Universitas Indonesia (UI) held a ceremonial event in collaboration with ID Survei, a corporation from the holding company of BUMN Jasa Survei engaged in Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) in Indonesia, to prepare the master plan for the 2024 UI City Forest. The event took place at the FISIP Parking Lot, on the East Wales side of the UI City Forest, with the theme “Improving the Quality of Carbon Enclave,” on October 10. This collaboration is a form of UI’s concern in preparing a sustainable city forest scheme and has an educational function for the general public.
UI Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, drg. Nurtami, Ph.D., Sp,OF(K) expressed appreciation for this activity as UI’s effort to contribute to addressing global environmental issues. “UI, with a ranking of 20 in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, has environmental responsibility for a special work unit, namely UI Green Metric, which is tasked with maintaining and overseeing environmental sustainability on campuses around the world. We are also expanding our commitment through UI Green City Metric to foster environmental sustainability in Indonesian cities,” she said.
Furthermore, drg. Nurtami highlighted the importance of the UI City Forest in supporting efforts to overcome climate change and maintain water absorption functions. In addition, the green design of the UI campus also supports the mental health of the academic community and the surrounding community. She also conveyed UI’s future plans to develop environmentally friendly vehicles, the result of innovation by UI researchers, which will operate on campus.
“On weekends, UI also becomes a place of recreation for the surrounding community. We greatly appreciate the collaboration with ID Survei in mapping the UI City Forest, such as recording the number of trees for carbon and biodiversity enclaves. We hope that the results of this collaboration will not only contribute to environmental conservation, but also provide education for the community,” she added. She closed her remarks by saying that UI continues to strive to support the SDGs through various programs, including community service activities.
Finance Director of PT Sucofindo, Evi Aviatin, stated that this project is part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. “We hope that this collaboration will have a long-term effect, especially in helping UI contribute to achieving the SDGs. This form of cooperation is the preparation of a master plan for the UI City Forest which includes digital maps of topography, vegetation, and soil types, which can later be accessed by academics and the general public,” she said.
As part of this project, ID Survei will also develop an Android-based application and install information boards on 300 trees in the UI City Forest. “Today, we will track and install information markers on trees that have been mapped in an area of 2.25 km², involving 100 millennial participants from ID Survei. We hope that UI can be a pioneer of this movement in the future,” he said.
This event reflects the strong commitment between UI and ID Survei to preserving the environment and supporting the global agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This project is expected to be a model for sustainable urban forest management as well as an educational vehicle for the wider community.
