Hasanuddin University (UNHAS) has policies to ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of the terrestrial ecosystems associated with the university. These cover its campuses in Tamalanrea (Makassar) and Gowa and the UNHAS Educational Forest at Bengo-Bengo, Maros, a Special Purpose Forest Area (Kawasan Hutan dengan Tujuan Khusus, KHDTK) designated by the Minister of Environment and Forestry (Decree No. SK.619/MENLHK-PKTL/KUH/PLA.2/2/2017) over protection and permanent production forest in the Camba forest area (Register 4). The main instruments are:

• Rector’s Regulation No. 41/UN4.1/2023 on Guidelines for the Management of the Educational Forest as a Special Purpose Forest Area, enacted on 28 December 2023 to replace the earlier guidelines of 2019 (Rector’s Regulation No. 42/UN4.1/2019) and 2022 (Rector’s Regulation No. 28/UN4.1/2022) and still in force. It defines the management of the KHDTK as a sustainable forest management system (Article 1); requires sustainable forestry practices that maintain biodiversity and ecosystem productivity, the mapping and monitoring of land and vegetation, and periodic monitoring of habitat restoration (Article 8); sets the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems to keep the forest intact (Article 11); and requires protection against damage from human activity, livestock, fire, natural forces, pests, and disease (Article 16).
• Rector’s Regulation No. 11/UN4.1/2022 on Guidelines for the Arrangement of Campus Space and Building Utilisation, enacted on 15 June 2022 to replace Rector’s Regulation No. 41/UN4.1/2019 and still in force. It applies green campus principles to campus land: it keeps at least 30% of each developed block as green open space (Article 17), bars new buildings inside the ring road of the Tamalanrea Campus under a zero-growth policy (Article 14), and requires approval for planting or felling large trees (Article 20).
• Rector’s Decree No. 03210/UN4.1/KEP/2024 on the Hasanuddin University Green Campus Policy, in force since 19 March 2024, which strengthens green campus practice and supports the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The UNHAS Strategic Plan 2025–2029, which reinforces these policies through environmental and campus ecosystem management strategies, including land restoration, green space development, and the conservation of forest ecosystems within and around the campus.

UNHAS applies this policy framework in two main ways.

Field education in the Educational Forest. To carry out the conservation mandate of the KHDTK, the Forest Conservation Study Programme requires students to take the General Conservation Practicum (Praktik Umum Konservasi). In 2025, it ran from 8 January to 12 February in the Educational Forest, where students applied sustainable forest management and land restoration principles in the field.

Benchmarking of forest governance. From 2 to 5 November 2025, UNHAS hosted a benchmarking visit by the Special Purpose Forest Area of Universitas Brawijaya (UB Forest) and shared its experience in integrating conservation policies, research on endemic flora and fauna, and community-based social forestry partnerships in the KHDTK.