Indonesia’s forest deforestation in recent decades has led to a decrease in forest area and quality, rendering forests unable to meet timber demands.
Optimizing wood as a raw material, selecting appropriate materials, and innovating wood-based technology and products are expected to increase the added value of forest products.
These efforts can also reduce pressure on forests, thus supporting sustainable forest development.
This was conveyed by Professor Widyanto Dwi Nugroho, a lecturer from the Faculty of Forestry at Universitas Gadjah Mada (Forestry UGM).
He spoke during his inaugural speech for the position of professor in wood science at Forestry UGM, held at the Senate Hall on Tuesday (May 21).
In his speech titled ‘The Role of Wood Science in Sustainable Tropical Forestry Development’, Professor Nugroho stated that Indonesia is the third-largest tropical rainforest country after Brazil and the Congo.
Roughly 63 percent of its land area, about 120.4 million hectares, is designated as Forest Area with high biodiversity.
However, efforts to manage forests sustainably, emphasizing balance between ecosystem, economic, and social aspects, always face various challenges.
“Wood Science has a strategic role to answer challenges in sustainable forest development. Its role is also expected to support increasing the added value of forest products and the sustainability of forest product industries,” Professor Nugroho explained.
Professor Nugroho views that to realize sustainable tropical forestry development, including increasing the added value of forest products, knowledge awareness about wood, trees, and forests is needed.
This is because the existence of forests cannot be separated from the existence of trees and wood. Therefore, wood cannot simply be viewed as a forest product or raw material.
“Wood must also be seen as a biological product and an element of forest existence, whose benefits and functions have been present since the wood was formed,” he explained.
He further explained that wood is formed by trees through long stages that require specific conditions. With this understanding, it is hoped that wood utilization can be done more wisely.
“As a naturally formed material, wood has distinctive, unique properties that are often not possessed or cannot be replaced by other materials,” Professor Nugroho stated.
Research in wood science, according to Professor Nugroho, needs to be developed to support innovation in wood processing technology.
This innovation creates new possibilities for wood use, improving material efficiency, reducing waste, and boosting the production efficiency of wood products.
“In the increasingly complex conditions of this era, Wood Science needs to synergize more across disciplines with various fields of knowledge, including wood technology, silviculture, biotechnology, construction, material science, environmental science, and various other disciplines, including archaeology and cultural heritage conservation,” Professor Nugroho concluded.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya
Photographer: Firsto Adi