Enviro News Asia, Samarinda — The Asosiasi Pengusaha Hutan Indonesia (APHI) and the Faculty of Forestry and Tropical Environment of Universitas Mulawarman (UNMUL) have called for the strengthening of Multi-Business Forestry (MBF) as a key strategy to transform the forestry industry in East Kalimantan.
The initiative was discussed during a meeting between APHI Chairman Soewarso and representatives of the Faculty of Forestry of UNMUL, held in Samarinda on Tuesday (11/2/2026). The meeting focused on current challenges in forest management, emerging business opportunities, and the role of academic institutions in supporting forestry sector transformation.
Data presented during the meeting indicated that East Kalimantan currently has 108 Forest Utilization Business Permit (PBPH) units covering approximately 4.97 million hectares. Natural forest production in the province has shown a declining trend over the past five years, highlighting the need for more adaptive and diversified forestry business models.
Soewarso stated that the transition toward Multi-Business Forestry would enable forest concession holders to move beyond reliance on timber extraction alone. The approach integrates timber production, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and environmental services within a sustainable landscape-based business framework.
“Multi-Business Forestry is essential to maintaining the competitiveness of the forestry industry while increasing economic value for communities surrounding forest areas,” he said.
He added that support from higher education institutions is crucial in strengthening the scientific and technical foundations of MBF development, including research on natural forest silviculture, NTFP development, environmental services utilization, and forest carbon economic value.
Meanwhile, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Tropical Environment of UNMUL, Irawan Wijaya Kusuma, expressed the university’s readiness to support MBF development through curriculum enhancement, collaborative research, and field-based internship programs for students.
According to him, closer collaboration between academia and industry is vital to ensure that forestry graduates possess competencies aligned with the evolving needs of the forestry sector.
The meeting also explored the development of landscape-based management models through collaboration between PBPH holders and social forestry permit holders, optimization of NTFP utilization, and the strengthening of environmental services and forest carbon schemes. APHI and UNMUL agreed to follow up on the discussion by formulating joint programs in research, education, and community service to support the implementation of Multi-Business Forestry in East Kalimantan. (*)
