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Indonesia and Western Pomerania in dialogue
Ambassador on paludiculture tour
03/08/2018 To see how paludiculture looks in practice the Indonesian ambassador H.E. Dr. Arif Havas Oegroseno paid a visit to Western Pomerania following an invitation of the Greifswald Mire Centre.
Similar to Germany, Indonesia suffered huge environmental damage due to peatland drainage for agriculture. In Indonesia, large scale peat fires additionally worsened the situation and also caused severe health problems for the population. Today the country sees rewetting and paludiculture as a solution and is gathering information how to use peatlands wisely. Indonesia has recently set up a Peatland Restoration Agency and has rewetted in 2017 some 200,000 ha – as much as entire Europe in its history.
The GMC took ambassador Oegroseno to drained peatlands at polder Bargischow and rewetted peatlands at Anklamer Stadtbruch. Here, Patrick Dahlemann, Secretary of State for Western Pomerania welcomed the ambassador and joined him for a visit in a dense, productive reedbed under almost tropical temperatures. In the small village of Kamp the group observed the harvesting of cattail and learnt about traditional and innovative forms of paludiculture. At the site of the Wetland Products Foundation reed cutting companies from Anklam region, Rügen island and Schleswig-Holstein together with Dutch companies specialised in mowing machinery for wetlands shared their knowledge with the guests. Patrick Dahlemann welcomed this ‘peatland connection’ and stressed the potential of combining environmental and socio-economic benefits by implementing peatland rewetting and paludiculture.
In the cool historical buildings of Greifswald University, the prorector for Research and International Affairs Prof. Dr. Katharina Riedel introduced the ambassador to the history and main research topics of Greifswald University. Ambassador Oegroseno showed much interest in research cooperation and announced to explore possibilities for setting up an ERASMUS partnership. Further steps in cooperation were also discussed with the Michael Succow Foundation, where Prof. Dr. Michael Succow welcomed the ambassador.