Fidelis E. Satriastanti, The Jakarta Globe 13 Nov 09;
With most river basins in the country suffering from severe degradation, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences is trying out a new rehabilitation approach involving replanting species endemic to areas near the water.
Didik Widyatmoko, the head of research at the institute, also known as LIPI, said they had so far planted 5,500 seeds on two locations — a public area and a protected, private one.
More than six hectares of public land in Girimukti, West Java — an upstream area of the Citarum River — have been planted with about 3,100 seeds comprising 33 species, including avocado, rambutan, durian, mango and orange. The project also aims to help provide a source of livelihood for residents in the area, who can harvest and sell the fruit.
Meanwhile, on four hectares of protected land in Bodogol, in West Java’s Gede Pangrango National Park, upstream of the Cisadane River, 2,400 seeds from eight species endemic to the area have been planted to restore the land to its natural habitat.
“Planting is important, but the aim of the project is for research,” Didik said. “On one hand, it is for conservation, on the other it could be used for economic purposes.”
Didik said the Rp 250 million ($26,000) project would be monitored every three months over the next five years to determine the plants’ growth and survival rates.
“We’re predicting that most of the plants will mature after five years and we’re hoping the ecosystem will have been restored by that time,” he said.
Sumarto Suharno, head of the Gede Pangrango National Park, said there were about 7,655 more hectares that needed to be restored in the area.
“So, that’s our biggest challenge now. This land used to be productive, with more than 5,000 families living here,” Sumarto said. “We’ve also been doing land rehabilitation with the help of other stakeholders. We hope the LIPI model can work perfectly.”
Endang Sukara, deputy chairman for life sciences at LIPI, said the researchers hoped to develop a model to help residents restore and rehabilitate their own areas.
“If it succeeds, then we’ll need to bring this to a higher level [of bureaucracy] as a recommendation, because the idea for rehabilitation or restoration should be based on scientific research,” Endang said.
