Wading through the swamp: what does tropical peatland restoration mean to national-level stakeholders in Indonesia?

Ecological restoration is considered to play an important role in mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and pre-venting environmental degradation. Yet, there are often multiple perspectives on what outcomes restoration should be aimingto achieve, and how we should get to that point. In this study we interview a range of policymakers, academics, and non-gov-ernmental organization (NGO) representatives to explore the range of perspectives on the restoration of Indonesia’s tropicalpeatlands—key global ecosystems that have undergone large-scale degradation. Thematic analysis suggests that participantsagreed about the importance of restoration, but had differing opinions on how effective restoration activities to date have beenand what a restored peatland landscape should look like. These results exemplify how ecological restoration can mean differentthings to different people, but also highlight important areas of consensus for moving forward with peatla nd restorationstrategies