The value of local wisdom for peatland fire risk reduction in the wetland area of South Kalimantan

Mitigation of land fires that occur in wetland areas, especially in peatlands, continues to be addressed by the community in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan Province. Local wisdom that applies in the community, which includes local knowledge, local value, local skills, local sources, and regional society solidarity, is expected to reduce the risk of land fires. The research objective is to analyze the value of local wisdom for peatland fire reduction in the wetland area of South Kalimantan. The respondents interviewed were 30 from the Community and Fire Care Community or Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA) members. Local wisdom prevailing in the community can reduce the risk of peatland fires. The community has the local knowledge, local value, local skills, local sources, and local society solidarity in managing peatlands. Peatlands managed by communities are less likely to burn than unmanaged lands. The tapulikampar system is a local wisdom in the Banjar community to prepare agricultural peatlands without burning. The Banjar community also has good skills in managing peatlands, which are not easily damaged and prone to burning. Cooperation between community groups in MPA is also well implemented in monitoring land fires and suppression efforts. The community makes maximum efforts so that peatlands are not damaged, and the risk of fire can be reduced because potential resources on peatlands must be passed on to the next generation.


Introduction
Peatland ecosystems are fragile ecosystems but have an essential role in human life.Peatlands have a crucial role in preserving biodiversity, water quality, and availability, preventing flooding and groundwater intrusion, and becoming a source of livelihood for the community [1].The problem with peatlands is deforestation and draining them for plantations and agriculture.This conversion causes fire vulnerability to increase [2].This problem causes the role of peatlands to be disturbed and degraded.Communities have a significant role in maintaining peatlands to be sustainable.Local community support is needed for the long-term sustainability of peatlands [3].How local communities manage peatlands is increasingly recognized as a success factor for long-term restoration [4].Communities can conserve peatlands by managing water well, reducing drainage in cultivated areas, and protecting peat swamp forest systems [5].Reducing the use of fire by local communities for land preparation can prevent peatland fires [6].
Local wisdom applies to an area as values and rules used by the community.Local wisdom is an ancestral value in preserving nature [7].Local wisdom can be formed through interactions between individuals in a community and the environment in which they live.Local wisdom contains dimensions of local knowledge, local value, local skills, local sources, and local society solidarity.These dimensions are passed down to the next generation [8,9].
The ability to adapt to the environment makes humans try to take advantage of existing resources to support their needs.It helps to build a bond between humans and their natural habitat.Communities that adapt to the environment will acquire and develop local wisdom through knowledge, customary norms, cultural values, activities, and life support equipment.Thus, local wisdom is rooted in local or traditional knowledge and management systems.Local wisdom on the environment raises the community's collective behavior in interacting with the environment to balance the ecosystem.The close relationship of local communities to the environment and natural resources makes them understand the ecological system in which they live through various trials [9].
Local wisdom contributes to preventing degradation and fires on peatlands [10].Local wisdom in disaster mitigation is obtained from accumulating community knowledge based on experience in dealing with disaster threats [11].Land fires are caused more by human factors, which deliberately burn land to clear land.Local wisdom prevails in the community, able to control the land fires.Landowners' sense of responsibility and norms towards their land has led them to monitor and limit land burning to not affect other people's land.Preparing land has also become part of customary norms so that fire control can be carried out [12].
Land fires in wetlands, especially peatlands in the Banjarbaru region of South Kalimantan, always occur repeatedly in the dry season.The fire became a severe problem because the burned area was close to the Syamsudin Noor International airport [13].The community and local government have made various efforts, such as monitoring and preparing firefighting infrastructure to reduce the risk of peatland fires [14].Multiple kinds of socialization on land preparation without burning have been implemented in this region to reduce the risk of land fires.Local wisdom obtained based on community knowledge and experience has been sought to be applied in fire-prone areas.Through local wisdom that prevails in the community, it is hoped that the problem of peatland fires can be overcome and become a solution to the problem.This article analyzes local wisdom prevailing in wetland communities to reduce peatland fires.The research objective is to analyze the value of local wisdom for peatland fire reduction in the wetland area of South Kalimantan.

Methods
This research was conducted in the Banjarbaru area.The Banjarbaru area was chosen as the research area because fires often occur in this region [13,[15][16][17][18].In addition, the existence of Syamsudin Noor International Airport is a top priority in handling land fires in the South Kalimantan region of Indonesia.This area is also included in the Maluka-Martapura Peatland Hydrological Unit or Kesatuan Hidrologi Gambut (KHG), a priority area for peatland restoration.This research used qualitative methods.Qualitative methods offer valuable insights into local wisdom by providing a deep understanding of cultural practices; they also come with challenges related to subjectivity, generalizability, and the complexity of analysis.Researchers need to carefully navigate these considerations to conduct rigorous and meaningful studies in the field of local wisdom.
The research began with proposal-making and initial discussions around January 2023, then continued with interviews and secondary data collection during the May-June 2023 to obtain data from government agencies and data from the Fire Care Community or Masyarakat Peduli Api (MPA) for data collection using interviews, and by using secondary data.Interviews were conducted with Fire Care Communities (MPA) in Banjarbaru and South Kalimantan, totaling 30 people.The questions in this interview are about local wisdom that applies in the community, including local knowledge, local value, local skills, local sources, and local society solidarity (Table 1).

Local knowledge
What agricultural systems are used by communities to increase soil fertility while keeping peatlands from burning?

Local knowledge
Does the community implement a paludiculture system (agriculture with adaptive crops) so that peatlands are not easily damaged?

Local knowledge
Does the community implement a surjan farming system (by making a wall/elevating the soil) to grow various crops?

Local knowledge
Are there any customary traditions/community customs in preparing peatlands for agriculture?

Local value
What is the local value in managing peatlands passed on to the next generation?
Local value What are the potential resources of peatlands?
Local source Have skills in managing peatlands been passed down from previous generations for generations?

Local skill
Are there any written or unwritten rules (as part of community tradition) for managing peatlands without burning?

Local skill
How is the cooperation between community groups in managing peatlands?Society solidarity.
How is cooperation between communities when peatland fires occur?Society solidarity.Source: Data Analysis (2023) Validate research data by crosschecking data between observations in the field by collecting primary data from interviews.Data analysis using triangulation techniques (reduction, display, and verification data).The interview results are then reduced according to the focus of the study.results are then described to obtain results from the study.

Local Wisdom of the Community in Reducing the Risk of Peatland Fires
People who live on fire-prone peatlands are well aware of environmental conditions.They have local knowledge about the peatland environment.The community understands the condition of the season in the peatland area.When the temperature increases during the day, it will undoubtedly have entered the dry season.In addition, when the morning feels cold and dewy, it has entered the dry season.When the dry season has entered, the community must begin to be vigilant to keep their land from burning.Knowledge of wind direction and wind speed is also essential local knowledge; strong winds are factors that accelerate fires and expand burned areas.Knowledge of wind direction and wind speed makes people more alert to fires.
The community also has the local knowledge about the peatland-preparing for agriculture.Communities understand that clearing peatlands by burning can cause fires to spread.The community is trying to prepare the land without burning to prevent the fires from spreading.The grass is cut down and collected together.This system, called the tapulikampar system, is a form of local wisdom in agriculture [19][20][21].The grass is then used as fertilizer.They prefer fertilizers derived from grass decay and use NPK fertilizers, urea fertilizers, and fertilizers from chicken manure.When they have to burn, the mowed grass is usually made into one place, then just burned.The goal is to make burning more controlled and not widespread in other areas.A proper understanding of peatland management can lead to sustainable land.Preparing land without burning can reduce the risk of land degradation [13,16].
The community also applies adaptive plants to peatlands so as not to damage peatlands.They use the surjan system to plant various plants on shallow peatlands.The people already understood that peatlands could be used for their livelihoods, based on the peatland characteristics.They also used peatlands for growing short-lived food crops and horticultural crops during the rainy season, such as chilies, tomatoes, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas, and oranges.Peatlands are potential natural resources for agriculture; various horticultural crops can be cultivated on peatlands because the crops are short-lived [22].In this system, the ground is elevated, then a water channel is made.The surjan height for each type of plant is different.Onion crops range from 15-20 cm, while vegetable crops usually range from 10 cm.Through this system, plants do not die quickly even though peatland conditions will be flooded during the rainy season.The surjan system and traditional agroforestry are essential for restoring degraded and burnt peat.An agricultural system is a form of community adaptation to managing peatlands.The system is applied to prevent land degradation and fires [23][24][25].They also use specific planting patterns; for example, waterhungry plants will not be planted in dry seasons to reduce water use in the dry season.Applying the correct planting pattern can avoid excessive water use on peatlands.The community also uses canal barriers for irrigation and to prevent the land from burning.The government built many canal barriers for the peatland rewetting restoration program.The function of canal barriers is to keep peat wet throughout the year to protect the land from the threat of fire [26].Canal partitions are preferred to regulate the peat water level by plants and soil moisture.This system makes peatlands more productive and avoids land fires [27].
The local value in managing peatlands has been passed on to the next generation, although not all young people are willing to manage peatlands into agricultural land.Many young people do not want to become farmers and choose to become jobs in other sectors.Working as a farmer is no longer a promising job.Local knowledge and value in managing peatlands, which are increasingly poorly understood by the younger generation, can threaten the sustainability of peatlands.Education and socialization for the younger generation must be done through environmental education and disaster education based on local wisdom.Environmental education and disaster education based on local wisdom aim to create a grand design in the learning process and support the formation of the resilience of the younger generation.Integrating local wisdom based on a disaster mitigation curriculum in the learning process is expected to take fast, precise, and accurate steps to deal with disasters in an area [28].
Peatland has excellent potential if its utilization is based on the characteristics of the peatland itself.Shallow peat has the potential to be developed as an agricultural area planted with vegetables and fruits.Peatlands also have the potential to be developed as fisheries and plantation areas [29].Although peatland problems are numerous, such as fire, soil acidity, inundation, and low fertility, properly managed peat will be a sustainable source of livelihood for the population.The knowledge and skills of peatland management passed down to the younger generation and innovations in peatland management make peatlands a promising resource for the future.
Peatland sustainability must undoubtedly be followed by rules and sanctions related to peatland management.Regulations on land preparation without burning and legal sanctions for deliberately burning peatlands must be vigorously implemented.The community stated that banners about the prohibition of burning land were placed at several points.The community is also working hard to keep the land they manage from burning.They will keep the land from fire because peatland is their source of life.Land owned by communities tends to be better preserved than unproductive land.Unproductive land is generally overgrown with shrubs, so young burn [30,31].
Communities are essential in managing peatlands, keeping peatlands sustainable, and avoiding land fires.Communities manage peatlands based on their knowledge and experience, which are passed on to the next generation.Cooperation between community groups in protecting peatlands from land fires is a vital thing that is continuously maintained to reduce the risk of peatland fires.In this region, a Fire Care Community or MPA has been formed.This community group is significant in protecting peatlands [14].They apply the value of cooperation and mutual assistance when monitoring land fires and extinguishing fires.Through this collaboration, peatland fires are tackled together so that peatland fires can be reduced in impact on the environment.

The Importance of Local Wisdom in Reducing Peatland Fire Risk
Local wisdom develops in the community as part of its knowledge and experience in managing peatlands so they do not burn.The value of local wisdom has become part of people's daily lives.Some values of local wisdom to reduce the risk of peatland fires are found in Table 2. Knowledge of local wisdom about the beginning of the rainy season and wind direction can provide community knowledge to recognize the environment and be more aware of land fires.In addition, the critical value of local wisdom is that preparing land without burning and using agricultural systems that are adaptive to wetland environments, especially peatlands, can reduce the danger of peatland fires.Peatland education and peatland management regulations provide opportunities for peatlands to remain sustainable.In addition, cooperation with stakeholders in overcoming land fires can further reduce the risk of land fires [32].

Conclusion
As a result of community knowledge and experience in managing peatlands, local wisdom is an essential component in preserving peatlands and reducing the risk of land fires.Knowledge of peatland characteristics makes people cautious when managing peatland.Preparing agricultural land without burning has become a habit of the community to avoid peatland fires.The Banjar community has the tapulikampar system to prepare the peatland without burning.Planting adaptive crops and managing peatlands appropriately can prevent peatlands from damage and drought that trigger peatland fires.Through social sanctions and legal sanctions, it can deter peatland-burning perpetrators.Communities can also work together to monitor peatlands to prevent fires.Through these local wisdom values that can be passed on to the younger generation, the hope is that the risk of peatland fires will be reduced.

5 Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Elevated land for cultivation with vegetables

Table 1 .
Questions asked during Semi-structured interviews Questions Rationale Do people know the signs of nature when entering the dry season?Local knowledge Does local knowledge of wind direction reduce the risk of peatland fires?

Table 2 .
The Important Value of Local Wisdom