Research overview: peatland drainage, fire, and tiger habitat in Sumatra

Much of Sumatra's lowland forest grows on carbon-rich peat that, when drained for plantations, becomes highly flammable, fueling the recurrent fire and haze crises that also degrade tiger habitat. This overview surveys how peatland conversion and drought-driven fires destroy forest, release enormous carbon emissions, and create a feedback between land use and climate. It reviews the consequences for tigers and prey of losing peat-swamp forest, a habitat type that once supported the species. The synthesis frames peatland fire as a coupled land-use and climate hazard, illustrating how the same drainage that opens land for agriculture both eliminates tiger habitat and amplifies the warming that threatens what remains.