• Enhancing awareness and capacity, addressing poverty and inequity, and removing perverse incentives are important to tackle the root causes of peatland degradation.

ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy (2006-2020) South East Asia has more than 25 million ha of peatlands or 60% of the known tropical peatland resource. However about two-thirds of the peatlands are heavily utilized or degraded and over the past 10 years more than 3 million ha have burnt for months on end- leading to smoke clouds covering up to five countries, economic losses of billions of dollars and major health and environmental costs. In November 2006,Ministers from the 10 ASEAN Member Countries endorsed the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy (2006-2020) to provide a framework for the sustainable management of peatlands. The goal of the Strategy is to promote sustainable management of peatlands in the ASEAN region through collective action and enhanced cooperation to support and sustain local livehoods, reduce risk of fire and associated haze and contribute to global environmental management. The Strategy includes 25 operational objectives and 97 Actions in 13 focal areas ranging from integrated management to climate change and inventory. Countries in the region are now in the process to develop and implement their respective national action plans.

Russian Peatland Action Plan Peatlands cover more than 8% of the Russian Federation and represent 20% of the world's peatlands. Traditionally peatlands in Russia have been the concern of several different economic sectors - from agriculture to conservation to energy - each of which have developed separate approaches to peatland management leading to serious conflicts. To facilitate an integration of different sectors, an Action Plan for Peatland Conservation and Wise Use in the Russian Federation was developed and endorsed by the government in 2003.

Capacity building Capacity building is critical to facilitating effective integrated management of peatlands. Without appropriate knowledge and skills among the different stakeholders involved in peatlands it will not be possible to implement integrated management. Capacity building can be undertaken through awareness raising, policy development, training for management staff and local communities and many other approaches. Efforts should take a multi-stakeholder approach and support the implementation of integrated management concepts.

Avoid ill-advised climate mitigation measures on peatlands  Climate mitigation measures such as hydropower, wind energy or biofuel production should generally not be implemented on peatlands to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity, carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes. Cultivation of biofuel crops such as oil palm, soya, sugar cane or maize in peatland areas normally leads to significantly more CO2 emissions than are saved through substitution of fossil fuels by the resultant biofuel. Emissions of N20 stimulated by fertiliser use on such peatlands may also be high.  Projected ORO emission reductions from wind farms on peatlands may need to be reduced to account for the release of C02 from peatlands drained or impacted by the construction of the windmills and access roads. Flooding of peatlands for reservoirs as part of hydropower projects may lead to significant CR4 emissions.

Rehabilitation of peatlands can generate multiple benefits for biodiversity, climate change and local communities

Belarus peatland management

Following an ongoing UNDP-OEF financed pilot project of 42,000 ha. Belarus aims at restoring an area of 260,000 ha of peatland to be followed by a larger area in the longer-term, to avoid emissions of several million tonnes of carbon dioxide and to improve the biodiversity of these highly degraded sites. The funds necessary for restoration and subsequent management are pursued through the planned sale of high quality carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market. This initiative unites in an exemplary way the interests of climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, degraded land rehabilitation and local livelihoods.

Community-based peat restoration in Indonesia

Local communities in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia have traditionally depended, for their livelihoods, on fish and non-timber forest products from the extensive peat swamp forests. They have been severely impacted by the clearance and degradation of peatlands, for example, the failed I-million ha Mega-Rice Scheme abandoned in 1999 after 500,000 ha burnt in the 1997-98 EI Nino events. The Climate Change, Forest and Peatland in Indonesia (CCFPI) Project assisted the local communities to block the abandoned drainage channels and to rehabilitate the peatlands. This has led to reductions in fires and ORO emissions and improvements in fish harvests. The restoration techniques developed - drawing on indigenous knowledge - have now been adopted for large-scale rehabilitation of peatlands in Indonesia and elsewhere.