TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR

IMPLEMENTATION OF PEATLAND
RESTORATION IN INDONESIA

Indratmo Soekarno
Expert Group of Indonesia Peatland Restoration Agency
(Lecturing support)
Contents:
A. Introduction: Water Management for Peatland Restoration In
Indonesia
B. Technical Support for Peatland Mapping
C. Technical Support for Peatland Rewetting
D. Closed Canal network system.
E. Technical Support for Water Level Monitoring
F. Numerical Modelling Support
G. Summary
A. INTRODUCTION:
WATER MANAGEMENT FOR PEATLAND
RESTORATION IN INDONESIA
Indonesia has formal programs to restore peatlands. The restoration is
seriously executed and managed because of peat fires in year 2015
and degradation of peatlands.
Discussion of peatland restoration here will focus on technical
support of hydrological aspects:
- TO MANAGE WATER LEVEL
- TO MANAGE WATER CIRCULATION
- TO MANAGE WATER BALANCE
All water management is excecuted based on Peatland Hydrological
Unit (PHU). An unit of peatland hydrology has a border of two
significant rivers, or coastal lines.
Total area of swam area = 33 Mha.
 Project Target Of Peat Restoration 2017

1. KHG Pulau Padang

Peat Hydrology Unit
2. KHG Pulau Tebing Tinggi 36 regencies 1. KHG Sungai Kapuas – Sungai Barito
3.
4.
KHG Sungai Kampar - Sungai Gaung
KHG Sungai Rokan - Sungai Siak Kecil 33 PHU
(KHG)
2.
3.
4.
KHG Sungai Kahayan - Sungai Kapuas
KHG Sungai Kahayan - Sungai Sebangau
KHG Sungai Katingan - Sungai Sebangau
5.
6.
KHG Sungai Kiyap – Sungai Kerinci
KHG Sungai Siak – Sungai Kampar
6 provinces
7. KHG sungai Tapung Kiri –Sungai Kiyap

1. KHG Sungai Mendahara - Sungai

Batanghari
2. KHG Sungai Baung – Sungai
Betara
3. KHG Sungai Betara – Sungai
Mendahara
4. KHG Sungai Pengabuan – Sungai
Baung

1. KHG Sungai Air Hitam Laut - Sungai Buntu Kecil*

2. KHG Sungai Lalan – Sungai Merang*
3. KHG Sungai Merang – Sungai Ngirawan
4. KHG Sungai Ngirawan – Sungai Sembilang
5. KHG Sei Lalan – Sungai Bentayan 1. KHG Sungai Balangan - Sungai
6. KHG Sungai Bentayan - Sungai Penimpahan Batangalai
1. KHG Sungai Ambawang - Sungai Kubu 2. KHG Sungai Barito - Sungai Alalak
7. KHG Sungai Penimpahan – Sungai Air Hitam
2. KHG Sungai Kapuas – Sungai Ambawang 3. KHG Sungai Barito - Sungai Tapin
8. KHG Sungai Sugihan - Sungai Lumpur
3. KHG Sungai Kapuas – Sungai Mandor 4. KHG Sungai Utar - Sungai Serapat *
9. KHG Sungai Saleh- Sungai Sugihan
4. KHG Sungai Mempawah – Sungai Peniti
5. KHG Sungai Punggurbesar - Sungai
Ambawang *KHG Lintas Provinsi
WATER MANAGEMENT ON LOWLAND DEVELOPMENT
Water conservation on peatland areas based on best practice in Indonesia has
been executed is as follow:
- In conservation area (forest):
* protecting areas without any agriculture practices or any
cultivation;
* back filling to existing canals
- In cultivation area: water management infrastructure:
* (long) storage construction
* channel blocking
* ground water monitoring
* channel-flow controlling
 TECHNICAL SUPPORT
FOR
REWETTING PEATLANDS
 B. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO PEATLAND
MAPPING
Peatland/Peat dome is a large source of water,
however there is a lack of data/information available:
location of peat dome, peat depth, peat soil
classification.
Technical Support:
- Peatland mapping (1:50.000 and 1:2,500) Using LiDAR
(VERY PRACTICAL AND ADEQUATE)
- peat soil depth survey (NEED NEW PRACTICAL
METHOD)
.
Technical Support:
Peat Mapping with LiDAR
KHG Sungai
Cawang-
Sungai Air
Lalang
KHG Sungai
Sugihan-
Sungai Saleh KHG
Pulau
Padang

KHG Pulau
Tebing KHG
Tinggi Sungai
Kahayan-
Sungai
Sebangau

SUMATERA SELATAN

RIAU

3 Provinces KALIMANTAN
TENGAH
C. TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO PEATLAND
REWETTING
• Based on Peatland Hydrological Unit
• Water balance → inflow – storage-water use-outflow
• Peat dome:
a) Water storage (conservation)
b) backfilling, dan long storage.
• Cultivating Utilisation areas: Canal blocking, water
level difference (20 – 40 cm between upstream and
downstream of blocking infrastructure
3D image
Technical Support for Canal Blocking
Technical Support: Design of Ferro-cement
channel blocking structure
Canal Blocking Construction Process
Broad weir, wood structure
Aims:
• To maintenance water at a certain level
• Local people still have opportunity to
utilize the canal for transportation
Canal Blocking of
wood structure

Advantages:
- Quite easy to obtain
material;
- Local society are
capable to execute
Problem:
Legal aspect in obtaining
the wood mat
Efforts to keep water level in a canal using
canal blocking infrastructure
 Multiple-sheet piles canal block equipped with spillway

Canal also utilized for water

transportation

In-efficient due to friction

between structure and boat
Canal blocking with diversion
Automatic gate with Solar-cell power: to maintenance
water level and to have long storage
Public Consultation Meeting (PKM)

Consultation and discussion with local community is

very important part in applying technology
D. CLOSED SYSTEM OF CHANNEL NETWORK

- TO MAINTENACE WATER DEPTH IN CHANNELS FOR NAVIGATION

- TO ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY OF WATER:
• AGRICULTURE REQUIREMENT
• PEAT MOISTURE
• FIRE PROTECTION
The system is to maintenance water level, water
distribution, water transportation, plantation and fire
protection
E. WATER LEVEL MONITORING

• REGULATION: Water Level (ministry of KLHK no. 14/2016)

• For a company, minimum 15 % of operation area
• For a unit land of 1.000 x 300 m, an obedience point is at the
center of unit land
• the number and position/location of obedient points must
comply with regulation
SESAME AT PEMATANG RAHIM TANJAB TIMUR

Remote monitoring of real time

water level
Manual observation of water level at a channel
and at a field
Apparatus (left and middle) to measure rainfall, evaporation, wind
speed, humidity, temperature, and water table. Tower is installed
to carry out measuring GHG emission
RAINFALL MEASUREMENT:
rainfall and evapotranspiration difference during the years 2000-
2016
100,00
87,60

80,00
67,30
62,19
60,00
Rainfall –evapotranspiration (mm)

47,82

40,00

19,93 22,12
20,00

0,00
-0,63
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
-4,63
-20,00 -16,03
-19,68
-28,45
-40,00

-60,00
-63,42
-80,00
Month
Water Availability
The availability of
water comes from
rainfall reduced by
evapotranspiration
F. MODELLING SUPPORT: Groundwater Flow
Model to determine the location of peat canal
block structure
• If water level (WL) in the canal
is higher than ground water
level at the field nearby, then
groundwater flows alongside
the losing stream.
• Meanwhile, downstream of
the channel, the direction of
incoming flow to the channel,
meaning that the water level in
the channel is lower than
ground water in the ground
nearby, so the ground water
flows into the channel.
Plan view to see the point of recommendation of the canal block,
around 339922; 98772097 UTM
G. Summary
1. In restoration of peatlands in Indonesia, many technical supports
already developed such as: canal blocking system and materials,
channel backfilling, remote ground water monitoring, deep well, hot
spot monitoring, modelling of ground water distribution, modelling
of water flow in open channel network;
2. Applying the above engineering and management, this has resulted
in increasing ground water levels and reducing fired peatlands, at
least, during the last 2 years.
3. Data collection, including peat mapping, peat-depth measurement, is
to be conducted continuously to complete the data.
4. New approaches still need to be develop to obtained more effective
and efficient results
Thank you for your kind attention
indratmo1957@gmail.com