Peat was historically mined overseas because it burns so well. But Australia’s subtropical peat bogs need fire to survive
- Written by: Catherine Yule, Professor of Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Catherine Yule, Author providedWhen I lived in Kalimantan in Indonesia in the 1990s and later in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, I would often wake to toxic, smoke-filled skies. The air would be filled with the distinctive smell of burning peat, as farmers cleared tropical peat swamp forests to make way for oil palm plantations.
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