"Home to hundreds of orchid species, Griya Anggrek... House of Orchids...

work scientists have put in to preserve hundreds of species...

Griya Anggrek was inaugurated... in 2002 to showcase the plants grown by
Bogor Botanical Garden's orchid cultivation and study center.

The orchid center was established in the 1950s. It mission is to safeguard
the country's native orchid species and develop hybrids.

A plant tissue culture laboratory was later built in 1975 so that
scientists from the botanical garden, and students, could conduct research.

Visitor Erry...
"Although hybrid orchids are more attractive, I think the original species
must be conserved because their population would have dwindled rapidly
without the efforts undertaken by this center," she said.

Scientist Sofi Mursidawati said much more work must be done to preserve
original species, since the Griya Anggrek collection represents only a
tenth of the estimated 5,000 Indonesian [so many ?] orchid species.

"We hope it won't be too late for us, with so much development happening
and people rushing to topple trees and destroy orchid habitat," she said.

"We're also racing against time, with our limited budget for exploration,
study and conservation."

Currently the center has orchids from nearly every island in Indonesia...

Orchid exploration is... strenuous...
orchids... mostly grow in deep forests and must be handled carefully when
removed from their habitat.

Sofi said orchids were listed in the CITES index of endangered and
threatened species, and those at Griya Anggrek were not used for commercial
purposes. Any rare Indonesian orchid species, such as Blue Orchid (Vanda
Caerula [coerulea]) or Anggrek Kasut (Paphiopedillum)... found outside the
country must have been smuggled [!] directly from the field.

Sofi said the forests of Papua... had fallen prey to scavengers.

"People know that orchids from Papua are gems for collectors. They take the
species and at the same time damage the habitat... " she said.

Scientists, too, forage deep into the woods to find orchids...

Next, they must cultivate the orchids in a bid to preserve each species.
Some plants need two years or more to be ready to reproduce.

A white Anggrek Bulan Raksasa (Phalaenopsis gigantea) gathered in East
Kalimantan has remained in a seedling bottle for almost six years at one of
the center's greenhouses, showing no interest in blooming.
"It's one of the stubborn species," Sofi said.

.... the Griya Anggrek greenhouses are closed to the public"

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photo : [caption : A worker places orchid seedlings into small pots]

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