Daisuke Naito’s research while affiliated with Kyoto University and other places

This study evaluates oil palm- and rubber-driven deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia between 2000 and 2021 through secondary data analysis from a rich data set by collecting and integrating secondary data from multiple sources. The results revealed significant tree cover loss, accounting for 82 and 250% of the primary forest loss in Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively. The area of harvested oil palm increased by 650% in Indonesia and 50% in Malaysia, while palm oil production increased by 566% in Indonesia and 65% in Malaysia over the period. Over the past two decades, Indonesia’s palm oil export volume has risen by 619%, while that of Malaysia has increased by 83%. The study revealed that rubber-harvested areas increased by 54% in Indonesia but decreased by 20% in Malaysia, with rubber production increasing by 108% in Indonesia but decreasing by 49% in Malaysia. Indonesia’s natural rubber export volume also increased by 69%, but Malaysia’s decreased by 33%. The study revealed that the impact of oil palm and rubber on deforestation varies by region and period. However, plantation expansion and associated forest conversion have slowed, which can be associated with the consumer demand for no deforestation of oil palm and rubber products. Smaller companies and smallholder farmers, not bound by zero deforestation commitments, clear forests for plantation expansion and sell their products in the leakage markets. On the other hand, two countries may experience increased deforestation pressures in the future, primarily driven by the expanding use of oil palm for biodiesel production. Finally, the findings of this study suggest the need for region-specific investigations into the interplay between oil palm and rubber cultivation and their impact on deforestation. Such studies should account for geographical and socio-economic factors, aiming to facilitate the effective implementation of zero deforestation commitments.

This study evaluates the oil palm and rubber-driven deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia between 2000–2021 through secondary data analysis from a rich data set by collecting and integrating secondary data from multiple sources. Results show a significant tree cover loss, including 82% and 250% of primary forest loss in Indonesia and Malaysia. Oil palm harvested area increased by 650% in Indonesia and 50% in Malaysia, while palm oil production rose by 566% in Indonesia and 65% in Malaysia over the same period. The study also find that rubber-harvested areas increased by 54% in Indonesia but decreased by 20% in Malaysia, with rubber production increasing by 108% in Indonesia but decreasing by 49% in Malaysia. Over the past two decades, Indonesia’s palm oil export volume has risen by 619%, while Malaysia’s has increased by 83%. Indonesia’s natural rubber export volume also increased by 69%, but Malaysia’s decreased by 33%. The study reveals that the impact of oil palm and rubber on deforestation varies by region and period. However, plantation expansion and associated forest conversion have slowed, which can be associated with the consumer demand for no deforestation oil palm and rubber products. Many of the world’s largest traders and producers have pledged zero deforestation commitments, guaranteeing the elimination of deforestation from their supply chains in Indonesia and Malaysia. Such commitments can only be accomplished through government, private sector, farmers, and community collaboration. Finally, to ensure sustainability in these sectors, comprehensive policies and practical solutions that support farmers’ livelihoods are also crucial.

Tropical peat swamp forests that started to experience fires in the 1960s in Sumatra and in the 1980s in Kalimantan are now seriously degraded in many places in Indonesia. But from a longer perspective, we can see the tropical peat swamp forests’ resilience and adaptation. There have been several reports on how deep local knowledge has helped curb further degradation of these forests. Large-scale commercial logging had been undertaken in the Riau area in Sumatra in the 1860s; however, no serious peatland degradation and large-scale fires were reported until the end of the colonial era. Truly serious degradation started only in the middle of the 1980s when large-scale drainage systems were created to support the extensive cultivation of oil palm and timber plantations. Serious fires broke out in 1997, and in 2015 at the time of El Niño. Today only 18.4% of total peatlands in Indonesia are undisturbed natural peatland forests. We also find several initiatives to restore degraded peatlands. For one thing, the government has established the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) to coordinate the acceleration of peatland restoration and promote the welfare of local people in the peatland area. For another, international organizations, companies, nongovernment organizations, and local communities also have started their respective programs to rehabilitate the peatlands. Such developments can be interpreted as attempts at transformation, that is, the creation of a fundamentally new system in response to ecological, economic, or social (including political) conditions that render the existing system untenable. This volume intends to reshape the discussion on peatland degradation and regeneration with the ideas of vulnerability, resilience, adaptability and transformation, and deepen the understanding of degradation and regeneration.

18 kilometers from Palangka Raya City, the capital of Central Kalimantan, Borneo’s part of Indonesia, Kalampangan is populated by farming communities who primarily produce important tropical crops. This former transmigrant village was occupied in the early 1980s, is located on peatland with a depth of approximately 4 meters. Peat is a vulnerable, spongy and acid soils. Recently, pressure from regulation and market demands for low carbon products has forced some local farmers to stop burnt and over-drainage and adapt their agricultural practices to more sustainable practices. The adoption rate, however, is still low. This study identifies the challenges and efforts towards sustainable management in Kalampangan’s agricultural communities, based on the information collected during a field visit, soil sampling and the discussion sessions, held with the selective farming and its community. The roles of the stake-holder through transformative leadership were shown to be very important for the shift from conventional to environmentally-friendly practices.

Arctic fires can release large amounts of carbon from permafrost peatlands. Satellite observations reveal that fires burned ~4.7 million hectares in 2019 and 2020, accounting for 44% of the total burned area in the Siberian Arctic for the entire 1982–2020 period. The summer of 2020 was the warmest in four decades, with fires burning an unprecedentedly large area of carbon-rich soils. We show that factors of fire associated with temperature have increased in recent decades and identified a near-exponential relationship between these factors and annual burned area. Large fires in the Arctic are likely to recur with climatic warming before mid-century, because the temperature trend is reaching a threshold in which small increases in temperature are associated with exponential increases in the area burned.

This paper analyses the policy changes occurring in the forest and palm oil sectors of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, through the lens of the transformational change concept. The aim is to first examine whether Sabah is transforming and, if so, to identify the determinants enabling or hindering the change. To determine if Sabah is transforming, we used two criteria: - (i) an ambitious change in the policy framework, that promotes forest conservation and sustainable use, and is moving away from business-as-usual activities; and (ii) the level of implementation of the policies that we identified as supporting transformational change. We found that Sabah very likely did intend to transform. We made this conclusion based on comparing changes in policies occurring in Sabah, and we decided if it is ambitious by primarily comparing Sabah’s policies with other Malaysian states, the federal government, and internationally. We showed that: (i) Sabah decided to use voluntary international certification standards (private market instruments) like FSC and RSPO, while the other Malaysian states did not; (ii) they decided to protect more forest compared to national and international targets; and (iii) Sabah is an early mover as the state is one of the first in the world to adopt the RSPO Jurisdictional Approach. But intention needs to be followed by implementation, and this is where the state falls short. The policies in Sabah were not fully implemented because of the patronage system where the more powerful actors used their power to continue with business-as-usual activities, there is frequent political turnover in Sabah, and the state faced difficulty in meeting international standards. Our research shows that local leadership and a local transformational change coalition (civil society actively working in Sabah) mainly prompted the transformational change, although the promises of economic gains and better reputation also played a role. We conclude by emphasising the change must be made more compelling for political leaders, as part of a broader institutional structure, not only through the narrow focus on reducing deforestation but through the development of a more sustainable and equitable national economy, and that consumer countries should play a role in reducing pressures on forest by providing incentives to a state that manages its natural resources sustainably.

Smoke haze due to vegetation and peatland fires in Southeast Asia is a serious public health concern. Several approaches have been applied in previous studies; however, the concepts and interpretations of these approaches are poorly understood. In this scoping review, we addressed issues related to the application of epidemiology (EPI), health burden estimation (HBE), and health risk assessment (HRA) approaches, and discussed the interpretation of findings, and current research gaps. Most studies reported an air quality index exceeding the ‘unhealthy’ level, especially during smoke haze periods. Although smoke haze is a regional issue in Southeast Asia, studies on its related health effects have only been reported from several countries in the region. Each approach revealed increased health effects in a distinct manner: EPI studies reported excess mortality and morbidity during smoke haze compared to non-smoke haze periods; HBE studies estimated approximately 100,000 deaths attributable to smoke haze in the entire Southeast Asia considering all-cause mortality and all age groups, which ranged from 1,064–260,000 for specified mortality cause, age group, study area, and study period; HRA studies quantified potential lifetime cancer and non-cancer risks due to exposure to smoke-related chemicals. Currently, there is a lack of interconnection between these three approaches. The EPI approach requires extensive effort to investigate lifetime health effects, whereas the HRA approach needs to clarify the assumptions in exposure assessments to estimate lifetime health risks. The HBE approach allows the presentation of health impact in different scenarios, however, the risk functions used are derived from EPI studies from other regions. Two recent studies applied a combination of the EPI and HBE approaches to address uncertainty issues due to the selection of risk functions. In conclusion, all approaches revealed potential health risks due to smoke haze. Nonetheless, future studies should consider comparable exposure assessments to allow the integration of the three approaches.

Monitoring of the ecological and social, including economic aspects of uses of wild species is critical for sustainable use. Progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets is assessed using global indicators, however to date, there is not a comprehensive set of global indicators able to monitor status and trends of wild species use

Research into pyrogenic carbon emissions in the temperate belt of the Russian Federation has traditionally focused on the impact of forest fires. Nevertheless, ecosystems in which wildfires also make a significant contribution to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions are poorly studied. We evaluated the carbon emissions of fires in the non-forest ecosystems of the Middle Amur Lowland, in the Khabarovsk Territory of the Russian Federation. Our study is based on long-term Earth remote sensing data of medium spatial resolution (Landsat 5, 7, and 8) and expeditionary studies (2018–2021). The assessment of carbon directly emitted from wildfires in meadow and meadow–mire temperate ecosystems in the Middle Amur lowland shows that specific emissions from such ecosystems vary, from 1.09 t/ha in dwarf shrub–sphagnum and sphagnum–ledum and sedge–reed fens to 6.01 t/ha in reed–forb, forb, reed, and sedge meadows. Meanwhile, carbon emissions specifically from fires in meadow and meadow–mire ecosystems are less significant—often an order of magnitude less than carbon emissions from forest fires (which reach 37 tC/ha). However, due to their high frequency and the large areas of land burned annually, the total carbon emissions from such fires are comparable to annual emissions from fires in forested areas. The results obtained show that the inadequacy of the methods used in the automatic mapping of burns leads to a significant underestimation of the area of grassland fires and carbon emissions from non-forest fires.