Peatland is an important natural treasure as its ecosystem consists of soil, plants and hydrology that produces various forest products, as well as serving as an important component to prevent floods and become a source of water supply during the dry season.

Malaysia often recorded a rising number of wildfire cases in 2011, followed by 2012 and 2014-2018 where affected peatland areas contributed to flooding and the climate exchange in the region.

Peatland forest works like a sponge to control the sudden rise of water levels and absorb rainwater to be stored as the water supply for the surrounding area.

Peatland forests comprise of dried leaves, branches, trunks, roots that are contaminated in water for a period of time thus making them flammable when the soil dries especially during the dry season.

The condition of the peatland forests can cause fires to spread quickly thus releasing a high amounts of carbon dioxide that contribute to other pollutions.

The Peatland Forest is known for its ability to absorb high amount of carbon dioxide (C02) released into the atmosphere. This is very dangerous if the peatland forest catches fire, due to the large emissions of carbon dioxide.  

Hence, the role of peatland is important to safeguard climate stability and prevent the occurrence of global warming issues such as haze and ozone layer depletion.

The humidity level restored in peatland forest plays a crucial part in the ecology system as it is the home for endangered flora and fauna such as freshwater fish categorised as endemic such as catfish, snakehead and climbing perch as well as pitcher plant (Pokok Periuk Kera).

To overcome this problem, a team of UPM researchers in collaboration with researchers from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Malaysia's National Applied Research and Development Centre (MIMOS) and the National Institute of Communication Technology (NICT) are committed in the journey to conserve the importance of peatland nature by producing a monitoring system, IoT- Based Peatland Monitoring Data Analytics.

Inventor
Prof. Ir. Dr. Aduwati Sali
Faculty of Engineering UPM
aduwati@upm.edu.my

Date of Input: 23/02/2022 | Updated: 17/05/2022 | asrizam