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Nearly all of Indonesia’s peat ecosystems are degraded and highly vulnerable to fires, with about 99.19% classified as lightly to moderately damaged. In 2019 alone, around 729 thousand hectares of peatlands burned, accounting for 44.2% of the country’s total forest and land fires. This highlights the urgent need for systematic peatland protection and restoration.

Presidential Regulation No. 120/2020 established the Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM), mandating peat restoration in seven provinces and mangrove rehabilitation in nine provinces. BRGM’s 2021-2024 targets include restoring 1.2 million hectares of peatlands and rehabilitating 600 thousand hectares of mangroves. This mandate continues previous restoration efforts while expanding ecosystem recovery to coastal areas.

If the peat restoration targets of BRG (2016–2020) covering 2.68 million hectares and BRGM (2021-2024) covering 1.2 million hectares are fully achieved, Indonesia has strong potential to meet both its unconditional and conditional NDC targets. However, expanding restoration targets remains urgent, particularly to cover around 498.5 thousand hectares of peatlands burned in 2019. Such efforts are crucial to prevent recurring fires and strengthen national climate commitments.