Living Under the Shade of “Gods’ Blooms”

IRMA TAMBUNAN

The tiger orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum) blooms in the Lebung Panjang Sakat Park, Jambi Tulo Village, Maro Sebo, Muaro Jambi Regency, Thursday (11/24/2022).

Various hues of orchid species adorned Lebung Panjang Sakat Park in Muaro Jambi regency, Jambi, on Thursday (24/11/2022). Their beauty is so captivating that the “gods’ blooms”, as dubbed by the local people in reference to the beloved blooms, give no trace of the tragedy seven years ago that nearly saw the annihilation of their natural habitat, thanks to the persistent conservation efforts of a number of local youths.

Seven years ago, fire engulfed Pematang Damar Forest. The youths, who were fighting the fire, discovered a “kingdom” of orchids. They saved the orchids that grew on the ground and hung from the trees, and relocated the plants to lanzone (duku fruit) and durian farms.

The youths painstakingly looked after the orchids, some of which recovered from the fire to start growing and blossoming again.

At the beginning of this rainy season, the orchids are again flaunting their beauty, flowering alternately. The different species show their own unique and enchanting hues. One tiger orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum) has produced a dark yellow color with brown spots.

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Not far away, another plant from the tiger orchid species has produced yellow-green flowers with purple-brown spots. The park has at least seven different tiger orchid plants, each with their unique hues and tones.

There are also Cymbidium lancifolium orchids winding across the branches of the putat (Planchonia valida) tree. The petals are maroon and white, some cascading down like a beautiful curtain.

The flowering period lasts up to three months. Towards the end of the inflorescence, spore-filled tubers usually grow.

"These spores will be blown to new places to [germinate]," said Edwar Sasmita, head of the Muaro Jambi Bersakat Movement (GMB) in Jambi Tulo village, Maro Sebo, Muaro Jambi regency.

More than 80 species have been salvaged from the forests as part of a monoculture conversion project.

The forest orchid conservation community is named “Bersakat” in reference to the region’s endemic orchids and forest ferns. Orchid conservation began 12 years ago. More than 80 species have been salvaged from the forests as part of a monoculture conversion project.

There are various types of orchids, including Grammatophyllum, Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Cymbidium, Appendicula, Pomato calpa, Phalaenopsis or Eria, Trichotosia, Thelasis, Coelogyne, and Javanica, all of which grow in lowland tropical forests.

Conservation area

The GMB proposed in 2013 the designation of Pematang Damar Forest as a conservation area for endemic forest orchids and ferns. The proposal was submitted to the local authorities, but to no avail.

IRMA TAMBUNAN

The tiger orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum) blooms in the Lebung Panjang Sakat Park, Jambi Tulo Village, Maro Sebo, Muaro Jambi Regency, Thursday (11/24/2022).

At the same time, several companies were looking to convert Pematang Damar Forest into an oil palm plantation. The local community opposed it, but the land conversion project went ahead. In 2015, a forest fire broke out.

Not long afterwards, more oil palm plantations were opened on the razed area of the forest. Hope faded for relocating the orchids to Pematang Damar.

Spirit of caring

Disappointed at what they saw as injustice and partiality on the part of the local administration, the youths refused to relent. They mobilized the residents to set aside private land for the orchids and ferns, naming the area Lebung Panjang Sakat Park.

"We prepared an area of almost 5 hectares for the orchid habitat," said Adi Ismanto, one of the youths.

The park is now home to more than 2,000 types of orchids. They grow on tree branches, on the ground or in pots. Adi said growing orchids was challenging, as the seedlings required special care in a shady greenhouse before they were replanted on open land.

These had economic value to support people's lives.

Brosot (61), a resident of Jambi Tulo, said he cherished the diverse orchid species in the area as natural wealth, along with the other forest products they relied on as a source of livelihood. He usually entered the Batang Damar forest to return home laden with various forest products, such as rattan, fish, and natural latex. These had economic value to support people's lives.

The local community’s love for forest orchids is also expressed through the traditional arts. The residents have revived the gambangan (xylophone-like instrument) with updated lyrics in songs such as "Bungo Dewo" (Gods’ flowers) and "Batang Damar" (Stem of resin).

The songs tell about the forest orchids highly cherished by the local people. They are loved as “gods’ flowers” that once came close to extinction due to raging fires. The songs’ lyrics tell of human negligence towards spreading good, referring to the spirit of care manifested in an orchid that blooms without harming its host plant. The songs seem to send out the message that if humans lived like orchids, Earth would be sustained forever.

Bambang Irawan, the dean of the forestry department at Jambi University, said community initiatives to save the environment should be supported by the government, campuses, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. He pointed out that the efforts to save forest orchids were in line with the spirit of reforestation.

KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

A group of young people who rescue natural orchids are returning tiger orchids (Grammatophyllum speciosum) to their habitat in a forest that is still well vegetated in Jambi Tulo Village, Maro Sebo District, Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi, Thursday (11/1/2022).

Bambang said many community programs could not be maintained because they were project-based and lacked identification of a suitable target. On the other hand, he said, there were community members who had initiated environmental conservation efforts but did not receive support. Community initiatives like what the youth had done in Jambi, Bambang said, deserved government support so they could be sustained.

The local community's enthusiasm for saving the forest orchids in Jambi has born fruit. The park featuring diverse orchid species can be managed as an ecotourism attraction, so the residents have a new source of livelihood as they continue to concerve the forest.

(This article was translated byMusthofid.)