Peatlands are mostly found in the states of Selangor, Johor, Perak, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak. The largest area of peat is found in Sarawak, which is more than 1 million ha (refer to Figure 1). Approximately 50% of the total peatland area in Malaysia is designated as permanent reserves. The remaining areas have been converted for other uses whilst some are still designated as state forests land (refer to Table 1).

In addition to acting as repositories for unique and important biodiversity, peatlands in Southeast Asia is of global importance because of its ability to store an estimated 120 billion tonnes of carbon or approximately 5% of the world’s terrestrial carbon. The peatlands found in Malaysia significantly contribute to the global carbon store in this region, after Indonesia. Peatlands also play a critical role in the socio-economic well-being of the country, particularly for their ecological and hydrological value, their timber and non-timber forest products, water supply, flood control and many other social, environmental and economic benefits.