 My name is Christelle Ergoual, I'm a scientist at C4 looking at how land use change and degradation is affecting the emissions of greenhouse gases. Peru is the second country in the tropics in terms of peatland area and the current estimated surface is 50,000 km2. But this estimate is the best assessment which would need rigorous ground thrusting. Besides, this estimate considers only lowland peatlands of the Amazon basin while we know peat formation also occurs in the highlands. The peat is formed by the organic matter decomposing coming from the palms, the other trees and also from the roots. And given the water load conditions, this organic matter decomposes very very slowly and it accumulates. And this is how peat forms over time. It has also been demonstrated that Peruvian peatlands store considerable amounts of carbon. In Indonesia we've been working also on the carbon stock changes and trace gas emissions in undisturbed and converted lands. There's a lot of degradation, a lot of shrublands on peat, but also plantations such as all palm plantations and acacia plantations which require drainage, deep drainage for the cultivation. So there we have a complete shift in the balance of the greenhouse gases and we have very strong emissions of CO2. Here in Peru, the major threat identified is the over harvesting of this palm. The female palms are slashed for collecting their fruits and left to decompose on the ground. As a consequence, the canopy cover of the forest decreases. The inputs of organic matter which builds the peat over time decrease and you also have a change in the microclimate in the ecosystem. If the canopy is more open, you have more sun getting inside. So you have a change in the air temperature, in the soil temperature, in the soil moisture. You have more evaporation and so you reduce the flooding conditions of the ecosystem. So you accelerate the decomposition of the organic matter. Then we can expect reduced carbon stocks in the vegetation, but also in the peat. And the soil emissions of carbon dioxide may increase while the fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide may also be altered. We need to know what is the exchange of greenhouse gases between the system and the atmosphere in undisturbed conditions but also after disturbance. So in undisturbed conditions you have an exchange of CO2 because the system is respiring but it's also photosynthesizing. But when you disturb the system you will have more CO2 coming from the soil. Because the peat or the carbon which is there is going to be transformed into CO2 and be emitted. We need to improve the accuracy of the inventory of tropical peatlands in order to determine the magnitude of the carbon pool. To estimate the scale of the transfer of peat derived greenhouse gases emissions to the atmosphere resulting from degradation and land use change. To support greenhouse gas emission reduction policies. We don't know what will be the future if there is a willing to really to conserve these ecosystems or if potentially they could end up being drained as well as in Indonesia.