Daily Junction.mobi portal<figure class="align-center "> <img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/750887/original/file-20260729-57-jrzn3r.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> <figcaption> <span class="caption">Peatland conditions: undrained, restored and drained peat areas in Indonesia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL121564">Salmayenti et al., 2026, Geophysical Research Letters</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<p>In all, our analysis found that restoration reduced fire hotspots by up to 22% overall between 2015 and 2019, across nearly 4,000km² of peatland where rewetting had been effective.</p>
<p>Deep wells were more effective at reducing fire risk than canal blocking. This is because pumped water directly wets dry peat and can also be used to put out fires. It reaches a wider area, and the infrastructure lasts longer.</p>
<p>Canal blocking, by contrast, doesn’t involve active pumping — it only affects land within a few hundred metres of its location. Under the right conditions, though, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00534-2">it can be more effective</a> than deep wells at reducing fires – if suitable locations are chosen and enough canals are blocked, ideally in clusters.</p>
<p>However, a recent study of peatland restoration across Indonesia from 2015 to 2024 found that <a href="https://en.pantaugambut.id/publications/a-decade-of-peatland-restoration-in-indonesia">70% of canal-blocking units were damaged</a>. Our research shows that only canal blocks around a year old are genuinely effective at keeping peat wet. So, regular maintenance is essential to avoid the blocks losing their ability to keep peat wet. </p>
<h2>UK efforts to restore degraded peatlands</h2>
<p>Although Indonesia’s restoration programme has shown positive results, the threat of fire still looms over peatland that has already been degraded.</p>
<p>Even though the extent of these fires has declined over the past decade, hotspot density in restored areas is still up to ten times higher than in pristine peat forests that have never been logged or drained.</p>
<p>While the total burned area within peat forest regions remains consistently above 500,000 hectares, water table levels at the sites we studied remain <a href="https://pantaugambut.id/publikasi/satu-dekade-restorasi-gambut-indonesia">below the safe threshold of 40cm</a>. And there is still a great deal of degraded peatland that needs to be restored.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, the reduction in wildfire occurrence on restored peatlands should encourage Indonesia and other nations to sustain and expand efforts to restore degraded peatlands.</p>
<p>In the UK, efforts to restore degraded peatlands across <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6116353fe90e07054eb85d8b/england-peat-action-plan.pdf">England</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publicaions/securing-green-recovery-path-net-zero-update-climate-change-plan-20182032/pages/12/">Scotland</a> are ongoing. In those locations, benefits such as the reduction in wildfire risk need to be monitored and restoration methods continually refined.</p>
<p>But restoration, while beneficial, cannot replace intact peatlands. So, protecting these peatlands should remain the top priority – especially as the threat of severe droughts grows stronger and more intense, due to climate change.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/288644/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/resti-salmayenti-2720802">Resti Salmayenti</a>, Postgraduate Researcher, Tropical Peatland Restoration, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-leeds-1122">University of Leeds</a></em>; <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/ipb-university-2106">IPB University</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dominick-spracklen-1385243">Dominick Spracklen</a>, Professor of Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-leeds-1122">University of Leeds</a></em>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joseph-holden-2745062">Joseph Holden</a>, Professor and Chair of Physical Geography, Director of water@leeds, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-leeds-1122">University of Leeds</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/putting-out-wildfires-how-peat-restoration-has-reduced-fire-risk-in-indonesias-tropical-forests-288644">original article</a>.</p> </div>