Hoax 10 : Indonesia Has The Largest Peat Land Areas in The World So They Need To Be Maintained as Global Carbon Reserves
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Indonesia has the largest peat land areas in the world so they need to be maintained as global carbon reserves
Facts
Based on data of Wetland International (2008), global peat land areas total 381.4 million hectares, which are divided (see figure below) among Europe and Russia (44.08 percent), the Americas (40.5 percent), Africa (3.41 percent), Indonesia (6.95 percent), others Asia (2.74 percent), Australia and Pacific (1.91 percent) and Antarctica (0.41 percent).
Meanwhile, Russia is the largest area of 137.5 million ha, Canada has 113.4 million ha, the US has 22.4 million ha and Indonesia has 18.5 million ha. Therefore, Indonesia is not the owner of the largest amount of peat land in the world, but the fourth largest.
Figure : Distribution of global peat land 1990-2008 (Joosten, 2009: Wetland International)
value in percent (%)
Of course, peat land needs to be preserved through protection or cultivated with regard to sustainable principles.