YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia —
Orchids in hand and
a bamboo ladder on his shoulder, farmer Musimin scans the forest at the foot of
Indonesia’s most active volcano to point out clusters of the indigenous flowers
he has been salvaging for years.
اضافة اعلان
The 56-year-old, who goes by one name like many
Indonesians, is a self-taught conservationist with no formal background in
botanics.
He has dedicated his career to cultivating plants he
compares to gemstones, and has been on a one-man mission to save the exotic
blooms unique to the land on the outskirts of Yogyakarta on Java island.
His work began after lava and ash ripped through the
area from the powerful eruptions of Mount Merapi, the last major one in 2010.
“I remember orchids used to be abundant in the
forest,” he said.
“Locals from surrounding villages could take any
orchids they wanted, and they sold the flowers at nearby tourist destinations.”
But many were destroyed by the ash clouds that fell
on the land below the volcano.
So he set about saving their wilting fortunes, over
the years building two bamboo greenhouses where he could preserve the most
special kinds of orchids.
The volcano killed about 60 people when it erupted
in 1994, destroying thousands of hectares of forest.
Another eruption in 2010 left more than 300 dead,
while also wreaking havoc on the land.
“The forest near my house was burnt dry and the
orchids I used to easily find were gone. I regretted not keeping one or two of
them,” said Musimin of the 1994 tragedy.
That encouraged him to join the local government’s
effort to find the surviving orchids as he and his neighbors explored what
remained.
They managed to revive at least 90 varieties of
orchids that would also end up surviving the 2010 eruption, he said.
‘Pioneer of orchid conservation’
Now Musimin mostly works
alone and wants those who enter the forest to leave the orchids to blossom
instead of trying to profit from them.
“A lot of people now choose to pick and sell orchids
from the forest. I personally think the orchids are better off in their
habitat, where they can live as the crowns of the forest,” he said.
Other orchid centers run by locals who learned about
conservation from Musimin have sprung up in the forest around the volcano, said
Mount Merapi National Park spokesperson Akhmadi.
“He is, indeed, the pioneer of orchid conservation
in Mount Merapi. His work has become an example for other groups we are working
with, that have emulated and further developed his programs,” he said.
With others now taking Musimin’s lead, the father of
two wants to continue his orchid-saving legacy by passing down his self-taught
botanical knowledge to his grandchild, whom he often takes into the forest.
“I am showing him orchids as early as possible,” he
said.
“Who knows, he could be my successor.”
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