PEATSWAMP ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN BORNEO

While tropical lowland peatswamp ecosystems are well-represented among the major forest formations of Borneo, they are rare outside South-Ea st Asia. They are richly endowed with biological diversity, including the crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), which is a threatened species, and are characterized by their organic (histosol) soils that have develop ed recently, approximately within the past 5000 years. Their unique ec ological features, as well as logistical difficulties in accessing and utilizing peatswamps, have not, however, deterred exploitation. Some of the tallest, most commercially desirable timber species, such as ra min (Gonystylus bancanus) have been harvested routinely in the peatswa mp forests of Sarawak. Also, due to its primary location in coastal lo wlands in close proximity to human activity, drained and reclaimed pea tswamp land is desirable for development of highways, housing, and ind ustrial and plantation estates. Ecological information is needed urgen tly by decision-makers and land-owners, who may be contemplating conve rsion of natural peatswamp ecosystems to other land uses, to undergird conservation policy and best management practices for the wise stewar dship and sustainable development of this ecosystem. The paper provide s an overview of peatswamp ecology with recommendations for avoiding o r reducing potential ecological impacts associated with peatswamp deve lopment in Borneo, which include a moratorium on further development u ntil a Borneo peatswamp survey and inventory as well as a holistic, mu lti-sectoral, integrated environmental assessment and planning procedu re are completed; gazetting of pristine peatswamp forest parcels as to tally protected areas; implementing highly restricted multiple-use pol icy that allows development only in degraded areas, and insuring prote ction of the critical hydrological role of peatswamps in providing fre sh water supply for human use as an overriding criterion in assessing any development scheme.