Katingan Botanical Gardens, a Conservatory of 500 Tropical Fruit Plants

TheIndonesia.id - Speaker of the Regional Representative Board of Indonesia AA La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti appreciates the development of the Katingan Botanical Garden in Central Kalimantan into a tropical fruit conservatory. Katingan Botanical Garden is the only botanical garden in Indonesia with a collection of tropical fruit plants.

La Nyalla in a written statement received in Jakarta, Tuesday, January 18, 2022, assessed that Indonesian tropical plants or fruits preservation especially durian fruits, need to be developed and added to the collection.

"Indonesia has so many varieties of tropical fruits that some of our people barely recognize," said La Nyalla.

Katingan Botanical Gardens has a collection of more than 500 types of fruits, whether the fruit is edible or not. The senator from East Java asked Katingan Botanical Gardens to be a nursery center that is oriented to meet the high demand for fruit in foreign countries.

"Very potential, of course. I see this step as very positive if this botanical garden becomes a center for tropical fruit nurseries that can be exported," said La Nyalla.

La Nyalla stated that the demand for Indonesian fruit from the United Arab Emirates is still very high. In 2020, the composition of Indonesia's exports to the UAE reached 69 percent of the demand for fruits.

"Indonesia's tropical fruit export potential is very large. So it is only natural that the Katingan Botanical Gardens of Central Kalimantan should be made a center for producing tropical fruit seeds," said La Nyalla.

The botanical garden which was inaugurated on December 6, 2016, is the first botanical garden in Central Kalimantan, as well as the fifth on the island of Borneo. This botanical garden has an area of approximately 127 hectares, located on Jalan Tjilik Riwut Km 13 Kasongan and adjacent to the tourist attractions of Bukit Batu Kasongan.

Katingan Botanical Gardens was developed for research, conservation, and education for the younger generation to obtain knowledge on local fruits and biodiversity of Central Kalimantan in one area. In addition, botanical gardens can be a tourism spot too.