The 2015 forest and land fires in Indonesia marked a transformation in peatland management and forest and land fire prevention. Since then, the initiative has been strengthened by including the restoration of degraded peat and increasing forest and land fire prevention efforts. In 2019, fires reoccurred in various places in Indonesia although on a smaller scale. Programs, campaigns and efforts for ‘zero burning’ and restoration of peat continue to be encouraged. The extent to which these efforts and approaches are successful will be tested in the future as the dry season is projected to expand. CIFOR-ICRAF, PSB UNRI and Sedagho Siak facilitated the development of community-based fire prevention models in Kampung Kayu Ara Permai and Penyengat, Siak District with support from the Temasek Foundation and the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise. The development of this model is part of participatory action research that has been carried out since 2021 in Siak and is a scaling-up of similar research in Bengkalis from 2018 to 2020. This research is part of a larger program that aims to support the achievement of the long-term goal of peat restoration through changing people’s behavior in preparing land without burning it. The models initiated demonstrate the potential for sustainable peat management through the selection of commodities and the adoption of peat-friendly practices. We aim to transfer findings and knowledge to other stakeholders for further scaling-up through Dialogue and Soft Launching Publications "Strengthening Fire Prevention in the Dry Season and El-Nino through Community-Based Peat Restoration in the Digital Age".
