Indonesia is one of the countries with the most complete biodiversity in the world. Although its area occupies only 1.3 percent of the earth’s surface, the level of biodiversity owned by the country is high. Quoting two Indonesian plant experts’, Cecep Kusmana and Agus Hikmat, Biodiversity in Indonesia (2017), at least 25 percent of the total flowering plant species in the world are found in Indonesia.

In other words, Indonesia is home to 20,000 species of flowering plants, the seventh highest in the world. In fact, 40 percent of them are endemic plants that can only grow in Indonesia.

One of the endemic flowering plants is orchids] from the Orchidaceae family. The term ‘orchid’ was first introduced in 1845 by the leading British botanist, John Landley. Orchid are the most adaptable plants. They could grow in any environment, in the lowlands or highlands, in hot and even cold areas.

In Anggrek Spesies Indonesia  (the Indonesian Species Orchid) book published by the Agriculture Ministry’s Directorate of Horticulture Seedling, there are at least 750 families; 43,000 species; and 35,000 hybrid varieties of orchids that have been identified from all over the world. 5,000 species of them grow in Indonesia.

Some of these species are known to be native species of Indonesia that grow in the wilderness and in community. Of that number, they grow across the country, namely 986 species in Java, 971 species in Sumatra, 113 species in Maluku, and the rest in Sulawesi, Papua, Nusa Tenggara, and Kalimantan.

The sac-shaped orchid or better known as tropical lady’s-slipper is one of them. The orchid of the Paphiopedilum genus is known as terrestrial plants or orchids that grow on the ground. The orchids from the Spathoglottis and Calanthe genus are also belong in this category. 

Meanwhile, there are also non-parasitic (epiphyte) orchids from Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, and Coelogyne genus that  grow by attaching to other plants. 

Unfortunately, the natural habitat of some of these Paphiopedilum is decreasing and threatened by the conversion of land functions, especially for plantations. In addition, excessive exploitation in nature (overcollection) has also led to the shrinking of the lady’s-slipper population.

Currently, all species of Paphiopedilum orchids growing in nature have been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Based on this status, the lady’s-slippers are not allowed to leave their country of origin except for non-commercial and research purposes. For that, official licensing and very strict supervision from the government is required. Procedures for managing licensing documents and approval from the authorities, namely representatives of CITES Indonesia, are needed.

The threat towards the lady’s-slipper orchid was also published in the result of a study called “Baseline Study on Paphiopedilum (Orchidaceae) Conservation Strategies in Indonesia“ conducted by the Research Center for Plant Conservation and Botanical Gardens in 2021. It was conveyed by Destario Metusala, the head of the Paphiopedilum orchid research team of the Purwodadi Botanical Garden of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), in his press statement as quoted from Antara, Thursday, 20 January.

In addition, Paphiopedilum orchids are the largest genus with 15 species included in the protected orchid list under the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 106 of 2018. Indonesia holds 38 species of Paphiopedilum spread from Sumatra to Papua.

The high diversity of these orchids and their status have moved researchers and orchid conservation activists from different parts of the world to participate in preserving Paphiopedilum in Indonesia.

Unfortunately, according to Destario, who is also a doctor of Biology from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Indonesia, the good intentions were tainted by a smuggle attempt of Paphiopedilum orchid out of its natural habitat by a group of researchers from France and England.

In 2013—2014, William Cavestro, a French orchid taxonomist and owner of the French orchid nursery N Bougourd and a British Nepenthes Researcher, Alastair S. Robinson had disseminated the results of the study on Sulawesi lady’s-slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum robinsonianum). The study was conducted in France and the specimens were kept in the French Herbarium Centre.

The history of the smuggled Sulawesi’s lady’s-slipper orchid began in an expedition called Redfern Natural History Expedition led by Alastair, the world’s Nepenthes expert from Cambridge University. This orchid was found somewhere in Central Sulawesi on August 13, 2013. At that time, Destario filed a protest against Alastair. 

The protest was filed based on the statement by the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s Foreign Circulation Section as the CITES authority in Indonesia that Alastair had never applied a permit to CITES to bring Paphiopedilum orchids out of Indonesia. "So, it can be concluded that the specimen stored in the French Herbarium was brought illegally," said the agronomist graduated from the Yogyakarta Veterans National Development University.

Preservation Efforts

Based on a study by the BRIN research team, Destario said, aside from the biological approach, the best conservation strategy for Paphiopedilum orchids should also involve social and economic aspects, for example, by involving the country’s orchid enthusiasts in the conservation efforts. 

The 39-year-old researcher said basic cultivation training and conservation insights for orchid enthusiasts around their habitat could be one of the priority programs in 2022.

"Similarly, the creation of a database of orchid enthusiasts that can be accessed by researchers and academics will facilitate multi-stakeholder interactions in encouraging real research and preservation of lady’s-slipper orchid in various regions," he said.

There are some simple steps that the community and orchid enthusiasts can take to support the preservation of lady’s-slipper orchids, such as conducting an in depth research on the internet or other sources of information to gain information about a specific type of orchid before buying the orchid. The information may include the characteristics of orchid cultivation, such as the height of its natural habitat, the need for wind circulation, humidity, and the light intensity tolerance range.

For example, some genus of Paphiopedilum can only live in a high land habitat at more than 1,200 meters above sea level. Thus, the risk of death will increase if this type of orchid is cultivated in lowland locations with hot temperatures. 

As an alternative, enthusiasts can also buy cultivated bottled seeds (in-vitro) lady’s slipper orchids. In general, the bottled cultivated orchid seeds showed better adaptability and growth than those extracted from nature. 

The road map for the preservation of Paphiopedilum orchid in Indonesia is a long step that cannot be completed with only 1-2 years of research. Therefore, said Destario, preservation activities will continue to be carried out with various domestic and foreign parties.

Writer: Anton Setiawan
Editors: Ratna Nuraini/Elvira Inda Sari/Filmon Leonard Warouw
Translator: Aisah Amanda