Adoption of community-based monitoring to peatland restoration: Lesson from participatory action research in Riau, Indonesia

Abstract

Restoration of degraded peatland ecosystems is fundamental to achieve sustainable development principally through those on climate change interventions, poverty eradication, food security, water regulation, and biodiversity conservation. Effective monitoring highly considers as an important stage for a successful restoration project allowing measurement of progress and identify corrective action or modification. Despite there are well-established peatland monitoring networks in Indonesia, the coverage area is still limited and not able to show restoration impact at a local scale. In this study, we demonstrate the value of community-based observations for monitoring peatland conditions under restoration activities as an alternative to broaden the coverage area. Learning from requirements, problems, limitations, and emerging new technology, we develop a Community Based Peatland Restoration Monitoring System (CO-PROMISE) to combine participatory measurement, science, and technology. The system offering an approach that adopting a method of technology that capable to works offline, compatible with cheap smartphones, affordable development cost, safe storage at cloud systems, transparent to monitor its result and local involvement. Community- based monitoring system implemented within a 13-ha community-based peatland restoration area in Bengkalis, Riau, Indonesia. An online dashboard was created to show groundwater level and soil moisture data as the impact of rewetting activities. Monitoring data helps develop insights into restoration activities progress and its impact within the study area. Despite there are challenges in encouraging the local community to keep monitoring activities after the project ended, community- based monitoring has been successfully collected temporal data of groundwater level, soil moisture, peat subsidence, and stored in a cloud database and published in the online dashboard. Moreover, a community-based monitoring system can be an alternative monitoring process during COVID pandemic situations, where travel can be limited for other stakeholders.

Keywords: Restoration, Peatland, Monitoring System, Participatory Action Research

ID: 3486089