Over 700 attend 15th International Peat Congress
KUCHING: Over700delegatesfrom around the globe are attending the 15th International Peat Congress 2016, a five- day summit to discuss presentations relating to worldwide perspective for sustainable use of peatlands and preservation of their unique dynamics and natural biodiversity.
This year, the prestigious quadrennial convention will be hosted by the Malaysian Peat Society ( MPS) in partnership with the International Peatland Society ( IPS) from today till Aug 19 at the Pullman Hotel here. This will be the first in the society’s long history that the congress is held at a location outside Europe and North America.
This year’s congress themed ‘ Pe at land s in Harmony - Agriculture, Industry and Nature’ provides researchers, academics and practitioners an ideal platform to congregate, share information and discuss their scientific results and experiences with particular reference to peat and peatlands in the tropics.
“The theme highlights the closely intertwined relationship of the environment, industry and socio- economic factors in relation to peat. The six themes and five special sessions (throughout the congress) have been structured to encompass and explore the various peat soil disciplines and we hope everyone will benefit from the many fruitful and enriching discussions.
“We are confident that this congress will link businesses, practitioners, researchers and policymakers through good working practices, business solutions, scientific outcomes and international initiatives that enhance the sustainable management of peat and its industries,” congress general Dr Lulie Melling said in her message in the programme book.
Lulie, the director of Tropical Peat Research Laboratory Unit in the Chief Minister’s Department, will present a keynote address on ‘ Key Agro- Environmental Management o f T ropic a l Peatland’.
She was reported as saying in February that of the global 400 million hectares of peatland, tropical peatland only occupies about eight per cent, and 60 per cent of these tropical peatlands are located in Southeast Asia.
Although there had been i nc r e a s i n g s t ud i e s a nd understanding on the subject, she believed it was still insufficiently investigated and documented when compared to temperate and boreal peat - which have been well quantified and classified.
“Tropical peatland has suffered from the ‘Cinderella Syndrome’ - unknown and therefore unloved. However, it is now one of the last frontiers of arable land available for agricultural development,” she quipped.
In his message in the programme book, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, who is this year’s congress patron, mentioned that it is vital that countries learn from one another, and that academics, industrial players and lawmakers support and collaborate with each other and not operate in isolation.
“It is also fitting that this congress is being held in Asia for the first time, allowing the world, especially those outside South East Asia, to learn about and understand tropical peatland. This is of crucial importance, as tropical wetland is still insufficiently investigated and documented, compared to temperate and boreal peat - which have been well quantified and classified,” Adenan stated.
Yesterday, congress participants were treated to an excursion to smallholders farms and the oil palm industry on tropical peatland, as well as Semenggoh Nature Reserve and Sarawak Biodiversity Centre and Bako National Park.
The inaugural congress was held in 1954 in Dublin, Ireland, while the previous conference in 2012 was hosted by Stockholm, Sweden.