Pekanbaru, Riau (Antarariau.com) - Riau Province stores 14,605 million tons of carbon, as it has at least 5.7 million hectares of peat ecosystem, or about 56.1 percent of the areas, in Sumatra island.
"Therefore, Riau Province has a very important role in the local and global environments," Riau s Head of Environment and Forests Office, Yul Wiriati Moesa, stated here on Thursday.
She explained that the peat ecosystem plays an important role both in terms of economy and ecology.
"The peat ecosystem provides a variety of human needs such as timber and non-timber products, saves water, controls floods, and serves as a habitat for biodiversity," she noted.
In addition, peat ecosystems also play an important role in protecting the Earth from global climate change because of its ability to absorb and store carbon, she noted.
"About 120 gigatons of carbon, or about 5 percent of global terrestrial carbon, are stored in peat ecosystems. Therefore, any damages to it will lead to the loss of carbon and become one of the main causes of global warming," she asserted.
Yul pointed out that that the Peat Hydrological Unit in Riau Province covers an area of 5,896,717 hectares, consisting of a peat dome protected area of 1,735.716 hectares and peat cultivation area of 4,161,001 hectares, or 70.56 percent.
Meanwhile, the degraded vegetation cover on the protected areas covers 200,191 hectares and undegraded peat dome protected areas cover 847,023 hectares.
"In the peat cultivation area, the undegraded tree cover has an area of 1,594,648 hectares, and those in poor condition have an area of 1,313,524 hectares," Yul noted.
Riau Stores 14,605 Million Tons Of Carbon
