title: Keep wetlands wet: the myth of sustainable development of tropical peatlands - implications for policies and management.
abstract: Pristine tropical peat swamp forests (PSFs) represent a unique wetland ecosystem of distinctive hydrology which support unique biodiversity and globally significant stores of soil carbon. Yet in Indonesia and Malaysia, home to 56% of the world's tropical peatland, they are subject to considerable developmental pressures, including widespread drainage to support agricultural needs. In this article, we review the ecology behind the functioning and ecosystem services provided by PSFs, with a particular focus on hydrological processes as well as the role of the forest itself in maintaining those services. Drawing on this, we review the suitability of current policy frameworks and consider the efficacy of their implementation. We suggest that policies in Malaysia and Indonesia are often based around the narrative of oil palm and other major monocrops as drivers of prosperity and development. However, we also argue that this narrative is also being supported by a priori claims concerning the possibility of sustainability of peat swamp exploitation via drainage-based agriculture through the adherence to best management practices. We discuss how this limits their efficacy, uptake and the political will towards enforcement. Further, we consider how both narratives (prosperity and sustainability) clearly exclude important considerations concerning the ecosystem value of tropical PSFs which are dependent on their unimpacted hydrology. Current research clearly shows that the actual debate should be focused not on how to develop drainage-based plantations sustainably, but on whether the sustainable conversion to drainage-based systems is possible at all.
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500, Malaysia.|Tropical Catchment Research Initiative (TROCARI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evers
authors.affiliation: Tropical Catchment Research Initiative (TROCARI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, 47500, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Yule
authors.affiliation: Tropical Catchment Research Initiative (TROCARI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Semerak, Kuala Lumpur, 54100, Malaysia.|Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
authors.forename: Rory
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Padfield
authors.affiliation: Tropical Catchment Research Initiative (TROCARI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Crops For the Future, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500, Malaysia.|School of Politics, History and International Relations, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.affiliation: Tropical Catchment Research Initiative (TROCARI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Department of International & Strategic Studies and Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Jalan Universiti, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Varkkey
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D007214:Indonesia; D012987:Soil; D014329:Tropical Climate; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: COP21; Indonesia; Malaysia; climate change; hydrology; management; policy; tropical peatlands