How 17 canal blocks are holding back climate change
Beneath the forests of Central Kalimantan lies one of the most extraordinary carbon stores on Earth — ancient peat, built up over thousands of years and holding carbon far in excess of anything found in tropical timber. When peat is drained, it doesn’t just dry out. It subsides, cracks, and becomes fuel for catastrophic fires. Left unchecked, the drainage of tropical peatlands releases as much CO₂ as entire national economies.
The Katingan Mentaya Project is working to reverse that trajectory. Over the course of the project, 80 canal blocks have been constructed to restore the hydrology of the landscape — and between 2020 and 2023 alone, 17 new structures were added. Together they protect 157,875 hectares of peatland, keeping it saturated, alive, and sealed.
“Hydrological restoration was achieved through rewetting and construction of 17 canal blocks, protecting 157,875 hectares of peatland.”
The canals targeted are found across three critical areas within the project zone: the Hantipan area, the Perigi area, and the southern lowlands. These are precisely the zones where drainage posed the greatest threat — where land had been degraded by previous logging concessions and where subsidence was already beginning.
Rewetting saturated soils act as a natural fire barrier. When peat stays wet, it cannot ignite. The results have been remarkable: zero large-scale fires have been recorded across the 149,800-hectare project area. For a landscape that once faced devastating annual burn seasons, this is a transformation measured not just in carbon, but in the survival of an entire ecosystem.
157,875 hectares of peatland protected
80 canal blocks constructed (project lifetime)
ZERO large-scale fires recorded
16,275,414 tonnes CO₂e avoided (2020–2023)
Beyond carbon, the rewetted landscape provides something harder to quantify but just as vital: resilience. A healthy, saturated peatland is a buffer against drought, a filter for clean water, and a habitat for species found nowhere else on the planet. By restoring the water table, the Katingan Mentaya Project is not just storing carbon — it is rebuilding the ecological foundations of an entire region.
*All statistical information is based on the latest monitoring report covering the years 2020-2023
Photos courtesy of RMU
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