What’s TRuBUSAN project?

TRuBUSAN is the Indonesian word for coppice and stands for “Strengthening Tropical Forest Resilience Based on Management and Utilization of Genetic Resources Capable of Climate Change Adaptation” The project aims to achieve the following four objectives.

Development and dissemination of tropical forestry seeds and seedlings that are adaptable to climate change and productivity

Indonesia has approximately 10% of the tropical forests on the planet and is one of the world's leading forestry countries. On the other hand, Indonesia's forests are vulnerable to climate change and stable timber production is a challenge. We use genomic selection to select fast-growing seedlings with high adaptability to climate change. In addition, cloning technology will be used to propagate the selected seedlings and promote their spread in the local market.

Planning of afforestation methods and seed distribution rules in consideration of climate change

Climate change may lead to a decline in tree growth in certain areas and, conversely, to better growth in areas previously considered unsuitable for afforestation. By predicting such changes in the suitable areas for afforestation, we strengthen the adaptability of afforestation to climate change. In addition, tree species distributed over a wide area may have different adaptive capacity to the environment. Rules for seed distribution will be drafted to take advantage of these differences in adaptive capacity and to promote climate change adaptation measures.

Formation of incentives for social implementation of climate change adaptation in afforestation

We assess the environmental, social and economic impact of tropical forest regeneration and new afforestation projects which use the seedlings and planting methods developed above. We aim to create international and regional incentives for the restoration and creation of tropical rainforests by establishing certification standards in forest certification systems and ESG investment, in addition to REDD+.

Strengthening of the international joint research partnership

Promote mutual exchange and human resource development of Indonesian and Japanese researchers and establish a high-quality international joint research system for forestry research and development.