STAR ENERGY’S COMMITMENT FOR CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION
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Date:
30 Apr 2020 -
Author:
KEHATI
PT Barito Pacific Tbk, through its subsidiary company, Star Energy believes that natural resources management can be done with the environmental conservation effort.
As a parent company, Barito Pacific has 3 sustainability policies, which are nature conservation, education, and circular economy.
Their commitment to conserving the nature manifested with initiated the development and partnership program with the community to protect the environment and biodiversity.
That made the Star Energy Geothermal Salak Ltd (SEG’S) received the award from the Center for Entrepreneurship, Change & Third Sector (CECT) Trisakti University, Jakarta. It was an award for Project-Based CSR & Sustainable Inclusive Business (Non-Publicly Listed Companies).
In that category, SEGS got the award as a Community-Based Environmental Guardian for the environment protection program through CSR activities on Geothermal Power Plants (PLTP) operation area in Gunung Salak, Sukabumi, West Java.
Through the strict assessment from the judges consist of the experts, businessmen, and CSR practitioners, the Green Corridor Initiative (GCI) program that placed in SEGS judged to have given significant values on environment and biodiversity conservation in Halimun-Salak Mountain area.
Halimun-Salak Mountain area is the biggest tropical forest in Java. With more than 113.357 hectares, thousand species of flora and fauna live in the area on the different ecosystems, from the lowland, valley, highland, to elfin forest moss.
That area also a habitat for 3 rare species, all of them are endangered, which are Java Hawk-eagle, Leopard, and Javan Gibon.
Forest corridor habitat that connected the protected Mount Salak and Mount Halimun, is an important habitat for supporting both of the tropical forests. Besides the high diversity, this area also a spring source for the local people and urban people around that area.
However, the quality of the environment is threatened by the illegal logging activities and land grabbing.
Therefore, the GCI program supported by SEGS aims to restore the critical ecological zone in the Mount Salak and Halimun National Park Corridor that could support the sustainability of wildlife migration and its habitat.
The efforts are done involving community participation, from the restoration to forest corridor protection. Besides that, the program also aims to improve community livelihood with community development that supports conservation efforts.
There are 3 main activities on this program, which are 270 ha of habitat restoration, more than 100 families’ community development, and integrated social campaign including Mount Salak and Halimun National Park book publishing, voluntary activities, and publication on local and national media to boost the effort on conservation and sustainability.
Those activities, one of them is on the partnership with the National Park and Suaka Elang, built an eagle sanctuary for Javan Hawk-Eagle, which categorized as an endangered species. The development of eagle sanctuary is a first step for the professional stakeholders’ network to support education, research, and conservation effort for the eagle and its habitat.
This program also includes the socialization for the community about the importance of biodiversity in National Park.
In 2019-2020, the extension program is developed to restore 130 ha of forest which would be participated by more than 100 families on protecting the forest corridor restoration including improving the livelihood with environmentally friendly farming activities on the outside of conservation forest.
Papandayan Forest
Darajat Geothermal Power Plants that managed by Star Energy Geothermal Darajat II, Limited (SEGD II), with Perhutani and BBKSDA Jabar also has a program around the Papandayan Forest Area.
Stary Energy, Yayasan KEHATI, and KPH Garut signed the partnership program in KPH Garut’s office, West Java, on Wednesday, 30th January.
This program covers the Papapandayan Nature Recretional Park and Protection Forest in Garut. On its implementation, KEHATI will be coordinated with stakeholders such as BBKSDA Jawa Barat, BP DAS, LMDH, Muspida, etc. Some of the program purposes are forest conservation, community development through agroforestry, and key species monitoring for instance Leopard, Javan Gibbon, and another endemic species.
Javan Hawk-Eagle conservation is needed because it is a country symbol of Indonesia.
In this area, SEG II supported the forest restoration program to engage the community to participate in the environment conservation effort with the community development program.
Some of the restoration activities steps that have been done on this program are 100 ha restoration on the Papandayan forest with 60 thousand natural seeds. Therefore, they gave training for nursery to planting and monitoring.
Meanwhile. To support the biodiversity in this area, SEGD II monitors the wildlife with camera trap placement on some location that estimated as its home range or track.
Series of protection programs done in harmony with the Star Energy Geothermal management. Commitment to protect environmental sustainability is a part that cannot be separated from the company operation.