Indonesia: Rafflesia habitats spread evenly in Bengkulu

Antara 6 Feb 12;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - The habitats of Rafflesia Arnoldii are spread evenly in forest areas of Bengkulu province, a Rafflesia researcher from the University of Bengkulu, Agus Susatya, said here Monday.

"Based on records we have collected, the Raflesia is not found just in one orest area but also in nine districts and not in cities that have no forest area," he added.

Agus said the unique flowers were found in the Bukit Barisan mountains in northern Bengkulu, namely Mukomuko district, the eastern area of Lebong district up the southern part of Kaur district.

He said there were 21 locations where the rare flower was blooming in nine districts, namely Mukomuko, North Bengkulu, Central Bengkulu , Kepahiang, Lebong, Rejang Lebong, South Bengkulu, Seluma and Kaur.

However, the majority of the forest areas which are the habitat of the protected flower has been changed into gardens that threaten its sustainability.

"During 2011 , there the flower bloomed 14 times in various locations, namely in Central Bengkulu, Kepahiang, Mukomuko and Kaur," Agus added.

He noted the location of protected forest along the highway of Kepahiang and Taba Penanjung were the common locations for the blooming Rafflesia.

These locations were located in nature reserves of Taba Penanjung I and II to the protected forests which border with Tebat Monok village, Kepahiang district.

Unfortunately the blooming flowers are often not followed by good management. Whereas the frequency of blooming flowers and the convenient accessibility, these flowers are potentially as one of the strong appeal for the community economic development through eco-tourism.

Indonesia has the most various Rafflesia species in the world. Of the 25 species recorded at this time, 12 of which derive from Indonesia and four of them found in Bengkulu.

In Malaysia and Sabah, which only has 6 species, the ecological research and conservation for Rafflesia relatively more active and advanced. Similarly in the Philippines which in the past 5 years has discovered five new species of rafflesia.

Meanwhile in Indonesia it was only found two to three new species in the last 20 years. It shows the attention and research are still left behind from Malaysia and the Philippines although these species were firstly appeared in Indonesia, Agus explained.

The lack of attention was to be a very worrying because most of the Rafflesia species are classified into the threatened category, he said.(*)

Editor: Heru

Rafflesia arnoldii blooms up in 21 locations
Antara 7 Feb 12;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - The flower arnoldii of rafflesia has been found blooming in 21 locations throughout Bengkulu Province, reports Agus Susatya, a researcher at Bengkulu University.

"According to the report, most `Rafflesia arnoldii` bloom up in Bengkulu Province, although the species also grows along the Bukit Barisan Mountains," Susatya said here on Tuesday.

He further noted that until 2011, there were 21 documented locations of "Rafflesia arnoldii", though several of these locations no longer have the flowers due to natural or man-made reasons.

The locations of the flower were spread from N. Bengkulu to S. Bengkulu and also in Rajang Lebong Region and Seluma Region.

Based on the report, `Rafflesia arnoldii`, the flower was found blooming in 14 locations during 2011, mostly at eight sites in the Bukit Daun Conservation Forest and three sites in the Taba Penanjung Reserve.

Unfortunately, Susatya said the blooming of "Rafflesia arnoldii" was not receiving serious attention to develop its tourism potential, though the Bukit Daun Conservation is the most accessible location among the group.

"Based on the frequency of the flowers blooming and the accessibility of the location, it will have a great potential to develop the economy through ecological tourism," he said.

He further added that the protection of "Rafflesia arnoldii" needs to be more of a concern of conservation experts, the community and those involved in ecological tourism.

Bengkulu also has other species of rafflesia, the "gadutensis", "hasselty" and "bengkuluensis", which are relatively rare.

Susatya added that Indonesia has the world`s largest number of rafflesia among the 25 recorded species, as twelve of them grow in Indonesia and four species are endemic plants of Bengkulu.

(A060/INE/001)

Editor: Ella Syafputri