Doctors Serve UB Develop Baluran National Park with principles Sustainable

Baluran National Park is a conservation area located in Situbondo Regency and borders Banyuwangi. The ecosystem contains various kinds of flora and fauna with various benefits tangible (in limited scale utilization) and intangible (in the form of environmental service products).

  Meanwhile, the people around Baluran are cattle farmers who use a shepherding system. That is releasing cows to find food independently. A farmer has to walk 10 KM to herd 20 cows into the forest every day.

During the rainy season, forage is easy to find, but during the dry season, the grass is difficult to find. So that farmers bring cattle into the core zone of the protected forest area to look for forage.

The influx of thousands of cows causes changes in wild animals that threaten their development. This is because leopards, buffalo, and bulls are very sensitive to the presence of humans and livestock. Bulls spend more time being alert, running, and dodging than eating. The reduced effectiveness of feeding, growth, fertility, and fitness is feared to affect future breeding.

Responding to this, Universitas Brawijaya (UB) lecturers carry out self-funding and self-management empowerment for the people of Sumberwaru Village, Banyuputih Subdistrict – Situbondo Regency. The effort was led by the Doctoral Service (DM) team led by Dr. Anang Lastriyanto (Faculty of Agricultural Technology). Together with members consisting of Dr. Dimas Firmanda Al Riza (Faculty of Agricultural Technology), Anggun Trisnanto Hari Susilo, Ph.D. (Faculty of Social and Political Sciences), and Dr. Nanang Febrianto (Faculty of Animal Science).

 According to Dr. The cattle population in Sidomulyo Hamlet and Merak Hamlet, Sumberwaru Village, Banyuputih District, Situbondo Regency reached 4,169 heads. Where about 1,600 people are herded into the forest.

Herding activities in the forest have been going on for generations since 1960 so it is difficult to stop. In addition, the low level of education, economic and social levels of the community, as well as the lack of awareness of nature protection is a problem for changing the pattern of raising livestock using cages.

“We (DM UB Team) will involve the Livestock Service Office (Disnak) of East Java Province, the Situbondo Animal Husbandry and Health Service, and the Singosari Malang Artificial Insemination Center (BBIB) to change the community’s livestock pattern into a cage pattern,” explained Anang

“Each party contributes, such as providing cattle breeding assistance, providing training on cage patterns, training on processing and storing feed, to the initiation of biogas technology in the Baluran National Park area, Situbondo.” he continued. The

implementation of DM activities is planned to be sustainable for five years. The agenda that will be carried out according to the roadmap is the empowerment of remote rural communities in the Baluran National Park in the first year (2021). Then in the second year (2022), it targets the initiation of stable or communal livestock, initiation of biogas technology (2023), training on making concentrate feed (2024), and training on good farming practice (2025).

Through this activity, it is hoped that the Baluran National Park can develop with the principle of Sustainable, indirectly helping to preserve nature. On the other hand, the tourism industry can still continue through drums and biogas, so as to improve the regional economy. (dta)