Nearly extinct orchids found in resort area

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

A team of scientists comprising researchers from the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) in Bogor have found a surviving group of a nearly extinct orchid species endemic to Java.

Around 50 of the terrestrial orchids (Paphiopedilum javanicum) were found growing in the vicinity of Telaga Warna lake, a popular resort area, in Puncak.

Officials from the BKSDA, who manage the lake area, and the LIPI researchers, who are currently working in the Cibodas and Bogor Botanical Parks, were recording orchid species around the lake in August when they spotted the endangered plants.

"In previous investigations of the habitats of endemic flora in the vicinities of Mount Salak, Mount Gede Pangrango, and Mount Cakrabuana in Sumedang, West Java, no one ever discovered this particular species growing," Cibodas Botanical Park director Holif Imanudin told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"We're really happy to find these orchids at the lake ... The lake and its environs should be turned into a conservation area," he added.

However, Holif expressed concern that the uncontrolled development of tourism in Puncak would affect the local ecology and further endanger local flora and fauna, many types of which had never been recorded.

"This orchid is a national asset and very valuable to science ... I hope every one of us realizes this and protects the environment for the good of us all," he stressed.