Professor Widiyatno from the Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, was inaugurated as a professor in silviculture studies on Tuesday (Sep. 24) at the Senate Hall, UGM Central Office.
In his inaugural speech, Professor Widiyatno presented a lecture titled “Enrichment Planting in Tropical Natural Forest Landscapes for Sustainable Forest Management and Carbon Stock Enhancement.”
Professor Widiyatno opened his speech by highlighting that Indonesia’s tropical forests face continuous degradation and deforestation due to forest fires, illegal logging, forest conversion, and over-exploitation.
This forest damage threatens the flora and fauna native to these tropical ecosystems and contributes to Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“From an economic perspective, the degradation of tropical forests, particularly the production of natural forests, is causing a decline in the forestry industry. Therefore, enrichment planting in tropical forest landscapes is necessary,” the professor explained.
He introduced the fundamental concept of silviculture as an applied science for forest management.
Silviculture systems consist of three key treatment components: regeneration, maintenance, and harvesting. He elaborated on the evolution of selective logging systems for managing Indonesia’s tropical natural forests, underscoring their concerning decline.
“Through enrichment planting, we can improve forest productivity, maintain genetic diversity, and ensure the conservation of native species,” he added.
Professor Widiyatno then discussed the strategies for selecting appropriate species for enrichment planting in secondary tropical rainforests based on silviculture principles.
These findings can be applied to natural forest management using the Selective Cutting and Strip Planting (TPTJ) system with intensive silviculture techniques. This method has proven effective in reducing damage to planted trees and increasing plant survival rates.
He further emphasized that enrichment planting can help preserve and enhance genetic diversity and protect native species.
Additionally, increasing forest growth and productivity through the TPTJ silviculture system can maintain forest sustainability and enhance carbon stocks by reducing CO2 emissions.
“This method has the potential to increase carbon sequestration and reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions as part of climate change mitigation and sustainable development efforts,” he stated.
UGM Rector Professor Ova Emilia shared that Professor Widiyatno is one of 452 active professors at UGM and one of 20 active professors out of the 33 professors who have served at UGM’s Faculty of Forestry.
Author: Bolivia Rahmawati
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Afif
Photographer: Firsto