Peatlands Futures: Integrating Data and Community Governance for Nature-Based Climate and Haze Solutions

Knowledge Exchange Seminar – Final Session

As the concluding event of the Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series under the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)-funded project, this hybrid forum marks the culmination of two years of collaborative research and dialogue on peatland governance and transboundary haze mitigation in Southeast Asia.

Building on insights from earlier seminars held at Monash University Indonesia, this final session brings together leading scholars and practitioners to explore how data integration and community-based governance can advance Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change and haze.

The event also features the launch of a policy brief highlighting community-centred pathways toward improved peatland governance and sustainable outcomes across Indonesia and Malaysia—signifying a major milestone in the project’s journey toward fostering evidence-informed regional cooperation.

Click here for programme details.

About the Speakers

Professor Dr Matthew Ashfold is a Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. His research interests encompass various aspects of atmospheric and climate science, often in the context of tropical Asia. Current research priorities include the impacts of climate change on air pollution and the co-emission of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

Dr Azliyana Azhari is a Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication at Monash University Malaysia. Azliyana received her PhD in Environment and Development from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her research focuses on the intersection of atmospheric pollution and emission management. She is the Principal Investigator on the APN project “Building capacity through co-production in Indonesia and Malaysia to address the climate change communication gap between scientific and lay audiences through journalists”.

Professor Dr Alex Lechner is a landscape ecologist and Professor, coordinating the Master of Sustainability program at Monash University Indonesia. He is also an honorary Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. His research focuses on developing methods to support sustainable planning. biodiversity conservation and natural resource management through developing novel spatial approaches, including ecosystem services modelling, wildlife connectivity analyses, remote sensing and participatory web-based GIS mapping.

Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor of Political Ecology at Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include transboundary haze governance in Southeast Asia, global palm oil politics and climate politics and governance. Her monograph on “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Politics” was published by Routledge in 2016. She is the Principal Investigator on the APN project “Policy and governance approaches to cooperative mitigation of peatland carbon emissions and transboundary haze in Southeast Asia”

Professor Dr Gusti Z. Anshari is a Professor at the Soil Science Department and Environmental Science post-graduate studies at Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. He obtained a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from Monash University, Australia. He has worked as a tropical peatland researcher for the last 20 years. He is currently contributing to Chapter 2 of IPCC AR-6 report as the lead author.

Registration:

• In-person attendance: via the ISEAS mobile app (available on iOS and Android — search “ISEAS” in the App Store or Play Store).

  

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• Virtual attendance: please register here to receive your unique Zoom link.

Seating capacity is limited; early registration is encouraged.