JAKARTA, NETRALNEWS.COM - Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) utilizes IDR152 billion or 36 percent of the total 2017 budget to finance various preventive actions on land fire and economic revitalization.

"Of that amount, IDR117 billion is used for wetting infrastructure and economic revitalization activities and IDR35 billion is used for institutional strengthening, capacity and empowerment," said Deputy for Education, Socialization, Partnership and Partnership of BRG Myrna Safitri in Jakarta, Wednesday (11/1/2017).

BRG has been working with communities, civil society groups, and local governments to restore peatlands in seven targeted restoration provinces: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua.

Myrna said together with community groups, BRG has built wetting infrastructure such as canal channels and boreholes in dozens of villages.

In addition, BRG also conducts non-fuel land management trials, development of local commodities, fishery business development, livestock breeding and honey bee cultivation.

Through the Villages for Peatlands Program, BRG supports efforts to improve the welfare of communities and raise participation in peatlands restoration in 75 villages and sub-districts in Sumatra, Papua and Kalimantan.

There are 13 types of activities in Villages for Peatlands Program, such as social mapping and community managed peatland mapping, peatland rural formations, facilitating Village Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) development, legal empowerment through mediators and paralegals of peatland villages, facilitating access to social forestry and agrarian reform.