Apart from being a food provider, the agricultural and plantation sectors have a role in driving the community’s economy, especially farmers. However, this sector is one of the causes of loss of tropical forest ecosystems as well as one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Having the ambition to minimize the impact of agriculture on the sustainability of tropical forest ecosystems, Br. Mukhlish Jamal, lecturer at the Faculty of Biology UGM, was selected as a recipient of the Project on Resource and Governance (PRG) Fellowship research grant, along with two other recipients from South Africa and Benin. In his submitted project, Mr.Mukhlish will identify the inhibiting aspects and opportunities that support the implementation of sustainable tropical agriculture.
“From the point of view of ecological science, maintaining sustainability in equitable agricultural land can be done by utilizing the ecosystem services provided by the biological community. However, agricultural production and nature conservation often clash so that it seems as if we can only choose one.” said the biology lecturer who is currently completing his studies at the Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK.
For two weeks (January 17-27 2023), Mukhlish had the opportunity to discuss with several staff and postgraduate students at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to refine the research plan to be carried out. This research is an effort to downstream the results of Mr. Mukhlish is related to the function of ecosystems in tropical agro-ecosystems to support agricultural sustainability as well as nature conservation.
“Hopefully this study can be applied to support the fulfillment of Indonesia’s commitment to climate change mitigation in Indonesia as stated in the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution)” hope Mr. Mukhlish.