REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SELATPANJANG -- The Peat Restoration Agency (BRG) said it would improve the management system for damaged peat lands in Riau.

Restoration of the damaged peat lands totaling 933,000 hectares would need more than Rp11 trillion in the next five years.

"Our estimate is that restoration would need Rp12 million per hectares," BRG chief Nazir Foead said here on Tuesday.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has formed the BRG early this year to be in charge of restoring 2 million hectares of peat lands in various areas in the country in five years.

Big fires almost every years have damaged the ecosystem including peat lands especially in Riau.

Restoration would be made in seven provinces - Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Papua.

This year, BRG has set a target to restore 30 percent or 600,000 hectares of the damaged peat lands in four regencies -- Pulang Pisau in Central Kalimantan, Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin in South Sumatra and Kepulauan Meranti in Riau.

President Jokowi has asked to prioritize work in the Kepulauan Meranti of Riau after seeing the active role played by the local people in the restoration by planting sago trees.

"BRG would start restoration work in Riau particularly in Meranti," Nazir said.

However, BRG has no allocation yet in the state budget, he said, adding, the the budget proposal of the agency is still being studied by the finance ministry and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).

For the time being, the restoration program has to relay for finance on rehabilitation budget of the Forestry and Environment Ministry and donation from Norway and the United States through USAID, he said.

In February, 2016, the Norwegian government pledged a grant of US$50 million for the restoration program and the U.S. government agreed to provide an assistance of US$17 million.

"The budget for BRG is yet to be decided . It is still being calculated by Bappenas and the Finance Ministry," Nazir said.

He said he hoped the private sector would contribute to providing fund as the program would need a huge fund.

He said BRG would take inventory of damaged lands to be rehabilitated that implementation of the program would not cause legal problem in the future.

BRG has started to make a map of concession lands and disputed concession lands , and lands belonging to the local people.

He said the disputes have to be settled first before restoration began.

"Restoration would not take place over all of the 933,000 hectares of peat lands damaged in Riau as there is still legal aspect to be settled," he said.

BRG would be focused on re-wetting and re-vegetation in the damaged peat lands by making holes to keep rain water from flowing away that in dry season the land would remain wet, he said.

There would be less be risk of fires when the peat land is wet, and the land could be cultivated with plants that would not be easily burnt like sago trees, he said.

Acting Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman said he hoped the local people would be involved in the BRG program to encourage them to plant sago trees as a major commodity in Riau.

"It is right to make Kepulauan Meranti as a priority in the BRG program as sago trees are easily available on that area and the local people would be encouraged to take part in the program," he said.

"Hopefully the program would have big impact on that area in expanding sago plantations," he said.

Regent of Kepulauan Meranti, Irwan Nasir, said he was pleased with the priority given to his district area saying damaged peat ecosystem has resulted in rapid abrasion in the Riau coastal area.

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