At least 50 national and international peatland and policy experts attended the International Indonesia Peatland Conversation(IIPC), which was held at Padma Hotel Bandung,25-28th February 2013.

"This meeting and dialogue in Bandung will identify challenges and opportunities that exist in realizing the implementation of policies that can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through effective peatlands management," said Secretary of the Working Group of the National Council on Climate Change Mitigation Farhan Helmy in Bandung on Monday.

According to Farhan, the dialogue will determine priority needs in developing the sustainable policy of peatland management.

The international dialogue that brings experts from within and outside the country was initiated by the National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) and Indonesia Climate Change Center (ICCC).

This occasion was also attended by Deputy Economic Counselor and Head of Environment, Science and Technology, and Health unit of U.S. Embassy, Benjamin Wohlauer. "IIPC is a discussion forum to raise awareness of and understanding on what is needed to achieve Indonesia’s target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ," said Farhan.

Farhan Helmy further mentioned that this four days activities were to discuss important matters related to the management of peatlands, such as the elements that must be considered in contributing the effective peatland management, as well as learning from the examples of the science-based policy development.

Furthermore, he said the dialogue will also identify problems and opportunities that can be explored more deeply about the mitigation of climate change in the scope of peatlands, as well as action steps in developing an agenda to be taken in the near future.

There are five areas in peatland management, they are the protection of remaining peat forests, restoration of drained and degraded peatland, peatland fire prevention, restriction of peatland clearance, and reduce the emissions from plantations that already exist.

Related to the peatlands in Indonesia, Farhan said, there is no information about the total number of peatland area. But the results of data collected and the latest revision, the peatland area is covered about 16 million acres spread across Borneo and Sumatra.

Meanwhile, Deputy Economic Counselor and Head of Environment, Science and Technology, and Health unit of U.S. Embassy, Benjamin Wohlauer expressed concern and efforts on climate change regarding this peatland issue. He added “it is not anymore the interests of the country, but it is an international issue to concern.

"The handling of environmental issues related to peatlands and greenhouse gas emissions is a global problem that must be addressed globally by the world community, and requires extensive cooperation," said Benjamin.

He mentioned the establishment of ICCC in Indonesia is a unique breakthrough and not found in any other country in Asia.

"The existence of ICCC is a unique breakthrough that not any other Asian country have it, and the cooperation between Indonesia and the United States now is conducted in the comprehensive partnership framework to anticipate the impacts of climate change, and the partnership of the two countries has been executed for a long time," he said.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of Information, Communications and Education Division of the National Council on Climate Change, Amanda Katili Niode said that climate change is a complicated issue and regarded as a global scope that requires a lot of parties involved.

She said that there needs to be a consensus in addressing global problems that involves many sectors and many countries in the world.

Antara Jawa Barat. Syarif A.