How it works
The project area covers one of the largest remaining intact peat swamp forests in Indonesia. Tropical peatlands support fundamental ecological functions and store massive amounts of carbon, with stocks below the ground storing 20 times more carbon than trees and vegetation. When peatlands are burned or cleared, this carbon is released back into the atmosphere, contributing to worsening climate change impacts. The Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) is home to about 5.7 million hectares of peatland. The expansion of industrial plantations on peatlands alone is estimated to contribute to roughly 18-22% of Indonesia’s total GHG emissions.
The peatlands in the project area play a vital role in stabilizing water flows, preventing peat fires, enriching soil nutrients, and providing clean water. The area is rich in biodiversity and home to some of the world’s most endangered species, such as the Bornean Orangutan and Proboscis Monkey. It is surrounded by villages that support traditional activities such as farming, fishing, and non-timber forest product harvesting.
The Katingan Project is managed by a local Indonesian company and is designed to ensure that all benefits are real, long-lasting, and passed on to local communities. Through the planned activities, the project is expected to reduce an average of 7,451,846 tonnes of GHG emissions annually during the initial 60-year crediting period.
Offsets Made it Happen
In the absence of carbon offsets funds, the area would have been converted into fast-growing industrial timber plantations, for pulpwood. The 34 villages found within the project area would be displaced as a result of land conversion.
Other Benefits of the Project
CLIMATE OBJECTIVES:
- To deliver credible GHG emission reductions through avoided deforestation and forest degradation, prevention of peat drainage and fires
- To enhance ecological values at the landscape scale through ecosystem restoration
- To conduct research and development (R&D) activities to implement the latest science, research, and management practices
COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES:
- To enhance the quality of life and reduce poverty of the project-zone communities by creating sustainable livelihoods options and economic opportunities
- To strengthen community resilience by increasing the capacity to cope with socio-ecological risks
- To maintain and enhance ecosystem services for the overall well-being of the project-zone communities through ecosystem restoration
BIODIVERSITY OBJECTIVES:
- To eliminate drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and to stabilize and maintain healthy populations of fauna and flora species in the project zone through biodiversity conservation and protection
- To maintain natural habitats and ecological integrity through ecosystem restoration
