Tier 2 grant to Janice Lee for socio-ecological approach to restoration of Indonesian peatlands
Congratulations to Asst. Prof. Janice Lee (PI) and Prof. David Wardle (Co-PI) who were awarded a MOE Tier 2 grant on ’The role of community participation in Indonesia’s peatland restoration project. The MOE Tier 2 grant is awarded to research proposals that will result in knowledge benefitting the larger academic community, advancing ‘high-quality research of international excellence that challenges current understanding or provides pathways to new frontiers’ and ‘have or will have direct impact on the economy and society’.
Asst. Prof. Janice Lee specialises in land system science with research interests in land-use and land-cover change in Indonesia. Prof. David Wardle is an ecologist with research interest covering above- and below-ground plant soil interactions and peatland reforestation.
The project combines social and ecological sciences to evaluate the role of community-based management for Indonesia’s ~2 million ha peatland restoration project. Indonesia’s peatland restoration project was initiated in response to the devastating 2015 fires which occurred mainly over degraded peat landscapes in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The process of managing, protecting, and restoring peatlands is complex considering the involvement of multiple actors and institutions, as well as the different interactions among these actors and institutions with various components of the peatland.
By using social and ecological data, the researchers hope to understand current practices of peatland management and how they vary across communities, as well as evaluate how communities participate in restoration projects. The researchers hope to link the social process of community participation with measurable outcomes of peatland restoration. The new information could contribute to a better understanding of Indonesia’s peatland restoration policies, and has direct relevance to Singapore as it addresses the continuity of peatland restoration activities and subsequent consequences on the occurrence of fires and the haze.