New Biodiversity Park in West Sumatra Seeks to Conserve Endemic Species

TheIndonesia.id - A biodiversity park will be built in the city of Sawahlunto in West Sumatra that will become a conservation reserve for local biodiversity, in addition to forest areas, with in situ and ex situ conservation functions.

Executive director of Kehati Foundation Riki Frindos explained that the Emil Salim Biodiversity Park will complement the role of forests in conserving the species of plants and animals that are only found in the region.

“The biodiversity park in Sawahlunto aims to restore or conserve the ecosystem of endemic flora and fauna. There are many benefits to the restoration of such ecosystems, including enriching the soil, [improving] source of oxygen, and absorbing greenhouse gas,” Frindos said on Wednesday, June 8, as reported by Antara.

The 25-hectare ground is also the first biodiversity park built on a land that was formerly a coal mine land.

“The construction of the Emil Salim Biodiversity Park starts now with the Rp5 billion [US$350,000] financial support from Kehati Foundation. The park can be visited and will show its benefits in three years’ time, while it continues to be developed and enriched,” Frindos explained.

There will be different clusters in the park, such as those of fruit trees, bamboos, and spices. It will also be home for 9,600 to 10,000 trees, and the area will be utilized for educational, cultural, and local economic purposes.

Mayor of Sawahlunto Deri Asta thanked the foundation for working together with the municipal to build the park, which also showed mutual commitment to reuse the mining land.

“This will not be a mere park for recreation, but the park will be a sustainable and integrated ecotourism [destination] with educational, natural, and local economic benefits,” Asta said.

Meanwhile, forest ecosystem manager at Kehati Rio R. Bunet revealed that the foundation also works with vegetation expert from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to develop the new biodiversity park.