No more green as grass for provincial botanical gardens

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri launched on Wednesday a nationwide regreening program that will require each province to build a botanical garden to conserve rare plants from within their jurisdictions.

Megawati said the botanical gardens would help the country protect its natural resources.

"By developing these botanical gardens, we will be safeguarding the country's biodiversity. Every governor should pay attention to the effort to conserve natural resources," the President said in her speech, which was given to mark National Technology Day.

Currently, there are only three botanical gardens in the country -- one each in West Java, East Java and Jambi -- while Banten province has what is termed a "biodiversity garden".

The government has set no time frame for those provinces that lack botanical gardens to start work on establishing them. However, provinces in Sumatra and Borneo islands will be urged to immediately start implementing the program.

State Minister for Research and Technology Hatta Radjasa said the funding for the gardens would have to be provided by each provincial government out of its own resources, while the central government would play an oversight role.

"The Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) will help us oversee the project, while the Bogor Botanical Gardens will provide seeds and plants, if necessary," Hatta said.

The country has lost millions of hectares of its tropical forests due to uncontrolled illegal logging and mining in recent decades.

In November last year, the forestry ministry issued a decree on reforestation aimed at expanding the country's forest cover by 2.4 million hectares in five years. The project will cost the country Rp 15 trillion (US$1.6 billion).

During the ceremony, the President hailed Indonesian students' achievements in international scientific contests, saying that this proved the country's people were a match for those of other countries in the research and technology field.

"However, we have to review our policies in technology in order to give more room to students in which to develop," Megawati said.

She also conferred awards on nine citizens for their contribution to the development of technology in the country. The recipients included Septinus George Saa from Papua.

George won the gold medal in the international physics competition in Poland in April this year for his "Infinite triangle and hexagonal lattice network of identical resistors" formula.

He defeated competitors from 73 countries.

The former student of a state high school in Jayapura is currently studying at the private Pelita Harapan University in Tangerang, Banten. He has received a scholarship to pursue a doctoral degree anywhere he likes in the world.

He is slated to leave for Poland in November to undergo a one- month course at the Polish University in Warsaw.