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Peat swamp forest had been rife with tropical disease and had never been the target of development. Since 1990s, however, the forest has started to attract the outside investors for plantation of timber and oil palm. They have introduced the drainage to dry peat swamp and planted acacia mangium and/or oil palm massively. That drying process has caused severe peat fire in different parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan islands several times.   The large-scale opening of plantation has damaged the bio-diversity and also endangered the livelihood of indigenous people who are dependent in and around the peat areas. Facing these multi-dimensional crises, the Indonesian government establish the peat restoration agency (Badan Restorasi Gambut) in 2016. And the international environmentalist communities and even the plantation companies have started the sustainable peat management projects. This research aims to analyze these outside interventions and also the actors’ network surrounding the intervention, focusing on Rawa Mekar Jaya village, Siak district in Riau where large-scale acacia and oil palm companies opened the plantation. My research involves structured questionnaires survey for randomly selected 63 out of 286 households (22.1 %) in the village (286 households). The study ironically reveals that it is the peat protection regulations and peat restoration efforts initiated by outside actors that have deepened already existed social cleavages in the community. The intervention of external actors to restore peatland is generally dependent on the village elite, alienating those from different socio-economic class and identity groups. And from household survey I can know that difference perception about restoration peatland is based on their livelihood. One group which active for restoration peatland make effort to get external funding. This research result suggests the importance of more community-oriented sustainable peat management with deep understanding of village structure and formulate policies for equal distribution of village funds.

social-economy, livelihood, peatland,