Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute

Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (STROPI) is a research institute that was set up by the government of Sarawak in 2008 for the research of tropical peatland in Sarawak in order to develop tropical peatland for agriculture purposes in an environmentally friendly manner.

Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute
Established26 June 2008[1]
MissionTo develop scientific, technical knowledge and understanding for the responsible management and conservation of tropical peat & peatland[2]
FocusTropical peatland study[2]
OwnerSarawak state government
Location
Lot 6035, Kuching - Kota Samarahan Expressway
,
Kota Samarahan
,
Sarawak
,
Malaysia
Coordinates1°28′55″N 110°25′31″E
Websitehttp://sarawaktropi.my/

History

Before setting up the tropical peat research institute, the Sarawak government was concerned with international non-governmental organisations (NGO) lobbying in Europe that calls for an import ban of palm oil coming from tropical peatlands because the claims that cultivation of oil palms contributes to global greenhouse gases emissions.[3] Therefore, on 26 June 2008, Sarawak State Legislative Assembly passed a law to establish Tropical Peat Research Laboratory. In 2010, eddy covariance flux towers were set up in three locations in Sarawak namely: Sibu,[4] Maludam National Park,[5] and Lambir Hills National Park.[6] The flux towers are co-managed together with researchers from Hokkaido University and National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan to estimate the net carbon balance from tropical peatlands.[1] In 2012, the flux tower located at Lambir Hills National Park was moved to secondary peat swamp forest in Betong Division.[7] In 2015, the laboratory was moved to a new research complex.[1]

In September 2016, the first International Peat Congress (IPC) was held in Kuching, Sarawak. During the congress, it was claimed that drainage-based agriculture with soil compaction is able to reduce carbon emission into the atmosphere. However, 139 scientists had signed a letter that such a method does not reduce carbon emissions from peatlands.[8][9] On 7 November 2016, the laboratory was upgraded to the “Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute” (STROPI).[1]

In 2018, the director for STROPI, Dr Lulie Meling was elected as a member of the executive board of the International Peat Society (IPS).[10]

In 2019, Sarawak won the bid to host AsiaFlux conference in 2020.[11] Due to corona virus pandemic, the event was postponed to 2021.[12]

Researches

Between 2019 and 2020, STROPI was involved in two international collaborations on researches that deal with the long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth's tropical forests and the study of interactions between the beneficial and pathogenic funguses in paddy plants.[13]

References
  1. "Background". Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  2. "Vision, Mission, and research projects". Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  3. Mail, Rintos (8 November 2016). "Research lab now called Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  4. "SBW: Sibu station". Asiaflux. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  5. "MLM:Maludam". Asiaflux. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. "LHP:Lambir Hills National Park". Asiaflux. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  7. "Tropical Peatland – A Strong Carbon Sink?". Asiaflux. May 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. Wijedasa, Lahiru S.; Jauhiainen, Jyrki; Könönen, Mari; Lampela, Maija; Vasander, Harri; Leblanc, Marie-Claire; Evers, Stephanie; Smith, Thomas E. L.; Yule, Catherine M.; Varkkey, Helena; Lupascu, Massimo (March 2017). "Denial of long-term issues with agriculture on tropical peatlands will have devastating consequences". Global Change Biology. 23 (3): 977–982. Bibcode:2017GCBio..23..977W. doi:10.1111/gcb.13516. PMID 27670948.
  9. Bell, Loren (4 October 2016). "139 scientists shoot down 'misleading' reports from Malaysia peat congress". Mongabay. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  10. Ten, Marilyn (28 October 2018). "Championing the cause of peatland". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  11. "Sarawak to host AsiaFlux next year". The Borneo Post. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  12. "AsiaFlux 2021". Asiaflux2020. 2020. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  13. "Sarawak Tropical Peat Research Institute (STROPI)". Nature (journal). Nature. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
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