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How innovation can make the forestry sector more sustainable
Innovation plays an important role in supporting sustainable forest management, enabling immediate action against forest fires, encroachment, illegal logging and land disputes.
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APRIL Group is one of the country's largest producers of fiber, pulp and paper, with plantations and manufacturing operations in Riau. (-/-)
T
he Indonesian forestry sector is facing an uphill battle to improve competitiveness in the fast-paced world, which is why innovation is now more important than ever. The demand for sustainable forestry is mounting and obligatory for all players so that the next generations can enjoy the wealth of forests while protecting them.
Forestry innovation has so far been mostly driven by government policies. This time around, however, all stakeholders need to transform to sustain the sector. Existing players must advance transformative innovation, otherwise newcomers will overtake them, especially because technological innovation knows no end. It is only a matter of time before new technology arises and “empowers” forest management in a sustainable manner.
The question left is to what extent that technological innovation will ensure that sustainable forest management is profitable and future-oriented.
Innovation is the ability to implement creative solutions and the opportunity to improve or enrich human lives. In business, good innovation will accelerate growth and success, helping businesses compete and grow in the market. Innovation can also mean changing business models or designs, making them more adaptable and able to offer valuable and efficient products and services.
Innovation, or the discovery of new ways to fix a process to get improvement, according to American sociologist Everett M. Rogers (1983), has five characteristics: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability.
Currently, innovation is applied in all business sectors, including forestry and agriculture. The next question will be how the stakeholders in both sectors can meet the big challenge by finding better and more effective ways to create products, services or solutions – for example, by creating new products from the most advanced material or by modifying existing materials to create added value.
Peter Drucker, the famous management theorist, once said that innovation involves hard work and requires perseverance, consistency and commitment. It should be focused on group strengths close to and driven by the market.
