Peatlands come in many forms, but tropical peatland is the most carbon-rich of its kind. Emissions from Peat in Indonesia and Malaysia Same as Those from 70 Coal Plants The new data and carbon emissions analysis feature lets users see how much CO 2 is emitted from drained tropical peat soil each year within mapped plantation areas. The reason such an important source of emissions is left out is simple: data on peat are hard to find.īut that’s no longer the case with new data available on Global Forest Watch Climate. But their contributions to global emissions may be even worse than we think as most estimates of emissions from land use and land use change leave out those from drained peatland. ![]() Indonesia and Malaysia are among the world’s major emitters (6 th and 19 th respectively). ![]() In fact, the estimated annual emissions from peat drainage in Indonesia and Malaysia-the world’s two largest sources of tropical peat- equate to emissions from nearly 70 coal plants, or the total annual emissions of Vietnam. When land is cleared for plantations, the underlying peat needs to be drained, releasing CO 2 into the atmosphere. Peatland in these countries has become a common target for agricultural expansion, particularly for oil palm, as fertile land becomes increasingly scarce. Peat soil, made up of partially decomposed, wet plant material that forms over thousands of years, is highly concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia. ![]() Tropical regions face an emissions challenge from an important, but relatively little-known source: drained peatland.
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