Jagatnatha Botanical Garden preserves traditions, health

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Not only is Bali rich in its natural beauty, but also  ancestral culture that is maintained beautifully and the local administration continues to beautify the Goddess Island.

This priceless treasure is now increasingly maintained by the inauguration of the Jagatnatha Botanical Garden on Thursday (Dec 5) by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) together with Bali’s Jembrana District administration.

The botanical garden whose construction was initiated in 2014 is the 14th local  botanical garden, and is located in Jembrana on the main road  connecting Gilimanuk District  and Bali’s capital of Denpasar. The garden covers an area of 5.8 hectares.

Jembrana District Head I Putu Artha called the Jagatnatha Botanic Garden a “Green Pearl in the City Heart of the State”.

“This botanical garden should become a center for plant conservation to preserve Jembrana plants that are becoming scarce, and become a center for environmental education, scientific development, and a provider environmental services the people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Head of LIPI’s Plant and Botanical Conservation Research Center, R. Hendrian, said the challenges of plant conservation were even greater.

“Indonesia’s plant wealth reaches 35,000 species or 10 percent of the total world plant species. Of these, only 6,000 have been used,” Hendrian said.

He added that botanical garden management must be able to realize the conservation of at least 75 percent of all plants in Indonesia by 2030.

“We continue to collaborate with local governments, universities and private parties to realize botanical gardens throughout Indonesia that are able to conserve plants in 47 types of ecoregions in Indonesia,” he explained.

Thematic park

Jagatnatha Botanical Garden has a thematic concept that emphasizes the preservation of upakara plants (plants for Balinese Hindu traditional ceremonies) and usada (traditional Balinese medicinal plants).

At the moment Jagatnatha Botanical Garden has 26 clans of usada plants, 45 collection numbers, and 36 genera.

The upakara plant collection consists of 38 clans, 101 collection numbers, and 85 genera, while the endemic plant collection consists of 48 clans, 103 genera, 124 species, 428 specimens and nurseries 62 clans, 174 genera, 162 species, 1,234 specimens.

“The conservation of usada plants and Balinese traditional ceremonies are expected to be a reference, while making the Jagatnatha Botanic Garden as the first botanical garden in Indonesia whose plant collections are arranged according to thematic patterns as a living library of Balinese cultural richness,” Head of the Development of Botanical Gardens at LIPI’s Research Center for Conservation of   Plants and Botanical Gardens, Danang WP.

According to him, Jagatnatha Botanical Garden has its own uniqueness compared to other botanical gardens in Indonesia. This is due to the existence of Jagatnatha Temple in the botanical garden area so that it requires development in harmony with the “Tri Mandala”, namely the concept of spatial planning consisting of three zones in the form of Prahyangan Zone (holy), Pawongan Zone (human activity), and Palemahan Zone (environmental zone).

Reporting by Indonesia Window