Jakarta (VNA) - The European Union (EU) has ▨launched the civil societycomponent of a 24 m𒁃illion EUR (about 26 million USD) programme to supportSustainable Use of Peatland and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN (SUPA).

This newinitiative supports the objectives of the ASEAN  Peatland Management Strategythrough collective actions and enhanced cooperation that improves sust✃ainablepeatland management, mitigates the impacts of climate change, manages the riskof wild fires and reduces trans-boundary regional haze.

It alsosupports and sustains local livelihoods while contributing to globalenvironmental management. Theprogramme is also critical in tackling the root causes of peatland fires inmitigating the impacts of climate change, especially in the wake of recentpeatland and forest fires in the region in 2019, with a total of 857,755hectares burned, an increase from the 529,266 hectares that was destroyed in2018 and on top of the 2.6 million hectares that went up in flames in 2015. The EU’ssupport is composed of two mutually reinforcing main components, namely a governmentalapproach and a non-state actor approach. Thegovernmental approach is being implemented by the German Corporationfor International Cooperation  (GIZ) while the non-state actor approach is being implemented by WorldResources Institute Indonesia in collaboration with Tropical RainforestConservation & Research Centre Malaysia and the IDH Sustainable TradeInitiative. The two components will work collaboratively to help ASEAN addressthe root causes of forest fires. Speakingat the launch, EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans hopes that this newprogramme will encourage the ASEAN region to become more resilient andproactive in sustainable peatland management. Although much has been achievedsince 2015, to fully realise the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement, efforts tomitigate peatland fires and curb the adverse impacts of climate change requiresustained attention. TheSecretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi said thattogether with the ASEAN-EU High-Level Dialogue on Environment and ClimateChange held earlier this month in Bangkok, and the project on BiodiversityConservation and Management of Protected Areas in ASEAN, the SUPA initiative isanother opportunity provided by the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework which willact as foundation of knowledge to help ASEAN member states and relevantinstitutions to achieve enhanced capacity and regional coordination insustainable management of forest and peatland./.