VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Gadjah Mada University -UGM planted thousands of bamboo seeds for the development of the Bamboo Forest Nature Conservation Program in the Wanagama Special Purpose Forest Area (KHDTK), Gunung Kidul Regency, Yogyakarta, Wednesday (4/3). This development was carried out by UGM in collaboration with PT Taspen to create sustainable nature. Director of the Wanagama, Dwiko Budi Permadi said that one of the efforts to preserve nature is to plant bamboo. Ecologically, this plant can store water and fertilize many microorganisms that grow underneath.

Dwiko said that aside from being able to store large amounts of water, bamboos also hold good carbon stocks to mitigate climate change. Besides, they have economic benefits because the stems can be a tough building material and bamboo shoots can be a source of community food. The Wanagama Bamboo Forest Conservation activity was originally conceived by the UGM Forestry Faculty as part of the 1,000 units of bamboo village movement which became the strategic plan of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry -KLHK and the Bambu Lestari Foundation, specifically the Yogyakarta cluster. To support the Wanagama Bamboo Forest Conservation activities in the 7, 13 and 16 plot locations, Taspen provided assistance in the form of 2,300 bambu betung or giant bamboo planting seeds which had been planted in stages.

In December 2019, planting phase 1 was carried out according to the target of 1,100 seedlings on an area of 1 hectare where the planting location is not far from the river so that the chances of bamboo plant life would be longer. The next stage of planting 1,100 seeds has been completed and the remaining 100 stems are used for replanting. In addition, bamboo infusion technology is also applied to anticipate water shortages in the dry season. In these regards, UGM also keeps developing technologies that can increase the economic value of the bamboos.