Setting the direction of sustainable restoration projects in peatlands considering ecosystem services: Case of Jambi and Sumatra Selatan, Indonesia

Conserving tropical forests and peatlands is considered a key strategy for international forest project cooperation and the promotion of carbon neutrality. Focusing on peatlands in the Sumatra Selatan and Jambi provinces in Indonesia, this study aimed to assess land-cover changes from 1992 to 2020 and associated ecosystem services to assist in the development of effective forest and peatland-related projects. This study first analyzed the historical land-cover changes as a baseline for establishing potential project scenarios. Carbon storage, habitat suitability, water yield, and crop production were selected as the key ecosystem services in the peatlands, and these were assessed for the current land cover and two possible project scenarios in 2050 – business-as-usual (BAU) and forest and wetland restoration (FOR) – using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) tool. In terms of land-cover changes, the area of forests and wetlands decreased, but that of agriculture, grassland, and built-up areas increased in the peatlands. Based on the land-cover scenarios, the carbon storage, habitat suitability, water yield, and crop production varied on 2.32–2,74 billion tC, 92.02–93.46 %, 16.45–16,91 billion m3, and 2.34–2.73 million ton, respectively. The total economic value of the ecosystem services for the current land cover was $75.41 billion, while that predicted for BAU and FOR was estimated to be $70.59 billion and $77.79 billion, respectively. Restoration plans have the environmental and economic benefit of provincial-level assessment, so the development of appropriate projects for tropical forest and peatland conservation and restoration is necessary for international cooperation projects.