Conserving the rare plant species at Socfindo Conservation Garden

Image: Nepenthes tobaica (left) and Vanda sumatrana (right)

Carrying out the message of medicinal plant conservation has brought Socfindo Conservation Garden to collect around 1500 species of medicinal plants. Among those, some of them are categorised as rare species, such as: Carrion Flower (Amorphophallus titanium), Sea Damar (Agathis dammara), Elephant Leaf (Johannesteijsmannia altifrons), Toba Semar Pouch (Nepenthes tobaica), Liem Kasut Orchid (Paphiopedilum liemianum), Orchid Java Moon (Phalaenopsis javanica), Sumatran Vanda Orchid (Vanda sumatrana), Sulawesi Moon Orchid (Phalaenopsis celebensis), and Sumatran Moon Orchid (Phalaenopsis sumatrana).

There are many factors that might jeopardize biodiversity, as we can see from the effects of exploitation, illegal logging, conversion of forest to areas for other uses, hunting and illegal trade. Socfindo Conservation Garden is here to be a partner with Government to rescue such vulnerable and rare plants species.

On that basis, Socfindo Conservation Garden will synergise with the goals of Government for flora conservation. It is a sanctuary, especially for rare plant species, its role is mostly to conserve these plants from extinction, as a place for rehabilitation and cultivation and the possibility to propagate these species will be significant, either through conventional methods or tissue culture.