Information about plants in Indonesia: some websites you can explore to find the facts from different aspects

When we looking for information about plants in Indonesia on the internet, actually there are no many choices of searching results we have.  The websites are still limited. Some websites we can found also have unique topics.  But by compiling the information of some websites below, hopefully, it will help you to find the information about Indonesian plants

Indonesia will appear if we looking a topic about biodiversity or deforestation. one of the reasons is the center of biodiversity.  But at the same time, the fact is that deforestation is also happening. Plants and forests are one of the most interesting topics in Indonesia. According to the Paris Climate Agreement, Indonesia has a commitment to reduce deforestation emissions by 29% in 2030.

Why are Indonesian plants always interesting to discuss?

Firstly, as a tropical country and one of the countries with huge acres of forests, Indonesia is one of the world’s hopes to become one of the world’s lungs. The destruction of forests and the decreasing area of ​​the world’s forests have made the international focus one of them towards Indonesia.

Secondly, Indonesia is a center of biodiversity. There are very many important plants in the world today. In fact, they were natively from Indonesia. Starting from food crops, plantation crops, fruit crops, ornamental, medicinal plants, and spice plants. But because of deforestation, these resources are very vulnerable to extinction.

Thirdly, the acceleration of oil palm and rubber plantation areas in Indonesia has the potential to reduce forest area. In brief, plantations require a very large area. From the data obtained, undoubtedly that the plantation area in Indonesia is growing rapidly in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua.

From the reasons above, it is logical that Indonesian plants are always an interesting topic. This article tries to summarize information from various existing information sources. The result is a brief review from several websites and hopes it is useful.

Here is the information about the websites you can visit if you looking for a source about Indonesian plants

1. krbogor.lipi.go.id
2. rimbakita.com
3. ilmuhutan.com
4. iNaturalist.org
5. tropical.theferns.info
6. tool.bgci.org

http://krbogor.lipi.go.id

It is the official website of Bogor Botanical Garden. It is the biggest Indonesian botanical garden.  On this website, you can found huge of information about Indonesia plants.  In addition, the website operates in 2 languages, Indonesia and English. And what you will get from the website:

• List of their plant collection with detailed information on each species.  Many species you can explore such as: from orchids, fruit species, aquatic plants, lianas, medicinal plants, palms species, and many others.  So far they have 3.156 species in their collection.
• List of other Indonesian botanical gardens in the other place/island.  Because of the position as the border of the two continents. Indonesia has unique species among islands based on geographical origin.  In each botanical garden, they have a collection of local native species.
• List of research publications.  There are many of report contain important detail information about Indonesian plants from different aspect such as domestication, conservation, reintroduction, economy, ethnobotany, propagation,
• Digital services, which we can use to find an online library, digital archives, genebank data, E-journal, and digital publication.
• Identification service.  If you need assistance on identification, they provide the service.  Many botanists and plant scientist they have, It will guarantee that you deal with the right team if you have a problem with Indonesian plant identification.
• Other services, such as research collaboration, asking for seed samples for research purposes.

https://rimbakita.com/

The website claimed as an online sociopreneur. It website provides information related to forestry, flora, fauna, agriculture, plantation, environment, tourism, and natural resources.  As additional information, The website is in the Indonesian language.

The Information about Indonesian plants you can find in the pohon menu.  It consists of 80 articles you can read.  The article contains detailed information about species from the taxonomy, origin, morphology, benefits, cultivation, distribution, habitus, and others.

In the Ilmu menu, you can find much information about Indonesian forestry.  And In the menu Taman Nasional, you can find information about Indonesian National parks.  The information is included with the review from each place.

http://ilmuhutan.com/

Ilmuhutan.com is the website to looking information about forestry.  From the information about silviculture, forest management, and products, conservation, and environmental issue.  In the SVLK menu, you can find information on some regulations related to forestry.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowering-plants-of-indonesia

Besides the web, you can find iNaturalist in the apps market. California Academy of Science and National Geographic Society has the initiative to publish inaturalist.org on the website.  The website is offering to give assistance on plant identification.  They have millions of scientists and naturalists in their community.

iNaturalist has one project called “flowering plants of Indonesia”. The project is to collect, observe, and identify flowering plants in Indonesia.  They have observed more than 14000 species, which consist of 9000s species.  The project involving thousands of researchers.

The project itself is published in their report by the image. You can find the information of map location, observer, scientific name, and the research-grade qualification of the specimen.  Finally, you can also find An interactive discussion menu is available in each species if you are willing to find more detailed information.

Besides the project of flowering plants in Indonesia, they also have other same topic projects in some regions in the world.  We can see the same project in India, Africa, and Turkey. One a good source to find information about plants in Indonesia

In the guide menu, you can find guidance about biodiversity from all around the world.  Looks that they have many data from many places in almost all continent. The data are covering plats, fungi, protozoa, and animals.

http://tropical.theferns.info/

The website has a database of useful tropical plants for more than 11.000 species.  You can find information about the edibility, medicinal use, and other uses for our daily life.  The species are all grown in tropical regions, including Indonesia.

The navigation tool on the front page is very simple. When you need to find information about Indonesian plants, you can easily choose.  It’s up to your preference, with a scientific name or you also can choose the local name.

Just for an example, I type “Durio kutejensis”, in the search option.  And below is the result from the website with the information from the website, just to give the information for all readers.

General information:

Shortly, in the general information, you can see the characteristic of Durio kutejensis. the tree size, branching system, and how peoples recognize and use this species for their activities.

Other information you can get also about the status of the species. Durio kutejensis , if one of the vulnerable species according to the IUCN red list of threatened species (2009). The population is decreasing because of land clearing for plantation activity

Range, Habitat, and Cultivation

This species is natively from South East Asia – Malaysia, Indonesia. And naturally, they can easily grow in the foothills of the mountains with the fertile clay-rich soils which the vegetation is mix with the dipterocarp trees in the forest.

Edible uses:

The ripe fruit is edible and you can eat it raw.  The yellowish-orange flesh has a distinctive flavor and sweet taste, but less sweet than common Durian.  The ripe fruit only has a slight aroma. 

Other uses:

There are no records about the use of wood for building material. It dries rapidly, but thin boards may tend to cup. The wood saws easily and generally dress smoothly; nailing qualities are good. It is used for purposes such as furniture components, veneer, and plywood, light construction.

Propagation: seed

https://tools.bgci.org/plant_search.php

The website is managed by Botanic Garden Conservation International and also called PlantSearch.  Even though it is only the digital plant database, but you can use it to explore the plant information.

The database is from the botanical garden and similar organizations around the world. Including materials in the seed banks and tissue culture collections. In fact, PlantSearch has much connection with the researchers, conservationists, horticulturists, policy markers, and all stakeholders who care about plant diversity.

Totally the website has more than 1.5 million collection records of plants, with 1170 contributions from institutes from many regions.  3 languages available on the website:  English, Spanish, and Japanese.

Need more input to add the information about plants in Indonesia

From all websites above hope, it will help you to find information about plants in Indonesia. If you have more information about the other websites, you can contact me in the comment form. The list will be updated when I have new information.