Center of Excellence Peatland Conservation and Productivity Improvement (CoE PLACE), Sriwijaya University, Palembang Indonesia
Sriwijaya University (UNSRI) is one of the member of a consortium of seven universities in Green Knowledge for Green Prosperity of the people at some peatland areas in South Sumatra. The consortium was established for partnership with MCA Indonesia (Green Knowledge, GK), to leverage best resources from UNSRI through effective resource, sharing mechanism with respect to researches, lessons learned, experiences and intellectual capital needed to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) Peatland Conservation and related with the local needs of the regions to support sustainable development agenda.
Indonesia is a country that has a fairly extensive peatlands, scattered on the island of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. The existence and development of peatland is very important not only in terms of the ecosystem but also from the view of improving people prosperity in the surrounding areas. Sriwijaya University has had a long experience in the agricultural development of peatland in the province of South Sumatra. Through Green Knowledge-funded by MCA-I, Sriwijaya University received the opportunity to develop a Center of Excellence Peatland Conservation and Productivity Improvement (CoE PLACE). CoE PLACE is designed to improve the sustainable utilization of peatland with regard to the conservation of ecosystems and improving the productivity of peatland to achieve the welfare improvement of its people.