Indonesian President Joko Widodo has set up a peatland restoration agency, which will start operating on a state budget in January of 2016.
Mr Joko said the agency will be led by environmental activist Nazir Foead, who has worked with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Indonesia.
He has asked Mr Nazir to coordinate for the restoration of peatlands in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua provinces.
“We aim to manage peatland ecosystems covering 2 million hectares,” Kompas.com quoted Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya as saying.