Improved Peatlands Potential for Agricultural Purposes to Support Sustainable Development in Bengkalis District, Riau Province, Indonesia

Bengkalis District in Riau Province, Indonesia, has potential peatlands covering 647,962.26 ha or 76.05% of its total land area. Peatlands not only have a function as direct life support, especially by providing area for agricultural purposes, but also ecological functions, such as flood and global climate control. Peatland areas will be arduous to restore if damaged. This condition certainly has negative impacts on the socio-economic aspects of the people living in the surrounding areas in particular. Sustaining the function of peatlands for the ecosystems essentially requires a detailed review of spatial feasibility and socio-economic impacts of peat swamp reclamation. Plants that have been cultivated on peatlands by the community are palm oil, rubber, coconut, coffee, and areca catechu (pinang). On wetlands, in particular, people do sago farming. One of the problems encountered in the utilization of peatlands is the low level of community participation in the development of peatland management policies. As a result, the implementation of these policies is still conflicting, prone to dispute and hard to do.