PU Indonesia

in cooperation with

Rijkswaterstaat

Corruption and lack of Law Enforcement are mentioned as  causes that protected forests are lost. This might be true, but it is ultimately the population pressure that proved always in the past to be the major force  that these unique lands were lost. In our opinion it is technology development which might reduce the negative impacts of the opening of new areas. Techology development also will show better what is possible and what is not possible for a larger group of stakeholders. Tidal Lowlands Development in Indonesia is an excellent example in this matter.

However the greatest dangers are now for the peat swamp forest, for which areas the technolgy development is yet only in a rudimentary state for those peat soils with a non-sustainable drainability because of subsidence. It appears that for most of these peat swamp soils, with the present stage of technology, there is  no sustainable land use possible at the moment. Nonetheless peat forests are clear-cutted on a  large scale on assumptions that they are sustainable for development, based on experiences found in some peat swamps  where drainability does not play a limiting role for development. (South of the Kampar river in Riau)

More research is required to develop the technology for a land use with a sustainable drainability for peat soils in the tropics (like the grasslands in the peat lowlands of the Netherlands) Successful development might save more Primary Peat Swamps. The decision between a successful investment and saving the original forest (especially for Protection areas) can be more clearly made and more Primary Swamp forests might be saved, our ultimate aim for this unique inheritance of Indonesia.

Reference is made to another website which deals with the Negative Hydrological Effects of development on the border of peat domes.

Acidity Problems can be solved!

An important negative effect of agricultural development in the Tidal Lowlands is the deeper and longer exposure of the pyrite layers by groundwater drop in the subsoil after the land has been reclaimed and an increased release of acids to the adjoining canals.

Acid pollution within a Scheme. The increased pyrite exposure to oxidation after reclamation will release large quantities of acids to the direct environment at the beginning of the rainy season, mainly into the adjoining canals. Leaching of these acids is essential to maintain healthy growth of the rice plants. Farmers should be encouraged to improve the leaching conditions at field level by the use of the On-Farm Water Managment system.

However the acidity release will have a negative effect on fisheries and domestic water uses. Water quality management in the canals is still an aspect of the infra-structure development which is under-valued in importance. Improvement of the flushing capacity of the canals, promoting one-way-flow in the canals based on gate operation within the system. Another important way to tackle the acidity problem  is the introduction of double-connected canals. This will prevent the acidity-and-weeds/sediment accumulation in dead-ended canals. These problems are mainly found deep inside the Schemes far away from the rivers where slackwater conditions prevail.

To prevent the acidity problem at field level, reference is made to the web pages O&M Field and Farming System.

Acidity release to surrounding environment. Proper water management can prevent sudden large releases of acids to the environment which might kill lots of fish and damage flora. In fact the buffer working of the adjoining water courses is enormous when the operation of the main system permits daily release of acids and other toxic components. Years of monitoring in Indonesia proved that no significant pollution can be found at the borders of the Schemes near the rivers and the natural tidal watercourses.

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Primary Peat  Swamp forest
In Papua there are found still many primary forests , the major threat is on Kalimantan and Sumatra

Gelam Bush Forest (Melaleuca)
An interesting swamp forest with sudden beautiful views and a rich fauna

Marshes along rivers
A great variety of migrating bird species can be found here. Fish species in the rivers often depend part of the year on the marshes

Examples of acidity problems and effects of stagnant water in the root-zone of the rice-plant.

One-way flow operation in main canal resulted in non-acid water for previous very acid/Fe oxidized canal sections subject to slackwater  conditions. (see pH paper)