`Femina' establishes `Friends of Botanical Gardens'

`Femina' establishes `Friends of Botanical Gardens'

By Lenah Susianty

BOGOR, West Java (JP): The weekly women's magazine Femina went
out of its way to celebrate its 22nd anniversary and established
a foundation called Mitra Kebun Raya Indonesia, or Friends of
Indonesian Botanical Gardens.

The foundation was launched during a sophisticated anniversary
party attended by hundreds of famous artists, fashion designers,
scientists, intellectuals and non-governmental organizations'
activists at the Bogor Botanical Gardens last Saturday.

The magazine's chief editor, Widarti Gunawan, said Mitra Kebun
Raya Indonesia aims to manifest the magazine's concerns for and
awareness of the environment.

The magazine was the first women's magazine in the country to
give environmental issues a permanent column, said Femina group's
vice president Mirta Kartohadiprodjo in a speech prior to an
open-air concert by the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra.

"The foundation aims to promote four botanical gardens in
Indonesia and their educational, scientific, economic and
research aspects," Minister for the Environment Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja, who is also a patron of the new foundation, told
The Jakarta Post.

As a first step, the foundation will install information on
glass tablets at interesting points in the Bogor Botanical
Garden.

The absence of information at historical points in the
botanical garden has resulted in an uneven circulation of
visitors to the garden. People currently visit the 167-year-old
garden, established on May 18, 1817 by German botanist C.G.C.
Reinwardt, only for a picnic. Their favorite places are the
coolest and shady areas.

"It is a pity that there are corners of the garden which often
escape people's attention, although historically and
scientifically those places are very important and worth seeing,"
said S. Widjajanto who designed the information tablets at the
Bandung Institute of Technology.

The glass tablets are expected to attract visitors to those
forgotten corners. They will have pictures and portraits that
will permit visitors not only to read but also see the relevant
information.

At a pond, at one end of Astrid Avenue, named after Queen
Astrid of Belgium who visited the garden in 1929, visitors can
see real giant lotus leaves embellished with painted flowers in
the glass. The tablet is also decorated with pictures of
blossoming lotus and information about the giant lotus (Victoria
amazonica). So, whenever visitors come, whether it is during
lotus blossom season or not, they will always be able to see the
flower.

Similar graphics will be installed at other sites, including
in front of an old Dutch cemetery where those who died of cholera
and other diseases are buried. Dutch East India governor general
(Hindia Belanda) Van Den Bosch, who built the Anyer-Panarukan
road, is also buried in the cemetery. There will also be a tablet
at Teijsmann Garden, named after Johanes Elias Teisjmann who was
the botanical garden's third director between 1837 to 1844 when
the garden's name was still Lands Plantentuin or Hortus Botanicus
Bogoriensis.

Most beautiful

"If the project is successful, the garden will be able to
maintain its title as the most beautiful botanical garden in the
world," Widjajanto said.

"This is great, and I hope the foundation will soon handle the
three other botanical gardens," said Minister Sarwono, adding
that a "flying plant" which grows in the Bogor Botanical Garden
inspired a sportsman to invent the hang glider.

The 47 hectare Bogor Botanical Garden is also noted as home to
the biggest tropical plant collection in the world. It has the
biggest Irian orchids (Grammatophyllum speciosum Bl.), 6,000
species of rare plants such as cerbera manghas L. or Bintaro and
the famous bunga bangkai or Rafflesia arnoldi.

"We need money for this project. If we have enough funds we
will soon launch similar projects at the other three gardens in
Cibodas, West Java, in Purwodadi, East Java and in Bedugul,
Bali," Widarti said.

The Cibodas Botanical Garden, which is located in a valley
between Mount Gede and Mount Pangrango, is known for its huge
area and beauty. Purwodadi is special because of its collection
of dried plants while the Eka Raya Botanical Garden in Bali was
the first garden established by Indonesians in 1963.