Community Based Peat Land Management in Siak Regency The Riau Province of Indonesia

Abstract

This peat land restoration program in Riau Province especially Siak Regency, there
is activity plan as follow: (1) Rewetting Program, The rewetting activities consist of
Construction of artesian wells, Canal development, Water management development (at a
company), and Water management team building and training.(2) Revegetation Program, The
revegetation program is a green activity area especially on burnt-out land, among others:
Making of peatland village seedlings, Cultivating of seedlings from peatland villages, Making
of horticultural crops, and Cultivating of horticultural crops. (3) Social Economic Revitalization
Program covers: development of land fishery business, livestock development business, honey
bee development business, ecotourism development of peatland, cultivation of natural plant,
utilization and processing of sago pulp, mangrove crab cultivation, sustainable development of
food house, development of peat moss care village. In the case of peatland restoration program,
many stakeholders are involved from variety of interests to succeed peatland restoration
program. The research method used qualitative method. The purpose this research is
Community Based Peat land Management in Riau Province of Indonesia. The results this
research (1) Peat land restoration program is an activity to restore degraded peat soil back to its
original function. The effort of peat land restoration program is still a realization from the
rewetting program, which is the construction of canal blocking. Meanwhile the revegetation
program, the Peat Land Restoration Agency collaborate with social institution by assisting the
society has done the planting of sago seedlings like natural wood. For the revegetation program,
it has not been realized due to the massive implementation for peatland restoration program, (2)
Community empowerment through grant / rolling assistance need to pay attention, among others
are: (1). Types of economic commodities. The selection of the right type of economic
commodity will greatly affect the success of economic activity. (2). Guidance and mentoring.
(3). An example of success. Support from local government is generally given to groups that
have demonstrated tangible success, so that the role of counselors to communicate with local
government is urgently needed; (4). Motivators in groups. there is a motivator among group
members. In the group that is considered successful, there is always one member of the group
who gained success first and then provide motivation to other group members to move forward,
(3) Strong village institutions and good village capacity will have a major impact on the progress
of village development. Villages that have large natural resource potential without
accompanying a good management model will certainly not have a major impact on the progress
and welfare of their communities. To increase the participation of local communities in the
management of natural resources, the role of village institutions is very important. Village
institutional and village capacity building can be done through training and seminar activities,
which can be a capital for village natural resource management