Action

Provide education or training programmes about peatlands or peatland management

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    60%
  • Certainty
    30%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

  • Two studies evaluated the effects of peatland education/training programmes on knowledge, behaviour, peatland habitats or peatland vegetation. Both studies were in tropical peat swamps.
  • Behaviour change (2 studies): One study in peat swamps in Indonesia reported that over 3,500 households adopted sustainable farming practices following workshops about sustainable farming. One before-and-after study in peat swamps in Indonesia reported that a training course on rubber farming increased the quality of rubber produced by local farmers.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A study in 2008 in peat swamps in Indonesia (CKPP 2008) reported that workshops with local people encouraged 3,540 households to adopt sustainable farming practices. The study suggests this is a result of changed attitudes towards sustainable farming (but this was not quantified). Workshops were held to identify agricultural and aquacultural practices suited to the local environment but with minimal negative (or even positive) environmental impacts. The workshops involved farmers, government officials, non-governmental organizations, state research institutions and academics.

    Study and other actions tested
  2. A before-and-after study in 2010–2013 in peat swamps in Indonesia (KFCP 2014) reported that training local rubber farmers increased the quality of the rubber they produced. No statistical tests were carried out. Once the training was completed, farmers were able to produce rubber with 53% dry rubber content, compared to 45% before the course began. Dry rubber content is a measure of quality, and the higher quality rubber produced after the course fetched higher prices. Between 2010 and 2013, farmers in seven villages received training in rubber farming techniques and economics. The aim was to change the farmers’ knowledge and behaviour, so they produced higher quality rubber, made more money from their existing plantations and had less incentive to cultivate remaining peat swamp forests. Details of the rubber quality measurements were not reported.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Taylor, N.G., Grillas, P. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Peatland Conservation. Pages 367-430 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

Peatland Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Peatland Conservation
Peatland Conservation

Peatland Conservation - Published 2018

Peatland Conservation

What Works 2021 cover

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

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