The members of ITS KKN-PM team while conducting a survey and recording the types of flora in Sumber Pawon Forest, Kediri

ITS Campus News – A good monitoring system is one of the most important things in implementing forest conservation. To integrate the monitoring system into the barcode system, KKN Community Services Program (KKN-PM) team from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) initiated digitalization to facilitate regular monitoring systems by forest area managers.

The field supervisor, Iska Desmawati SSi Msi, said for this KKN-PM that the barcode system innovation was applied first for supervision in Sumber Pawon Forest, Kediri. The Sumber Pawon Forest Area has an area of ​​fewer than 15 hectares.

According to Iska, even though it has a small area, this protected forest area is rich in the diversity of flora and fauna in it. “A total of 17 species of trees with a total of more than 890 individuals were found, of which are rare species such as ghost orchids,” she explained.

An example of a barcode design innovated by ITS KKN-PM team that will be placed near a tree to be scanned

Through the barcode system, Iska explained that the manager of the Sumber Pawon Forest area can monitor the flora in the forest online. The barcode will be placed in front of the tree or plant to make the scanning process easier. After the barcode is scanned, various information related to the flora such as species name, distribution, rarity status, age, general description, and plant benefits will appear.

Furthermore, the lecturer form Biology Department ITS revealed that the information that appears after the barcode is scanned is real-time or based on actual time. This is because data on plants will always be updated regularly. “We plan to update and check data every three months to six months,” he said.

ITS KKN-PM team after conducting a survey and data collection on flora in Sumber Pawon Forest area, Kediri

According to Iska, the efforts to implement a barcode system in Sumber Pawon Forest area have received positive support from managers and the local community. Together with the team which consists of 28 students from Biology, Biomedical Engineering, and Physics Department, Iska admitted that she was very enthusiastic about this activity. “In the future, we will monitor and help implement the barcode system as a whole whenever possible,” said the woman who was born in Kediri.

At the end, Iska expects that her team’s idea of ​​a barcode system can contribute to the conservation efforts in Sumber Pawon Forest area. So it is hoped that it can also reduce the potential for the taking of several types of plant species. “In addition, digitalizing the monitoring system in this forest area can have an effect on the realization of Tempurejo Village which is around Sumber Pawon Forest area as a digital village,” she concluded. (ITS PR)