Aligned with its commitment to sustainability, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has implemented policies aimed at conserving, restoring, and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. The terrestrial ecosystem of UGM includes the green open spaces, arboretum, Wanagama forest, and Agrotechnology Innovation Centre (PIAT). Policies applied in managing these ecosystems are several. First is the vegetation management handbook, which provides detailed information on the significance of vegetation within the campus and outlines policies for the development of green open spaces. A key goal of this vegetation management initiative is to preserve priority species that are nearing extinction, ensuring that the UGM campus continues to feature plants with significant scientific value (pg. 1, section 1.2). A renewed version of the procedure for managing plants, trees, and vegetation is available, which can be found here.
In the 1960s, UGM rehabilitated critical land in Gunungkidul, known as the Wanagama Eco-Edu Forest. The status of this forest for conservation and rehabilitation of this area is stated in the Decree of the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Number 493/Menlhk-Setjen/2015. The Wanagama Eco-Edu Forest is one of the forest areas out of the total amount of 789,85 hectares of forest areas owned by UGM. Another one that is quite significant in the effort of terrestrial ecosystem conservation is the Pusat Inovasi Agroteknologi (PIAT) at Berbah and Mangunan. Details of these ecosystems can be found here.
UGM not only conserves and rehabilitates its own facilities but also forest areas within the area close by. These rehabilitation programs were done in collaboration with various organisations to conserve and manage forest areas. For example, the university has partnered with PT Pertamina Persero to conserve 3,000 hectares within the 10,867-hectare Special Purpose Forest Area (KHDTK) in Ngawi and Blora Regencies. This forest area is now managed by UGM based on the Decree of the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Number 632/Menlhk-Setjen/PLA 0/8/2016. The management of KHDTK Getas-Ngandong serves as a model for forest conservation in Java, aiming to preserve the remaining forest areas on the island.
This initiative aims to optimise forest management, sustain ecosystems, and promote biodiversity, involving comprehensive community empowerment programs.
References:
- Vegetation management handbook
- https://sustainabledevelopment.ugm.ac.id/2023/11/14/ugm-maintain-and-extend-current-ecosystems-biodiversity/
- https://sustainabledevelopment.ugm.ac.id/2023/11/14/ugm-maintain-and-extend-current-ecosystems-biodiversity/
- Decree of the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Number 493/Menlhk-Setjen/2015
- Pusat Inovasi Agroteknologi (PIAT)
- Special Purpose Forest Area (KHDTK)
- Decree of the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Number 632/Menlhk-Setjen/PLA 0/8/2016
- https://www.liputan6.com/regional/read/5456915/cara-khusus-ugm-untuk-rehabilitasi-hutan-getas-dan-ngandong