60 North Sumatra Youth Initiate Innovation to Prevent Forest and Land Fires and Save Animals

MEDAN, GARISBUMI.com – As many as 60 young people from North Sumatra are initiating solutions to forest and biodiversity problems, ranging from digital education on forest and land fire prevention to animal rehabilitation travel information systems.

This idea was born at the Forest Youthverse Resilience Summit (FYVR) for the North Sumatra Region in Medan, as stated in a statement from the Ministry of Forestry, Saturday (3/10/2026).

This activity was organized by the Forest Conservation Generation Development Center (Pusgenri), the Human Resources Extension and Development Agency (BP2SDM), together with the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA).

Carrying the theme "Youth for Biodiversity Resilience: Young Generation Moves, Protects Natural Wealth", the forum provides space for participants to develop ideas that are close to environmental problems in their regions.

Head of Pusgenri, Luckmi Purwandari, said the younger generation needs to have the opportunity to learn directly and develop experience into action.

"The younger generation has a new perspective and the courage to try. Activities like this are important because they provide space for them to learn directly, then turn that experience into real ideas and actions," said Luckmi.

According to him, young people's innovation can be an important part in protecting biodiversity from the threat of disasters, including forest and land fires or forest and land fires.

Preventing forest and land fires through education and monitoring

On the issue of forest and land fires, participants developed three ideas with different approaches, namely SIGAP API, Fire Memory, and Fire Wind Tracker.

SIGAP API is designed as a social media-based youth movement for digital education and advocacy for preventing forest and land fires. This idea also aims to connect the public with official complaint channels.

Meanwhile, Fire Memory offers documentation of the journey of a burned area to recovery. It is hoped that this documentation will help monitor rehabilitation as well as serve as learning material.

The Fire Wind Tracker is the idea of a portable micro wind monitoring system. This system is intended to support patrol safety and decision making when facing a fire.

Recognizing Flora and Following Animal Recovery

In the field of conservation, participants who are members of the Forest Conservation Generation or Genries initiated Rimba Explorer. The concept is to digitize flora information through digital marking or smart tagging, so that visitors can recognize plants when exploring the area.

Another idea, the Sibolangit Wildlife Rescue Track, offers an information system to follow the journey of animals from the time they are rescued, undergo rehabilitation, until they are returned to their habitat.

Participants also developed Elephas Goes to School, an educational approach to animal and forest conservation for the younger generation through learning materials, simulations and educational games.

The issue of waste in conservation areas is also a concern. Through TWA FlowGuard, participants proposed simple trash traps in water flow paths to prevent trash from entering further into the Sibolangit Nature Tourism Park (TWA).

For the urban environment, the Medan City Forest & RTH idea includes mapping green open spaces, planting shade trees, adopting trees by the community, cleaning activities, and urban forest education.

Ideas Need to be Tested and Developed

The Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, University of North Sumatra (USU), Arida Susilowati, expressed the campus' support for developing the younger generation in the field of forest conservation.

"We hope that this activity will encourage the birth of a generation of forest conservationists in North Sumatra who are caring, knowledgeable and ready to act," said Arida.

Various ideas from this forum still need to be refined and tested. Pusgenri encourages its development through collaboration with the government, universities, technical implementation units of the Ministry of Forestry, communities and development partners.

Through this follow-up, it is hoped that the participants' ideas will develop into real actions while strengthening the network of the Forest Conservation Generation in North Sumatra.