Pollution harms Bogor Botanical Gardens

Pollution harms Bogor Botanical Gardens

By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

BOGOR (JP): As you arrive in Bogor from Jakarta via the
Jagorawi highway, turn right on Jl. Pajajaran. Follow the road
and bear to your right. Soon the green sprawl of the Bogor
Botanical Gardens will emerge on your right -- that is, if the
gaggle of angkot (public minibus) doesn't block your way or a
traffic jam doesn't distract you.

The Bogor Botanical Gardens, with a vast collection of 3,504
plant species within its 87 hectares, is one of the biggest and
most complete gardens of its kind in the world. It has plant
species from all over the archipelago -- no mean feat since
Indonesia is second in the world after Brazil as the country
holding the most variety of species in the world.

Unfortunately, the garden's very existence is being threatened
by pollution.

"If you walk alongside the perimeter of the garden, you will
see that many tree leaves have turned brown. They've all dried
up," Abdul Somad, the garden's public relations and guide
coordinator, explained.

Somad has been a caretaker of the garden as long as anyone in
the place can remember. Through his own eyes, Somad has witnessed
the slow decay of the garden he has worked so hard for. Years
ago, he used to live in a dormitory for young guides. He still
sometimes reminisces of the days when he could take a bath in the
Ciliwung River that runs through the garden. Now, industrial and
household waste from upstream has prevented most people from
using the river.

Somad is not the only casualty from the water pollution. The
water's low quality has affected some plants, such as the giant
lotus, one of the garden's most prized treasures. Somad pointed
out that the lotus' flower rarely blooms these days.

"Watching the flowers bloom used to be one of the highlights
for early morning visitors and for the workers. Now it rarely
happens."

Even so, the garden's management cannot provide any data
regarding the impact of pollution to the garden's ecosystem.
"We're not sure, but we believe that air and water pollution has
cost the garden tremendously," Somad explained.

A limited budget is behind the lack of evidence to support his
statement.

"Once, the garden's function was not limited to tourism as it
has been for the past couples of years. It used to be the center
of botanical research and a plant cultivation center," said Ambar
Kadarsan, vice chairwoman of Friends of Indonesian Botanic
Gardens.

Fortunately, non-governmental organizations, such as Friends
of Indonesian Botanical Gardens, the Indonesian Forestry
Institute and the Indonesian Forestry Club, have stepped in to
fill the gap. Their assistance in the form of fund-raising,
environmental awareness programs and seminars has helped the
garden to return to its original function.

The little research conducted on the garden was done either by
the academic community or non-governmental organizations. The
results have been alarming.

"The amount of nitrogen dioxide concentration in plant leaves
all over the botanical garden has reached an alarming point,"
Sukarsono, a lecturer and researcher from Muhamaddiyah University
in Malang, told The Jakarta Post.

Sukarsono performed a study on canary trees throughout the
garden earlier this year.

He gathered leaves from the trees at various points across the
garden, starting from Jl. Pajajaran to Jl. Insinyur Juanda, on
the other side of the garden.

Sukarsono's examination of the leaves included thorough
chemical and microscopic analyses.

He concluded that the nitrogen dioxide level (NO2) in the
leaves exceeded government standard norms.

A 1998 regulation sets the norm for Nitrogen Dioxide
concentrations at 0.05 parts per million (ppm). Sukarsono found
that the NO2 concentration level in the leaves closest to the
road was 0.2023 ppm, a level exceeding the healthy norm five
fold.

He also found similar results on samples collected from other
areas in the garden. The only sample found to be better than the
norm was taken from the center of the garden.

Nitrogen dioxide is the result of a chemical reaction between
oxygen and nitrogen oxide, which is emitted from the tailpipes of
motor vehicles. Such emissions can destroy the clorophile cells
in leaves.

The cells give the plant its green color needed for
photosynthesis. A plant will suffer from a decreased rate of
growth and discoloration if it looses a lot of these cells.

To the ordinary eye, like Somad's, such a discoloration looks
like the plant may be suffering from a lack of water. Yet through
a microscope, Sukarsono was able to find damage to the leaves'
cell structures.

Following his initial findings, Sukartono measured the
diameter of canary trees of the same age. The result was that the
trees closer to the road were found to be smaller than trees the
same age further inside the garden.

Sukarsono's research was on larger trees which are less
sensitive to pollution than the smaller plants in the garden.

Disappear

Ambar acknowledged that there had been an alarming number of
shrubs disappearing from the garden recently. "Some of these
shrubs could well be indicators of the pollution level. The
disappearance of some of them should attract our attention to the
problem."

Sukarsono bemoaned the lack of comparable data for his
research. "There has only been a few, if any, studies on the
effects of pollution to the garden. Without constant monitoring,
it will be hard for us to show any qualitative evidence of its
deterioration," Sukarsono said.

In order to supply a reference for fellow researchers in the
future, Sukarsono took random chemical samples of leaves from
various other trees throughout the garden.

Bogor officials have received a number of proposals over the
years designed to decrease the flow of traffic circling the
garden. One calls for the reduction of the number of angkot in
the area by relocating the market on the south side of the garden
or rerouting the traffic passing the garden.

"We had been planning to reroute the traffic circling the
botanical garden to a new road at South Sentul and Bogor Baru,"
explained Eddy Hamdan, the chairman of Bogor's Agency for
Regional Development (Bappeda). "But the plan came to a halt due
to the monetary crisis."

He explained that the regional government had acknowledged
that the garden's problems may be caused by the amount of nearby
traffic.

"Between 100,000 and 150,000 Bogor residents commute to
Jakarta every day. Most of them use the road that circles the
botanical garden," said Hamdan. "If we could provide an
alternative route, traffic near the garden could be reduced by as
much as 50 percent." He quickly added that such a decision could
only be made by higher authorities.

So if the regency approves the plan, you may have to take a
detour in order to see the Bogor Botanical Gardens. It would,
however, be for our and the botanical garden's own good.