In situ and Ex situ Conservation of Commercial Tropical Trees - ITTO

406. Maluku: lowland and montane forests, mangroves, and freshwaterswamps.7. Irian Jaya: monsoon forests and savanna, tropical rain forests, lowermontane rain forests, upper montane forests, subalpine forests, alpine heathland, freshwater swamp forests, mangrove forests, peat swamp forests,monsoon forests, savanna woodlands, limestone, grassland, and beachforestsThe different forest formations mentioned in these seven biogeographicalareas represent all the tropical rain forests in the Malesian region.The fact that Indonesia is a huge archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, ofwhich the 5 biggest islands (Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and IrianJaya) encompass a wide range of altitudes, enables such a diversity of naturalforest formations.On the world map, the 17,000 islands of Indonesia are no more thandots between continental Asia and Australia and, in terms of land area, theseislands occupy only 1.3 per cent of the global surface. Yet these islands supporta diverse species of plants, animals, and microbes, many of which are uniqueand cannot be found in any other part of the world. In terms of animal speciesdistribution, the famous “Wallace line” divided Indonesia into two parts; thewestern part - the Sunda shelf - is rich in large animals, and the eastern part -the Sahul shelf - is characterized by marsupials and is also rich in bird diversity.A famous example of one of those unique birds is the “bird of paradise”. Thegiant lizard (Komodo Dragon) Varanus komodoensis on the islands of Padarand Rinca, and the anoa (Bubalus sp.) on Sulawesi are among the many uniquespecies of Indonesian animals.Floristically, Indonesia is also one of the richest countries. A study inJambi, Sumatra, has shown that a square kilometer there is richer than Brazil inplant species. According to FAO (1982) there are no less than 25.000 speciesof Malesian flowering plants, of which 10,000 are tree species. The largestflower in the world, Raflessia arnoldi, and also the most gigantic inflorescence- Amorphophalus titanum - are found only in Indonesia. Of the many usefulspecies, Indonesia is known as the center for tropical fruit species such asdurian (Durio zibethinus), rambutan (Nephellium lappaceum), and salak(Zalacca edulis) (Zeven & Zhukovsky 1963). Concerning endemism, it isestimated that out of the 37,000 diverse higher plants in Indonesia, between 39and 49 percent are endemic (Conservation International 1998).For centuries, people in Indonesia have utilized plants for food, energy,building materials, and medicines. Most of these species have not been cultivatedand people generally collect what they need directly from the forests. Someuseful species are commonly grown in villages around the forests signifying the