Tropical peatlands are fragile ecosystems with an important role in conserving biodiversity, water quality and availability, preventing floods, soil intrusion, erosion and sedimentation, and providing a livelihood for people. However, due to illegal logging, fire and conversion into other land use, the peatlands in Indonesia are under serious threat. Efforts to restore Indonesia’s tropical peatlands have been accelerated by the establishment of the Peatland Restoration Agency in early 2016. The restoration action policy includes the rewetting, revegetation and revitalisation of local livelihood (known as the 3Rs). This paper summarises the regulatory, institutional and planning aspects of peatland restoration, in addition to the implementation of the 3Rs in Indonesia, including failures, success stories, and the criteria and indicators for the success of peatland restoration.

Indonesia has the second-largest biodiversity of any country in the world. Deforestation and forest degradation have caused a range of environmental issues, including habitat degradation and loss of biodiversity, deterioration of water quality and quantity, air pollution, and increased greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Forest restoration at the landscape level has been conducted to balance ecological integrity and human well-being. Forest restoration efforts are also aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions and are closely related to Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) from the forestry sector. The purpose of this paper is to examine the regulatory, institutional, and policy aspects of forest restoration in Indonesia, as well as the implementation of forest restoration activities in the country. The article was written using a synoptic review approach to Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)-related articles and national experiences. Failures, success stories, and criteria and indicators for forest restoration success are all discussed. We also discuss the latest silvicultural techniques for the success of the forest restoration program. Restoration governance in Indonesia has focused on the wetland ecosystem such as peatlands and mangroves, but due to the severely degraded condition of many forests, the government has by necessity opted for active restoration involving the planting and establishment of livelihood options. The government has adapted its restoration approach from the early focus on ecological restoration to more forest landscape restoration, which recognizes that involving the local community in restoration activities is critical for the success of forest restoration.

Peatlands support the daily needs of people in many villages in Indonesia, including in Central Kalimantan Province. They provide the natural resources to enable fisheries, agriculture, plantations, and forestry. However, peatland utilization comes with various challenges, including fire, soil acidity, inundation, low fertility, and limited choice of suitable species. Many of the current uses of peatland can result in its degradation, oxidation, and increased risk of peat fire. Avoiding further environmental degradation will require the development of new technology that allows the community to both earn a livelihood and protect the peatland. In this study we assessed a range of technologies applied by 14 farmers at Tumbang Nusa village, Central Kalimantan province, in managing degraded peatlands in their home yard for agricultural business. The study shows that for endemic peatland species, good success can be achieved if they are planted directly. However, for species endemic to mineral land, there are four technologies applied by farmers in managing degraded peatland. The choice of technologies is influenced by their economic capacity/cash flow flexibility and their understanding of peatlands. Technologies intended to adapt to land inundation include the use of polybags, development of raised beds, and making peat mounds with mineral soil in the centre. Technologies to address the acidity and soil fertility include amelioration with dolomite lime and fertilizer. The use of polybags filled with peat soil is the easiest technology to adopt and can be conducted by all family members. However, a farmer’s choice of technology needs to always consider the potential environmental impacts in addition to increasing soil fertility so that peat conservation is maintained.

Indonesia's tropical peatlands are crucial global carbon stores but have been heavily degraded in recent decades. We present seven principles for equitable and resilient tropical peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, host to 19% of Indonesia's tropical peatland area, where local livelihoods, cultural practices, and indigenous social relations remain closely connected. Our collaborative methods employed a Delphi survey and focus group discussions with researchers from various disciplines to develop a shared vision for restoration. This vision served as a boundary object during interviews with diverse stakeholders involved in peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan, allowing for refinement and adaptation of the vision and the development of principles to achieve it. The principles emphasize inclusive and collaborative decision‐making, planning, and implementation; site‐specific approaches adapted to local social and ecological conditions; and ensuring the informed consent of and fair benefit distribution to all local social groups. They also emphasize a holistic, integrated, and long‐term approach to restoration that considers multiple aspects, including hydrological function, vegetation regeneration, fire prevention, locally appropriate livelihood benefits, inclusive governance, and adaptive management practices. These principles serve as a starting point for resilience‐oriented social‐ecological restoration practice and policy formulation, aiming to facilitate equitable, effective, and resilient tropical peatland restoration outcomes.

Degradation of natural resources in various areas of Indonesia requires serious attention and action to prevent further damage. This research was descriptive qualitative research, presented data and evidences from two research projects which engage stakeholders to participate in natural resources management in Southern Sumatra. Our finding proved that providing clear information to the stakeholders about the goals to be achieved in natural resource management activities is the most important thing. Furthermore, a detailed description of what stakeholders could do to participate, convincing the stakeholders that they can participate easily and their role is very important in managing this natural resource were also crucial. Other significant aspects were updating information about what has been done, how the results are, also what things are still needed to do in order to reach the goal. Stakeholders will actively participate in natural resource management activities if they know clearly the objectives to be achieved. One of these objectives must be directly or indirectly related to the interests of these stakeholders and provide benefits both tangible and or non-tangible to them. Equity, trust, and learning were needed throughout the process of achieving goals.

Social forestry program is intended to improve people’s welfare and at the same time as an effort to conserve the forest. This paper examines the awareness of local communities toward social forestry programmes implemented by Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Republic Indonesia. This research was taken place in Bumi Kawa Village, Ogan Komering Ulu District. Survey, interview and focus group discussion methods were employed to collect the data. Descriptive qualitative method was used to analyze the data obtained during the research. Almost all of the people interviewed have a particularly favourable perception of the social forestry programmes implemented. Currently, the community has accessed the forest area and planted it with coffee. With the existence of social forestry program, community access to forests becomes a legal activity. The community can manage the land by implementing agroforestry system that is developing agricultural crops under forest trees. The type of tree that has been well known by the community is bambang lanang (Michelia champaca). This type of plant is suitable to grow in this region and has economic value. Based on the discussion, social forestry program is the best type of management for running the forests in this area. Communities were willing to further participate in tree planting activities. Moreover, women also had positive perception towards social forestry program although they were not fully involved in managing the forest. Some incentives were needed so that the local people will continue to participate in the long term environmental preservation.