Sungai Gelam Peatland Restoration Initiative – FINCAPES Project – Public Comments Invited

July 9th, 2025 – Global Affairs Canada must determine whether the proposed Sungai Gelam Peatland Restoration Initiative of the FINCAPES Project, located in Jambi, Indonesia is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, Global Affairs Canada is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.

Written comments must be submitted by August 11th, 2025 to:

Environment Specialists 

Global Affairs Canada 

200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau (QC) J8X 4B7

Email:?CommentsIAARegistry-CommentairesRegistreLEI@international.gc.ca

 

The Proposed Initiative

The specific action under this notice involves instalation of three semi-permanent canal blocks (of between 5.5 and 6 metres wide and 4 metres in height) across previously constructed drainage canals to facilitate the rewetting of degraded peatland in Jambi Regency, Indonesia.

The FINCAPES (Flood Impacts, Carbon Pricing, and Ecosystem Sustainability) project is a 5.5 year initiative to help Indonesia adapt to and reduce climate change, as well as preserving biodiversity in a socially and economically sustainable manner. Funded by Global Affairs Canada, this project is jointly implemented by the Faculty of Mathematics and the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada.

The Sungai Gelam Peatland Restoration Initiative is a collaborative effort led by the FINCAPES Project, in partnership with IPB University (Bogor, Indonesia) and local stakeholders, to restore 47 hectares of degraded peatland in Muaro Jambi, Indonesia.

Peatlands are vital ecosystems that provide numerous ecological and socio-economic benefits. They act as significant carbon sinks, help regulate water flow, support biodiversity, and provide livelihoods for local communities. However, unsustainable land-use practices and construction of drainage canals, such as deforestation and conversion to oil palm plantations, have led to widespread degradation of peatlands in Indonesia.   

The Sungai Gelam Peatland Restoration Initiative aims to improve ecosystem health, mitigate climate change, and support local livelihoods through a Nature-based Solutions (NbS) approach to peatland restoration. The restoration activities will be implemented over four years (2025-2028), ensuring sustainability through ecological monitoring and community engagement.

The key beneficiaries of this initiative are the residents of Sungai Gelam Village, with a total of 3,087 households (5,355 females, 5,329 males) distributed across six hamlets and 35 neighbourhood units. The Sungai Gelam Village community cooperative manages 1,764 hectares of peatland, much of which is degraded. This degradation threatens the ecological integrity of the peatland and the livelihoods of the community that depends on it. To address this issue, the proposed initiative aims to restore the degraded peatland ecosystem in Sungai Gelam Village using a combination of ecologically and economically valuable plant species.

Description of the Canal Blocking Structures

The three canal blocks will return the local water table of the restoration area to its natural state (i.e., rewet the peatland) which will support growth and regeneration of indigenous peatland flora and fauna and help reduce fire risks – supporting sustainable restoration of the peatland ecosystem.

One canal block will be built in the primary canal of the agroforestry area. The estimated dimensions are six metres in width (across the canal) and four metres in height (to maintain the water table) with a central spillway for over height drainage (figure 4) It will be a semi-permanent physical work using PVC piping as the main structure exposed to water, with additional materials (sandbags or stones) used as reinforcement to increase stability and resistance to water pressure. Geotextiles may also be added as a cover material to increase resistance to erosion.

Two canal dividers (blocks) will be built on secondary canals, one in the scrub/thicket area of the restoration site and one in the agroforestry area. Each canal block will be 5-5.5 metres wide and four metres in height. The secondary canal blocks will also use PVC piping installed transversely across the canal, with vertical supports on the right and left sides. To prevent water leakage between the vertical posts, gaps are filled with materials such as mud, peat soil, or natural fibers (e.g., ijuk), as well as reinforcing materials in the form of sand or stone.

Restoration Authority and Related Rewetting Initiatives

Land rehabilitation (carried out under authority of the Indonesia Peatland Restoration Agency – BRGM) is underway in the community management area. The infrastructure that has been built by BRGM includes several canal blocks, as well as a borehole, in adjacent areas. The proposed canal blocks and associated activities under the Sungai Gelam Peatland Restoration Initiative have been planned with the involvement and support of the local BRGM office and local community members. Funding for the restoration is provided through the FINCAPES project, with planning, project management, professional restoration supervision, and environmental monitoring provided by IPB University faculty and contracted staff.

Description of the Environment

Peat swamp forest supports a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. However, in recent decades Jambi Regency has experienced deforestation, expansion of monoculture plantation crops (especially palm oil and rubber), mining activities, and other types of natural resource exploitation. Various forms of anthropogenic disasters such as floods, peat subsidence, and forest fires are frequent in the region. As well, conflicts between different land use policies, especially governmental policies, land grabbing, and encroachment of forest and conservation areas exacerbate threats to biodiversity and forest conservation measures. Mixed farming systems in Indonesia can negatively impact biodiversity, particularly if the farming impacts the water table and ecosystem functions of undisturbed peat swamp forest.

From 2001 to 2023, Muaro Jambi District lost 59.4 kha of tree cover from fires and 213 kha from all other drivers of loss. The year with the most tree cover loss due to fires during this period was 2016 with 28.4 kha lost to fires — 70% of all tree cover loss for that year.

Geographic coordinates

Name	Location	Location Coordinates
Sungai Gelam Peatland Restoration Area	Multi Usaha Mandiri Cooperative (Independent multi-business community forest management area), Sungai Gelam Village, Muaro Jambi Regency, Sumatra, Indonesia	Latitude:  -1.7500 Longitude: 104.0000