Protect Biodiversity And Encourage Decarbonization, SBI Allocates Half Of Cilacap Factory Areas As City Forests

Employees of SBI Cilacap Factory provide Timor deer feed (cervus timorensis) in the forest conservation area of PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Tbk (SBI) Cilacap Factory. (Photo: Doc. Semen Indonesia Group or SIG)

JAKARTA - In the midst of the challenges of climate change and the increasing urgency of environmental conservation efforts, PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (SIG) and all its business entities continue to promote environmentally friendly operational practices. PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Tbk (SBI), as a subsidiary of GIS, dedicates more than half of the factory's land in Cilacap as a city forest that houses a variety of flora and fauna, in an effort to protect biodiversity.

The urban forest created by SBI Cilacap Factory is located on Jl. Ir. H Juanda, Karangtalun Village, North Cilacap District, Cilacap Regency, Central Java. The area of the forest reaches 64 hectares (ha), or 54.2% of the company's total land factory which reaches 118 ha.

On top of it, there are 200 thousand plant species including trambesi trees, mahoni, bayur, laban, and centon butto as CO2 absorbers, to fruit plants such as kelengkeng, crystallical guava, demak and durian jambu. Even 10 ha urban forest land is used as a conservation place for Kalimantan and Sulawesi meranti trees.

SIG's Corporate Secretary, Vita Mahreyni said, protection against biodiversity is one of the focuses of GIS which has been regulated in the GIS Sustainability Road Map 2030. This is based on awareness of the importance of biodiversity which plays a role in maintaining the balance of natural ecosystems, including maintaining the sustainability of human life.

"The existence of the SBI city forest Cilacap Factory proves the commitment of the SIG Group in realizing sustainable development in Indonesia. In addition to being a place of life for biodiversity around the factory's operational area, the city's forests also function as a place for water infiltration, carbon capture, oxygen producers, and adding to the city's aesthetics," said Vita Mahreyni, in her statement, Wednesday, May 22.

In urban forests there is also protected Timor deer breeding (Cervus timorensis). The captivity was carried out by SBI in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) of Central Java Province. Currently, the number of Timor deer in the forest city of SBI Cilacap Factory has increased to 40, from the previous 12 to 2012. The condition of the sustainable city forest has invited other fauna to come naturally, such as forest chicken, birds, and other types of mammals.

Nusakambangan Conservation

Biodiversity protection is also carried out by SBI Cilacap Factory in the limestone mining area on Nusakambangan Island by planting native trees (enemic Nusakambangan) in all post-mining areas and providing seedlings. Based on the 2010 '2011 Fauna Flora International (FFI) survey, several endemic fauna and flora live in the Nusakambangan natural forest, including the Javanese Tutul Tigers (Panthera Pardus melas) and the Javanese endemic bats (Nycteris javanica) which are threatened with extinction according to the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN) Red List, as well as the Javanese Prok-bruk bat (Rhinolophus canuti).

SBI Cilacap Factory also planted Rhizophora mucronata in the Nusakambangan coastal area as many as 9,500 sticks by 2023, and Pelalar planting (Dipterocarpus lithoralis) which is Nusakambangan endemic flora and is included in the endangered category (endangered) according to the IUCN Red List. Dipterocarpus lithoralis or nasakambangan sellers are also planted in conservation and reclamation areas and become the key species for conservation of SBI Cilacap Factory in Nusakambangan.

"Servational activities followed by environmentally friendly operational practices, SIG believes biodiversity, especially in operational areas, can be maintained. SIG and all its business entities are committed to continuing to promote the protection of biodiversity as a legacy for future generations and efforts to create a better life in the present and future," said Vita Mahreyni.