Flora of Indonesia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The flora of Indonesia consists of many unique varieties of tropical plants. Blessed with the tropical climate and round 18.000 islands Indonesia presents as a nation with the second largest biodiversity in the world. The flora of Indonesia reflects an intermingling of Asian, Australian and the native ones. This is due to the geography of Indonesia, which is located between two continents. The archipelago consists also a variety of regions from the tropical rain forests of the northern lowlands and the seasonal forests of the southern lowlands through the hill and mountain vegetation, to subalpine shrub vegetation. Having the second longest shoreline in the world, Indonesia also consists many regions with swamps and coastal vegetation. These all participate in creating a huge vegetational biodiversity of Indonesia. There are about 28.000 species of flowering plants in Indonesia, consisting 2500 different kinds of orchids, 6000 traditional medicinal plants used as Jamu, 122 species of bamboo, over 350 species of rattan and 400 species of Dipterocarpus, including ebony, sandalwood and teakwood.

Flora of Indonesia also consists some unusual species, such as carnivorous plants. One of them is Rafflesia arnoldi, named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and Dr. Arnold, who discover the bloom in the depth of Bengkulu, southwest Sumatra. This parasitic plant has a large flower, does not produce leaves and grow on a certain liana on the rain forest floor. Another unusual plant is Amorphophallus titanum from Sumatra. A lot of species of insect trapping pitcher plant (Nepenthea spp.) can also be found in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Contents 1 History 2 Indonesia`s national flowers 3 National love flora and fauna day 4 Current issues 5 See also 6 External Link

[edit] History

The Indonesian archipelago, home of the spice islands, has been known since ancient time as the source of spices, such as clove, nutmeg, and pepper. The Molucca islands were, until the late eighteenth century, the only source of economically significant spices. In the colonial time, clove and nutmeg were the most valuable commodities after gold and silver for the most europeans.

During the Dutch colonial era in Indonesia, the Dutch also created many plantages of coffee, tea and sugar cane, mostly in Java.

[edit] Indonesia`s national flowers

On 5 June 1990, in a ceremony to mark the World Environment Day, President Soeharto declared three flowers as Indonesia's national flowers. These are the melati (Jasminum sambac), a small white flower with sweet fragrance, that plays an important role in the culture of Indonesia. The second flower is the anggrek bulan (Phalaenopsis amabilis) and of course the Rafflesia arnoldi.

[edit] National love flora and fauna day

In order to build respect and love for the Indonesian flora and fauna, the government has declared November 5 as the national love flora and fauna day. Anually there are postal stamps released with this motto. They show pictures of plants and animals, which are endemic or unique for a specific region or a province of Indonesia.

[edit] Current issues

Deforestation is currently a major problem in Indonesia. As a highly populous country with the tendency of rapid industrialisation, the need of natural resources and land also increases. Illegally created wildfire causes heavy smog around Indonesia`s neighbour countries.

According to the Asean Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC), there are currently 190 plants endemic in Indonesia listed as endangered species. [1]

Maintaining the balance between the need of economical growth of the country and the preservation of its natural heritage is not an easy duty. Just like other developing nations, Indonesia is currently trying to keep this balance. Ecotourism might be one solution to this problem. Using the biodiversity, Indonesia might improve the economical status of its issolated regions.

[edit] See also

• Category:Flora of Indonesia
• List of national parks of Indonesia
• Geography of Indonesia
• Fauna of Indonesia

[edit] External Link

• ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation