The effective conservation and sustainable management of tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia is a major challenge. Pervasive deforestation, drainage and conversion to agricultural land, is disrupting these ecosystems’ ability to sequester atmospheric carbon. Conserving peatlands in an intact state has been described as a “low hanging fruit in tackling climate change” by the international conservation community. Yet, peatland drainage and land conversion continue unabated. Focusing on Malaysia’s coastal peatlands, this study interrogates local and global perspectives on peatland conversion. We combine diverse datasets obtained using palaeoecological and social science research methods to provide a comprehensive context to this conservation challenge. We also identify where the local and global perspectives are in conflict and where they align. To do this, we employ a literature review and qualitative analysis of the interview data, enabling us to draw out key themes of local versus global discourses on the current management and future prospects of these peatland ecosystems. Palaeoecological data, derived from cores collected from three peatlands in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, provide a quantitative assessment of long-term ecological changes in these environments; qualitative surveys of local stakeholders provide complementary detail on the history of and future perspectives on human-peatland interaction. Finally, a comparison of interview data with key themes in the international discourses on peatland conservation, illustrates conflicts between the two. The coastal peatlands of Sarawak serve as a case study to explore the fragile context of sustainable tropical peatland management, illustrating the diversity of datasets and knowledges that can be integrated. This approach enables a more effective dialogue amongst the multiple stakeholders involved in the management of these globally important ecosystems.

东南亚热带泥炭地的有效保护和可持续管理是一项重大挑战。广泛的森林砍伐，排水和向农业土地的转化正在破坏这些生态系统的固存大气碳的能力。国际保护界将保护完好的泥炭地描述为“应对气候变化的低落果实”。然而，泥炭地的排水和土地转换仍然没有减弱。这项研究着重于马来西亚的沿海泥炭地，审视了泥炭地转换的本地和全球观点。我们结合使用古生态学和社会科学研究方法获得的各种数据集，为应对这一保护挑战提供了全面的背景资料。我们还确定了本地和全球视角在哪里发生冲突以及在何处保持一致。为此，我们对访问数据进行了文献综述和定性分析，从而使我们能够针对这些泥炭地生态系统的当前管理和未来前景，绘制出本地或全球性论述的关键主题。来自马来西亚婆罗洲砂拉越三个泥炭地的岩心的古生态数据提供了对这些环境中长期生态变化的定量评估；对当地利益相关者进行的定性调查提供了有关人与草原互动的历史和未来观点的补充性详细信息。最后，将采访数据与泥炭地保护国际讨论中的关键主题进行了比较，说明了两者之间的冲突。砂拉越沿海泥炭地作为案例研究，探索了可持续的热带泥炭地管理的脆弱背景，说明了可以集成的数据集和知识的多样性。这种方法使参与管理这些全球重要生态系统的多个利益相关者之间可以进行更有效的对话。