fires which led to widespread transboundary haze and severe health impacts, it has emerged as recurring regional issue of serious concern. He shared that peatland ecosystems in Indonesia and Malaysia were in poor health, leading to fires, loss of biodiversity, carbon emissions and the decline of local livelihoods. Therefore, he expressed his thanks to APN and the research participants, including local community members in Selangor, Malaysia and Limbung, Indonesia, who provided their valuable insights and made this project possible.

Prof. Dr Gusti Zakaria Anshari (Credit: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)

In the first presentation, Prof Matthew Ashfold gave a background on peatland issues in Southeast Asia, which holds 5% of global peatlands. Regional peatlands store tens of billions of tonnes of carbon, contain rich biodiversity and support the wellbeing of local communities. However, they are under intense anthropogenic pressure, with large areas already drained and deforested due to industrial development, especially the oil palm boom which led to the extensive conversion of peatlands to plantations. Indonesia and Malaysia are top palm oil producers globally. Drained peatlands face hydrological disruption, land subsidence, fires and carbon losses. Today, relatively small areas of peatlands are protected. The World Bank estimated that large-scale fires cost Indonesia $16.1 billion in short-term health and economic impacts alone. Prof Ashfold clarified that fires were a result of both human activity and climate conditions. Natural climate variability like the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) contributes to fire risk, but climate change also causes more frequent hot and dry conditions. While there have been longstanding efforts to address haze in the region, challenges remain due to the limited availability of scientific data. In addition, peatlands contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia and Malaysia, though considerable uncertainty remains in emission estimates. Prof Ashfold noted that NbS have been suggested as a solution for biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation and adaptation, supporting local livelihoods and reduce fire risk. NbS include the restoration of degraded peatlands, improved management of peat-based agriculture, and protected areas. While they are thought to have high potential and cost effectiveness, NbS have not yet been deployed at scale due to governance and economic challenges.

In the second presentation, Dr Azliyana Azhari compared how haze and climate change is presented in the media and public discourse in Indonesia and Malaysia. She reiterated that although the two countries are biodiversity hotspots, they are also significant contributors to global carbon emissions, ranking 23^rd and 6^th respectively in global carbon dioxide emissions. Media analysis of how haze and extreme weather events were reported between 2015 to 2024 show that reporting peaked during severe haze years, dry seasons and during political events. Meanwhile, surveys indicated that despite high levels of concern, climate-friendly behaviours were still slow to take root across the two countries. Focus group discussions carried out in Indonesia and Malaysia highlighted the need for better training, more localised and relatable storytelling, and clearer communication that is not overwhelmingly negative. To combat this, the project is developing a resource bank for journalists to strengthen climate reporting. There are also plans to create a glossary of climate reporting terms in local languages improve access for diverse and vulnerable communities.

In the third presentation, Prof Alex Lechner discussed the challenges of mapping and quantifying peatlands in Indonesia and Malaysia, exploring how data uncertainty impedes the effective management of these ecosystems. Given that different institutions, methods, and definitions produce varying maps and estimates of peatland extent, dynamics, impacts, and emissions, basic figures such as total peatland area can differ dramatically. These uncertainties then affect the systems used for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. This makes clear and transparent communication regarding peatlands challenging. Drawing on a literature review, expert workshops, and mapping exercises, the project makes several recommendations to combat data uncertainty such as such as using recognised good-practice protocols for mapping and area estimation, involving local communities in data collection and monitoring and building multi-scale, multi-source Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems to integrate uncertainty and community input.

In her policy brief launch, Dr Helena Varkkey explained how the data related to tropical peatlands can be limited and contradictory, thus weakening policy and governance decisions. She highlighted two gaps in policymaking in Southeast Asian peatlands, particularly from data and community perspectives: (i) the magnitude of uncertainty in data for peatland management; and (ii) the under-valuing of community knowledge. However, Dr Varkkey noted that uncertainty in peatland data is unlikely to be resolved quickly through the further measurement peatlands alone, especially given the long-standing scientific efforts to measure these ecosystems. Therefore, she suggested addressing the two identified gaps through the complementary use of scientific and community-based evidence. For this, the policy brief provided three recommendations: (i) enhance data practices across scales and borders; (ii) constructively engage with data uncertainty through the use of the precautionary principle; and (iii) value broader sustainability benefits rather than over-rely on carbon potential within policies and governance mechanisms.

Dr Helena Varkkey (Credit: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)

In the Q&A segment, panellists addressed questions relating to the political context of public perceptions, sustainable finance frameworks and carbon markets and species conservation. The seminar drew over 75 in-person and online participants.

(Credit: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute)

To watch the full version of this video, please visit the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/mCTH35LPj-g?si=Dmhs3emUs2fSlMmd