A summary by Norman Jiwan:
Ministry of Agriculture Regulation No.14/Permentan/PL.110/2/2009
Pedoman Pemanfaatan Lahan Gambut untuk Budidaya Kelapa Sawit
The key provisions of the regulation
The regulation translated as 'guideline on the utilisation of peatland for oil palm cultivation' stipulates four key provisions. Article 1 stipulates the regulation attaches with guideline on the utilisation of peatland for oil palm cultivation. The regulation is used as legal basis for provincial and district/city authorities in issuing plantation business permits by utilising peatland for oil palm cultivation as well as a reference for stakeholder (article 2). Having the regulation in place is expected to improve the development of oil palm cultivation in peatland and ensure operational certainty (article 3).
In addition to these provisions the article 4 of the regulation stipulates further its applicability for operations already have either business permit (IUP) or business registration letter is valid until the expiry of land use right (hak guna usaha/HGU); second, the active operations as mentioned in the first verse should carry out its plantation operations consistent with the regulation; and third, the application process of getting either plantation business permit (IUP) or registration letter (SPUP) for oil palm plantation in peatland on the date of the issuance of the regulation but they have not received its IUP and SPUP should comply with the regulation.
The guideline as appendix of the regulation
Briefly introducing rationale of the regulation as a means to improve agricultural productivity by improving yields and expanding cultivation areas yet they currently are facing challenges among other conversion, degradation, availability of land resources, threats of variability and/or climate change. One way to expand the cultivation areas and/or increase yields of oil palm can be done by utilising peatland. Which further defines peatland is a soil results of natural organic matters accumulation with composition more than 65% rotten vegetations grown above the soil takes place in a natural process about hundreds of year whose decomposition process barred due to anaerobic and wet condition. Peatland has its characters largely depend on its physical, chemical and biological features.
Oil palm plantation development is basically cultivated in mineral soil. Due to limited available lands, the cultivation of oil palm can be done in peatland by meeting the following some criteria that ensure sustainability of the peatland functions, among other (a) cultivated only on community's land and agricultural areas; (b) thickness of the peatland below 3-meter depth; (c) substratum of the soil below the peat are neither sandy and acid soils; (d) level of peat ripeness; and (e) level of peat fertility.
The purpose of the regulation is an effort towards a sustainable peatland management by maintaining sustainable environmental functions which aims to (a) expand oil palm cultivation; (b) maintain sustainable peatland functions; and (c) increase production and incomes of palm oil producers. The scopes of the regulation are (1) peatland criteria; (2) utilisation and (3) supervision and monitoring.
The appendix defines some key aspects of the guideline implementation in particular what does mean by peatland, characteristic of peatland, areas of peatland, areas of peatland cultivation, peat soil, and mineral soil, plantation business, and substratum.
The utilisation criteria
The detailed criteria for oil palm cultivation in peatland as follow:
(a) cultivated only on community's land and agricultural areas means cultivation or agricultural areas of the released forest areas and land for other purposes for oil palm cultivation;
(b) thickness of the peatland below 3-meter depth means in one unbroken/connected areas of 3-meter depth with at least 70% proportion of the cultivated areas;
(c) substratum of the soil below the peat are neither sandy and acid soils which determines the capacity of the soil as growth medium that shall not compose of sandy and acid soils. The acid soils are tidal areas compose of more than 2% of marine material decomposition with key features are location with below 5-meter above sea level, natural vegetations are mainly mangrove, etc.
(d) level of peat ripeness; ripe peat soil is mature peat that vegetation materials fully decomposed, half-decomposed still contains 15% to 75% fibre of vegetation materials, and immature peat with majority of the vegetation materials are started to decompose with more than 75% of the fibre of vegetation material.
(e) level of peat soil fertility means both shall contain adequate both macro and micro soil elements for oil palm cultivation.
The utilisation of peatland cultivation
Cultivation of peatland comprises of phases planning, land clearing/preparation, planting, maintenance and conservation. The planning starts with inventory and identification (land mapping), plantation design and develop annual work plan done by accredited and competent institution through land survey and valuation of the areas can be cultivated for oil palm which is determined and drawn in a map with scale 1:50.000 or at least 1:100.000. In case competent institution is not available, on behalf of Agriculture Minister the director of estate crops will appoint further the institution.
Land clearing should be done without burning or using fires and apply a good hydrology management that prevents damages to the land. The fast and intensive draining of peatland can cause dried and irreversible shrinkage of the peat that flammable and difficult adsorb water. The drainage of 4-meter width top surface and 3-meter width bottom surface with the depth of the drainage around 2 to 3 meters is established to control water body. There are three types of drainage namely primary (3,0 – 6,0 meters width and 1,8 – 2,5 meters in depth), secondary (1,8 – 2,5 meters width and 1,2 – 1,8 meters in depth) and tertiary (1,0 – 1,2 meters width and 0,9 – 1,0 meter in depth).
Primary drainage is mainly functioning to channel water directly to last end of disposal such as river, lake or canal which can also be a natural small river that can be cleaned or new establish made canal. Secondary drainage is estuary of the primary drainage which receives water from tertiary drainages and channels water to primary drainage. Tertiary drainage functions to receive water in planted areas and channel to secondary drainages which channel the water down to primary drainage. Tertiary drainage is established in between every two-row planted oil palm trees whose main function is to receive surface water from planted areas.
Maintenance and conservation
The drainage and water management aim to control and maintain water table level in planted areas. At every meeting point between drainage tertiary, secondary and primary a water gate is established to control water table level from 60 cm up to 80 cm which is very important to maintain water supply and avoid fires on peat land.
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