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Peat swamp forests occur where waterlogged soils prevent dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing, which over time creates thick layer of acidic peat.The peat swamp forests on Borneo occur in the Indonesian state of Kalimantan, the Malaysian state of Sarawak and in the Belait District of Brunei on coastal lowlands, built up behind the brackish mangrove forests and bounded by the Borneo ...
Tropical peat ecosystem are found in three regions: Central America, Africa and South East Asia. [2] About 62% of the world's tropical peat lands occur in the Indomalayan realm (80% in Indonesia, 11% in Malaysia, 6% in Papua New Guinea, and pockets in Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand).
Malaysia also has significant peatland in the Peninsular and Borneo, at 26,685 km 2, covering 8.1% of its land area. [ 22 ] Although originally a wetland ecosystem, much of the peatland in Southeast Asia have been drained for human activities such as agriculture, forestry and urban development.
Satellite image of burning tropical peat swamp, Borneo. In 1997 alone, 73000 ha of swamp was burned in Borneo, releasing the same amount of carbon as 13-40% of the mean annual global carbon emissions of fossil fuels. The majority of this carbon was released from peat rather than overlying tropical rainforest.
The ecoregion covers an area of 3,600 square kilometers (1,400 sq mi) on both the eastern and western sides of the peninsula. The peat swamp forests have formed over hundreds of years, as sediment and organic debris deposited by rivers are trapped behind mangroves, gradually building up a layer of waterlogged, acidic, nutrient-poor soil.
The Philippines is battered by nearly 20 storms and typhoons every year. Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, devastated the central Philippines in 2013, leaving over ...
If Man-yi impacts the northern Philippines, it would make for four tropical impacts on the area in 10 days. Typhoon Toraji, known as Nika in the Philippines, made landfall in the northern province ...
Before setting up the tropical peat research institute, the Sarawak government was concerned with international non-governmental organisations (NGO) lobbying in Europe that calls for an import ban of palm oil coming from tropical peatlands because of the claims that cultivation of oil palms on peatland contributes to global greenhouse gases emissions. [9]