Hasanuddin University (UNHAS) formally integrates local biodiversity into campus spatial planning, landscape management, and infrastructure development, including the construction and renovation of buildings. This approach is consistent with Indonesia’s national framework for spatial planning and biodiversity conservation, including Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Planning, Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, and Presidential Instruction No. 1/2023 on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation in Sustainable Development.

At university level, this commitment is set out in Rector’s Regulation No. 11/UN4.1/2022 on Guidelines for the Arrangement of Campus Space and Building Utilisation, enacted on 15 June 2022 and still in force. Articles 2 and 4 require campus planning and development to maintain environmental balance and recognise land, water, flora, and fauna as integral parts of the campus environment. Article 2(5) adds biodiversity-specific requirements: UNHAS must strictly supervise the introduction, planting, or keeping of alien species; promote the conservation and restoration of threatened or rare local species; protect campus water bodies from biological invasion; encourage native flora in landscape design while limiting exotic plants; and routinely monitor changes in the composition of campus flora and fauna.

These principles are translated into measurable spatial controls. Article 17 requires each developed block to keep at least 30% of its area as green open space, and development must follow the campus spatial plan and take existing environmental and site conditions into account. UNHAS further limits the ecological footprint of construction through a zero-growth policy inside the ring road of the Tamalanrea Campus: under Article 14, new buildings are generally not allowed in this area, except in limited cases such as adding floors to existing buildings or rebuilding on previously built sites, and only after formal review by the Campus Masterplan Team and the relevant university authorities.

Existing vegetation is also built into development decisions. Article 20 requires green open space and trees to be managed according to the Campus Masterplan, and planting or felling large trees must be approved by both the UNHAS Tree Supervision Unit and the Campus Masterplan Team. Article 21 also requires periodic monitoring and evaluation of how campus space and buildings are used, through internal reviews and an independent external team.

The same approach applies to the UNHAS Educational Forest at Bengo-Bengo, Maros, a Special Purpose Forest Area (Kawasan Hutan dengan Tujuan Khusus, KHDTK). Rector’s Regulation No. 41/UN4.1/2023 on Guidelines for the Management of the Educational Forest as a Special Purpose Forest Area, which remains in force, requires planning to begin with an inventory of the area’s biophysical and environmental potential (Article 5); mandates the protection of nationally protected species and species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the control of invasive alien species, and vegetation monitoring (Article 8); extends protection to habitat fragmentation and wildlife corridors (Article 16); and requires roads, laboratories, an arboretum, guest housing, utilities, and other infrastructure in the forest to observe environmental sustainability principles (Article 17).

These requirements are reinforced by Rector’s Decree No. 03210/UN4.1/KEP/2024 on the Hasanuddin University Green Campus Policy, in force since 19 March 2024, which requires university programmes and work units to accommodate all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 15, and to report on their implementation periodically.

UNHAS also applies its biodiversity expertise to planning beyond the campus. Its Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Research Centre, part of the Institute for Research and Community Service, has worked with PT Semen Tonasa since April 2023 in a five-year partnership to assess and strengthen the company’s biodiversity conservation strategy, and on 29 May 2025 it launched, with the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan KEHATI), the first Biodiversity Warriors community in Eastern Indonesia, which involves young people in exploring and documenting local biodiversity. On 14 April 2025, the Faculty of Forestry presented the preliminary management plan for the 250-hectare Ale’na Unhas Arboretum in Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital, on land provided by the Nusantara Capital City Authority, with blocks for utilisation, genetic resources, superior local Wallacean plants, education and research, and natural succession and restoration.

On the main campus, the Tamalanrea Campus functions as an urban forest and ecological buffer for Makassar City. In December 2025, UNHAS ranked 85th in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2025 run by Universitas Indonesia, up from around 92nd the previous year, and in August 2025 all new students of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences planted tree seedlings during their orientation.

Together, these policies and their implementation show that biodiversity is built into UNHAS development through native-species landscaping, protection of existing vegetation, minimum green-space requirements, restrictions on new construction, biodiversity-sensitive infrastructure in the Educational Forest, formal approval procedures, and continuous monitoring.