For decades the world has witnessed how developments in the energy sector impacts the environment. At TBS Energi Utama, we don't take this issue lightly. We understand that to truly sustain our business our role goes beyond ensuring the numbers work. In late 2021 we announced Towards a Better Society 2030 (TBS2030), our unwavering commitment to a healthy, safe, and sustainable future while constantly growing as the leading integrated energy company in Indonesia centered on sustainability.
TBS2030 consists of three pillars that will enable the transformation towards a better society : Thriving Environment, Empowered People, and Trusted Partner. These three pillars represent how the business operates against the Environment, Social, and Governance aspect. To ensure a Thriving Environment, our commitment specifies the need for a healthy biodiversity by “restoring original habitat” and “ensuring biodiversity impacts assessments in all commissioned projects”. This is in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land.
One of TBS Energi Utama’s commitments to biodiversity conservation is Bukit Kayu Arang Multifunctional Forest Area, a 30 hectares forest TBS has dedicated solely for conservation purposes. Located in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan, the area is a concession of TBS’ coal mining subsidiary, PT Adimitra Baratama Nusantara (PT ABN). As a conservation forest, it has now been divided into four zones: collection, conservation, education, and buffer. Each zone serves its own purposes, from ecotourism to seed sources for local plants. This initiative is done through mitigation hierarchy, a risk evaluation tool used to find strategies that would minimise biodiversity loss and create a balance between positive outcomes and negative impacts.
Bukit Kayu Arang, A Safe Haven for All
Hundreds of floras and faunas have been found to live in this area since it was first started in 2020. As a result of a reevaluation program that took place in 2022, TBS has identified several “potentially at risk” species in the Bukit Kayu Arang Multifunctional Forest Area. Overall, 86 flora species have been documented in the zone, including pohon kayu bawang, ulin, and keruing gajah. The name “Bukit Kayu Arang” itself is derived from one of the area’s native trees, the kayu arang tree, also known as diospyros borneensis.
Meanwhile, over a hundred animal species from different classes have been documented. It is home to some of the nation’s most precious faunas, including bald eagles, clouded leopards, sun bears, and the endangered long-nosed monkeys (bekantan). We have been able to spot and supervise them through a number of camera traps placed carefully in the conservation zones.
Ensuring the Bukit Kayu Arang Multifunctional Forest Area remains a safe and healthy space for the ecosystem and biodiversity living around it has become one of our priorities in the environmental area. Through PT Adimitra Baratama Nusantara (PT ABN), we carry out maintenance on the regular to guarantee the safety of each facility inside while also preserving the natural environment.
We continuously grow our efforts to preserve the area, from simple daily cleaning to facility updates. Some are done on a daily basis, such as updating information boards. Others are held every three months, including grass trimming and fixing up broken footpaths around the arboretum area. Meanwhile, facility updates such as signs repainting are done yearly. In addition to that, security efforts are also done to make sure every human activity taking place around the area won’t disturb the natural habitat of the plants and animals in Bukit Kayu Arang Multifunctional Forest.
