Gait of Faculty of Forestry of IPB in Coloring the National Development

Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University (Fahutan of IPB) was the oldest forestry faculty in Indonesia and became a reference for other forestry faculties. This faculty was included in the first 5 faculties that stood when the inauguration of IPB in 1963, along with 4 other faculties, namely Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, and Faculty of Animal Husbandry.

Faculty of Forestry of IPB consisted of 4 departments namely Department of Conservation of Forest Resources and Ecotourism (KSHE), Department of Silviculture (SVK), Department of Forest Management (MNH), and Department of Forest Products (HH). Currently, Dean of Faculty of Forestry of IPB was appointed as Chairman of Leadership Forum of the Institute of Forestry University in Indonesia.

“Speaking of the agriculture, so the existence of the Faculty of Agriculture takes an important role in supporting the sustainability of the agriculture and the national economy. The existence of the forest can help the farmers in providing the water and regulating the soil fertility. The foresty is also the mother of the agriculture, because if there is no forest, then the agriculture will not grow well,” said the Dean of Faculty of Forestry of IPB, Dr.Ir. Rinekso Soekmadi, M.Sc F.Trop when found in the Dean’s Room of Faculty of Forestry of IPB, recently.

The existence of the Faculty of Forestry as the upstream faculty or the commodity provider faculty needed to get an important spotlight and adequate portion as it became the major highlight when talking the agriculture. Both the upstream faculty, the downstream faculty, and the faculties including to the support system could not be separated, because their three roles were important in the successful development of the agriculture in the broadest sense.

The Faculty of Forestry of IPB had colored the national development through the results of research, the innovation, and the thought adopted by the government. The Faculty of Forestry of IPB contributed to the formulation of the forest policy concepts and often became the reference point or the consultation of the government.

Among the research that had been developed by Fahutan of IPB, it was a biocomposite which was a combination of cellulose and non cellulose. This finding was initiated by the Department of Forest Products.

Other finding from the Department of Silviculture namely the mycorrhizal biological fertilizer that could stimulate the availability of the nutrients for the plants. This finding had been adopted by the government with the innovation use of capsules to facilitate the fertilizing in the soil. The Deparment of Silviculture also initiated the Silviculture Society of Indonesia which was initiated by the Indonesian Wood Research Society (MAPEKI).

The Department of KSHE initiated the idea of the Conservation District, namely the district which most of its territory consisted of the conservation area or the protected area.

“The Faculty of Forestry of IPB also facilitates co-curricular activities for its students to help improve the student competence. One of its activities is the Conservation and Environment Studies (SURILI) which has been implemented since 2005. This activity is an expedition activity in the forest to inventory and identify the species in the forest, especially within the national park forest or the conservation area. The activities are conducted once a year, even done internationally,” he said.(nur/Zul)