Project Funded: Peatland Restoration and Conservation in Indonesia
In the last month of a successful 2022 for Sauce Shop, we managed to fund one last environmental project before the year end—peatland restoration and conservation in Indonesia.
The project, based in Indonesian Borneo, aims to protect and restore 149,800 hectares of peatland.
Peatlands are a type of wetland where waterlogged conditions prevent organic matter from fully decomposing, locking in the carbon they have stored over their lifetime. The magic part is plants still grow there, meaning peatlands end up storing more carbon dioxide than they emit.
Peatlands cover only 3% of the world’s surface, but store more carbon than all other vegetation types combined. Sadly, they are being destroyed worldwide through clearing, draining, and burning, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, attributing to warming temperatures. Here in the UK, peat has been a hot topic due to its controversial use in gardening compost.
In Indonesia, where 36% of the world’s tropical peatlands can be found, they are destroyed to make room for plantation crops.
The project has three core goals
- “Protect the carbon stored within the peatlands and prevent its release into the atmosphere
- Protect the rich diversity of the region
- To make a positive impact on the local community through initiatives such as micro-finance loans to support local female-led business, youth job training and internships, and the provision of health education and wellbeing support for the most vulnerable community members.”
It’s not difficult to see why Ecologi picked this project for us to fund. Not only does it help protect peatlands, The Katingan Mentaya Project think about the local community too.
