IN SITU AND EX SITU CONSERVATION OF GENETIC RESOURCES OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN MERU BETIRI NATIONAL PARK AND ITS BUFFER ZONE, EAST JAVA, INDONESIA

Medicinal plants have a very important use in traditional medicine in Indonesia. As most of the medicinal plants are presently collected from the wild without due attention to resource sustainability it is important to undertake activities aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of this valuable natural resource.

The Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Forestry in Indonesia, initiated a programme to conserve and develop genetic resources of medicinal plants in the buffer zone of and inside the Meru Betiri National Park, in East Java. Since 1992 FAO has contributed to this programme and since 1993, the Bogor Agricultural Technical University and the NGO “Latin” are also collaborating in the field activities in Meru Betiri National Park. The programme is focussed on the following seven species of social and economic importance : Piper retrofractum, Piper cubeba, Rauwolfia serpentina, Parkia roxburghii, Pangium edule, Strychnos ligustrina, Tinospora tuberculata.

The activities include:

survey of the distribution of the species in the area concerned;
studies on phenology, natural regeneration in situ propagation, and identification of constraints in these fields;
studies on propagation methods, using seeds and vegetative propagation;
establishment of an ex situ field collection representative of the different populations identified by the survey;
propagation and production of planting material for use by farmers groups in the buffer zone.

For more information please contact:
Dr. Effendi Achmad Sumardja, Director of Conservation Programme, Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Jalan Ir. H. Juanda No. 9, Bogor, Indonesia.

NEW BOOK ON EUCALYPT DOMESTICATION AND BREEDING
•	Eucalypt Domestication and Breeding. By Ken Eldrigde, John Davidson, Chis Harwood and Gerrit van Wyk. 288 p. The book is available in English from: Oxford Science Publications, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, U.K. Fax: (0865) 267782. Prize £ 25 paperback, £ 55 hardback.
The book gives an overview of the unique genetic resources of Eucalyptus in its natural environment, and reviews knowledge at provenance level variation in commercially important species stressing that large gains in production and quality can be obtained relatively cheaply by choosing the best provenance for each environment and end use. It, further, reviews the planning and execution of applied Eucalyptus breeding programmes and the production of improved planting stock from seed orchards and by vegetative propagation.

Forest Genetic Resources No. 22. FAO, Rome (1994)