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Soppoa welcomes International Peat Congress in Kuching, Aug 15-19

Sunday, 7 August 2016

KUCHING: The Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) fully supports the upcoming 15th International Peat Congress 2016 (IPC 2016) themed ‘Peatlands in Harmony’ which will be held in Kuching on Aug 15 to 19.

Organised by the Malaysian Peat Society in partnership with the International Peat Society (IPC), the event is significant as it marks the first time the congress is held in South East Asia.

In a press statement yesterday, Soppoa said it was encouraging participants to look forward to the congress as it could provide fruitful discussions on issues related to sustainable management of global peatlands.

Peatlands are found in at least 175 countries.

Geographically, more peat deposits are found in the northern hemisphere than the southern hemisphere. Peatlands cover about three per cent of the earth’s total land area of 14.9 billion hectares.

Globally, about 400 million hectares of peatland have been identified but tropical peatland only comprise eight per cent of that, which explains why many people are still not conversant with tropical peat.

With the aim of providing more information on peat, the International Peat Society

(IPS) has published a ‘Strategy for responsible peat management’ in 2010 which outlines the aims and uses of peat globally, after-use and restoration and good governance among the strategies agreed and formulated by the society.

The IPS Vision – ‘To be the leading international organisation promoting responsible management and wise use of peatlands and peat’, is further matched with its mission – ‘To serve all those involved in peatlands and peat through the promotion, gathering, exchange and communication of knowledge and experience, by means of events and projects which address key issues including climate change, biodiversity, need for responsible use and restoration’.

IPS looks to achieve its vision and mission by promoting better understanding of peat and peat resources globally, including hosting events like the IPC 2016.

Globally, peat resources have been utilised for thousands of years especially in Europe for agriculture, horticulture, forestry, energy and recreation.

IPS is recommending that such uses of peat be undertaken within the framework of ‘Wise use of mires and peatlands’ through various principles

and strategy for everyone involved in the management of peatlands or in the peat supply chain.

In Malaysia peat lands have previously been utilised for agriculture, forestry and conservation of water resources as well as native customary reserved lands.

Rice and pineapple have been the major crops for peat areas in the beginning with oil palm only introduced in the late 80’s.

Currently, a number of scientific research projects are being undertaken in oil palm estates in Sarawak to better understand the relationship between the crop and the land.

These studies are conducted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) which has also developed its own Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for oil palm cultivation in peat that is in line with the principles of the IPS.

Another major institution conducting research on peat is the Tropical Peat Research Laboratory in Sarawak which seeks to produce scientific data for more comprehensive understanding of the peat as outlined by IPS in its ‘Strategy for responsible peat management’.

These scientific activities will be very useful to the IPS community as new knowledge will be made available to everyone and for better understanding of tropical peat.

IPC 2016 will be an excellent platform for the global community to have a better and more informed understanding of tropical peat as a number of papers on the subject will be deliberated.

Taken from The Borneo Post