For Peat’s Sake

“The project development team takes a data-driven approach to project monitoring including remote sensing imagery, reported baseline values, and on-the-ground measurements. This increases Cool Effect’s confidence and certainty in the emission reductions.

In addition to climate change mitigation, this project provides community and biodiversity benefits. 50% of the households within the project zone live below the national poverty line. The agreements between the project and communities ensure that benefits will be distributed and shared. Last, this project is verified and certified “Gold Level for 3 years for Climate, Community, and Biodiversity” by the Climate Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standard.”

– Sid Yaddav, Director of Project Research

Project Type: Avoided Nature Loss

Carbon Standard: Verra, CCB Triple Gold

Vintage: 2020

Additionality: Originally slated for conversion to an Acacia plantation, the project prevented land clearing techniques that would release carbon stored within the peatlands and forested areas.

Permanence: The Katingan project is on a 60-year concession license with the potential to extend up to 100 years.

Site Visit: Planned Q4 2021

Palm oil production, acacia conversion, illegal logging and hunting threaten the Indonesian Peatlands. This project area, formally known as Katingan Peatland Restoration, was at risk of acacia conversion to produce paper. This conversion would release carbon into the atmosphere through clear-cutting, draining, and burning of the peat. Today, Katingan serves as a viable alternative to land conversion: it protects and restores 157,000 hectares of the peat swamp ecosystem, one of the largest remaining intact peat swamp forests in Indonesia. It reduces 7.5 million tonnes of CO2e each year, for a total of 447 million tonnes over the 60-year project period.

Peat swamps play an important role as ecosystems: stabilizing water flow, preventing peat forest fires, enriching soil nutrients, protecting and housing a diverse set of species, including some endangered species, and providing clean water. Peat swamps are also carbon sinks, storing more than 90% of the system’s carbon in the deep peat soil. This ecosystem and project area are highly susceptible to fire, so fire prevention, awareness training, and seedling nursery development are the primary conservation and reforestation efforts.

In addition to the ecosystem and carbon benefits, Katingan is integrated into the 34 local villages and supports the traditional livelihoods of 400 residents through farming, fishing, and non-timber forest harvesting. Roughly 20-30% of operating costs support community development and 40-50% support direct project activities. The sale of carbon enables Katingan to support community-based businesses, provide microfinance loans to small businesses, fund public health clinics, and improve sanitation. The project strengthens the community’s abilities to make decisions and identify sustainable initiatives. So that it becomes even less reliant on external intervention and increased local management. Without the sale of carbon, this land would no longer exist.

• Reduces 7.5 million tonnes CO2e emissions each year.
• Serves as a model of sustainable land use and management in the region, leading to potential wider adoption of its practices.
• Employs 400 local community members to protect the forest from fire and to plant trees. Salaries are 50% above the minimum wage.
• Provides microfinance loans (948 and counting) for small business development with training and finance opportunities, especially for women, and a Community Investment Fund.
• Offers extensive vocational training that transitions the communities away from traditional unsustainable products towards more sustainable practices and products. This includes expanded business opportunities for women like rattan weaving and the production of biodegradable fiber bags.
• Creates public health improvements including access to health care, with a focus on women and children, increased sanitation through upgraded latrine installments, and fire prevention to improve air quality.
• Preserves the peatland forest which protects the local watershed, which in turn, preserves the forest through rewetting. A preserved peat forest protects the local biodiversity including mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish species.
• Provides regular reporting and stories from the project area.

• This ecosystem is at high wildfire risk during the dry season.
• Due to project size, Katingan requires significant staff, time, and resources to manage and protect the project.
• Working with so many diverse communities poses logistical and managerial challenges.
• COVID-19 impacted project activities in 2020.