17 DECEMBER 2008 Peatland Restoration in
the British Isles and South East Asia
The UK and Irish National Committees of the IPS are sponsoring
a meeting in Belfast, Northern Ireland between 24th and 26th
April 2009. The aim is to bring together individuals and members
of organisations with an interest in peatlands and peat to
focus on current and emerging issues of peatland restoration.
For further details see http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/carbopeat/media/pdf/belfastoutlineprog.pdf.
10 DECEMBER 2008 IPS Commission on Tropical
Peatlands Approved
The Executive Board of the International Peat Society (IPS)
has given its final approval for the newly founded Commission
IX on “Tropical peatlands”. The Commission was
initiated in summer 2008 and will be chaired by CARBOPEAT
partner Prof. Jack Rieley.
Its main topics are carbon-climate-human interactions in tropical
peatlands: natural resource functions, impacts, carbon pools,
fire, restoration and Wise Use. More information on future
activities will be available soon at www.peatsociety.org/index.php?id=237.
5 DECEMBER NEW INFORMATION LEAFLETS AVAILABLE
Two new CARBOPEAT leaflets are available focusing on the
issues of Working Groups
1 and 2. The topics are Tropical Peatlands & Carbon
Storage and Tropical Peatlands & Carbon Gas Fluxes.
There will be a special session on "Peatlands and the
carbon cycle" (Session BG1.2) at the European Geosciences
Union General Assembly 19-24 April 2009 in Vienna, Austria.
The latest version of the Carbopeat newsletter is now
available. The newsletter includes a brief review of the
Kuching Workshop and Symposium,
information on the Sabangua ecosystem restoration project
and a focus on Can Tho University.
The 2nd International Symposium on Peatlands in the Global
Carbon Cycle will be held 25-30 September 2009 in Prague,
Czech Republic. See http://www.peatnet.siu.edu/CC09MainPage.html
for further details.
7 OCTOBER 2008 international symposium on
policy and practice in peatland management
The International Symposium on Policy and Practice in Peatland
Management listed below has now been postponed until 17-19
November 2008.
6 OCTOBER 2008 international symposium on
policy and practice in peatland management
A new report is available from a UK based think tank. The
report finds that projects designed to halt deforestation
and peatland destruction represent a far more cost effective
means of cutting carbon emissions compared to biofuel subsidies.
10 September 2008 METRO TV TO SHOW CARBOPEAT
SPONSORED FILMS
If the clips of "Keep the peat
wet" have interested you then you will be pleased
to hear that all four films by Adrian Seymour for the AirCO/CARBOPEAT/RESTORPEAT
partnerships are to be aired on Metro TV in Indonesia this
month starting Saturday 13th at 12.30. You could also watch
it via live streaming at http://www.imediabiz.tv/.
"Three of the documentaries “Karet Busa Raksasa
Indonesia - The Giant Sponge of Indonesia”, "Menjaga
Pagar Nusantara - The Guardian of the Archipelago” and
“Agar Gambut Tetap Basah - Keep my Peat Wet” cover
critical environmental issues in Indonesia including the link
between deforestation and flooding, the continuing destruction
of mangroves and the incredible smoke and CO2 emissions
from peat fires. The fourth documentary, “Penjaga Terakhir
Sang Mahakam - The Last Guardian of the Mahakam” follows
an expedition in search of a previously unknown and isolated
group of river dolphins living hundreds of kilometres upstream
of the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan. The films are around
20 minutes each."
10 SEPTEMBER 2008 FULL LENGTH VERSION OF
KEEP THE PEAT WET
A full length version of the Agar Gambut Tetap Basah (Keep
the peat wet) film is now available.
A short introduction to "Keep the peat wet" (one
of four short films by Adrian Seymour for the AirCO/CARBOPEAT/RESTORPEAT
partnerships is now available on YouTube. Click play below
to view the clip. (Filesize: 1.8 Mbytes).
4 September 2008 FILM CLIP TRIAL AVAILABLE
A short sample of "Keep the peat wet" (one of four
short films by Adrian Seymour for the AirCO/CARBOPEAT/RESTORPEAT
partnerships is now available on YouTube. Click play below
to view the clip.
28 August 2008 OUTPUTS FROM CARBOPEAT SPONSORED
EVENT
The successful Carbopeat sponsored International
Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland in Kuching
has now finished. Apart from a range of presentations, lively
discussions and an interesting technical tour the meetings
also resulted in the creation of pro tem committees
for a Malaysian Peat Society and the International Peat Society's
Commission 9 (Tropical Peatlands).
More details will appear here shortly.
19 August 2008 CARBOPEAT SPONSORED EVENT
UNDERWAY
Today was the start of the latest CARBOPEAT sponsored event
in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (http://www.frst.unimas.my/iswtp_kch08/).
The meeting, involving over 150 peatland scientists, industry
representatives and other stakeholders from at least 15 countries,
was opened by Y.B. Dato Sri Hj. Awang Tengah Ali Hasan (The
Honourable Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management
and Minister of Public Utilities, Sarawak.
Work is currently under way producing future editions of
CARBOPEAT News.
If you have a story or an event you would like to submit
then the deadline for the next edition is Monday 21st July
(to be circulated during the forthcoming International
Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland).
Copies of presentations on tropical peatlands from the 13th
International Peat Congress held in Tullamore, Ireland in
June 2008 are now being posted to the CARBOPEAT website -
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/carbopeat/lzone/tullamore.html.
25 JuNE 2008 RESTORPEAT FEATURES IN EU-ASEAN
SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS
A recently published report from the European Commission
highlights cooperation between the EU (European Union) and
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and features
an article on RESTORPEAT
(a forerunner to CARBOPEAT).
25 JuNE 2008 IPS announce commission on
tropical peatlands
At the recent International Peat Congress it was announced
that the International
Peat Society will be launching a Commission on tropical
peatland. Check back here for more information when available.
3 JuNE 2008 Latest version of CARBOPEAT
News available
In the latest of a series of reports concerning oil palm,
Greenpeace have called for a moratorium on deforestation and
peatland clearance. The call is supported by Unilever who
are the basis of the case study.
The deadline for early registration for the International
Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland in Kuching (http://www.frst.unimas.my/iswtp_kch08/)
is tomorrow (30 April). This is the same date as the deadline
for abstracts, so register and submit your abstract now.
23 APRIL 2008 Programme for IPC special
session on tropical peatland available
The programme for the special session on tropical peatland
to be held at the International Peat Congress in Tullamore,
Ireland is now available here.
16 APRIL 2008 EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE
EXTENDED
The deadline for early registration for the International
Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland in Kuching (http://www.frst.unimas.my/iswtp_kch08/)
has been extended to 30 April (the same date as the deadline
for abstracts). The theme of the meetings is "Peatland
Development - Wise Use and Impact Management" and will
be held 19-22 August 2008.
13 march 2008 EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE
APPROACHES
The deadline for early registration for the International
Symposium and Workshop on Tropical Peatland in Kuching (http://www.frst.unimas.my/iswtp_kch08/)
is 31 March. The theme of the meetings is "Peatland Development
- Wise Use and Impact Management" and will be held 19-22
August 2008.
12 march 2008 have you tried the glossary?
Did you know that the CARBOPEAT website contains a glossary
of many terms concerned with tropical peatlands? Try it out
here - http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/carbopeat/glossary/a.html.
Unfortunately, the glossary is currently only available in
English.
27 february 2008 WWF publish new report
on SUmatran deforestation
WWF (Indonesia), in association with Remote Sensing Solution
GmbH (Germany) and Hokkaido University (Japan), has issued
a new report on the impact of plantation on CO2
emissions and the populations of rare elephants and tigers.
18 february 2008 JOINT Declaration from
finland and indonesia
Representatives of the governments of Finland and Indonesia
have signed a joint declaration on "Climate Change and
Sustainable Forest Management" including the acknowledgement
to strengthen environmental co-operation on a range of topics
including Sustainable Peatland Management.
12 february 2008 ips Peatlands International
special topic on tropical peatlands
The latest version of Peatlands International (member magazine
of the International Peat Society) is a special tropical peat
edition. There are articles on various subjects including
oil palm and fires. See http://www.peatsociety.org/index.php?id=230
for further details and to download the magazine.
28 January 2008 Latest version of CARBOPEAT
News available
15 JANUARY 2008 Sustainable biofuels: prospects
and challenges
The Royal Society (national academy of science of the UK
and the Commonwealth) has published a report on the sustainable
use of biofuels. In the report, the working group of experts
identify the importance of tropical peatlands.
7 JANUARY 2008 international Symposium and
Workshop on Tropical Peatland website available
The website for the International Symposium and Workshop
on Tropical Peatland to be held in Kuching in August 2008
is now available - http://www.frst.unimas.my/iswtp_kch08.
