SEAMEO BIOTROP, together with the Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park Administration, Indonesian Academy of Sciences (LIPI) and the Indonesian Biological Society,  gathered together  146 researchers and lecturers during a one-day national seminar on “Tropical Plant Conservation:  Current Status and Future Challenges” last 7 April 2011 at Cibodas National Park in Bogor.  The seminar was conducted in celebration of the 159th year of the Cibodas National Park.

Dr.  Didik Widyatmoko, Director of the Cibodas National Park, welcomed the guests and participants of the seminar.  He considered the seminar as a timely event and appropriate venue to share knowledge and experiences on tropical plant conservation in response  to various threats occuring everywhere both due to natural and anthropogenic factors.  On the other hand, Dr. Bambang Prasetya, Deputy Director for Biological Sciences of LIPI, officially opened the seminar.

Among the plenary speakers was Dr. Irdika Mansur, SEAMEO BIOTROP Deputy Director,  on the topic “The Potential of Industrial Parks to Conserve Tropical Tree Species:  Telaga Desa KIIC Garden of Friendship as  a Model”.   He shared SEAMEO BIOTROP’s experiences in  conserving and promoting indigenous tree species in developing the said  Garden.  Other plenary speakers were Prof. Ferry Slik  from Xishuang Bana Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on “ Biodiversity Conservation in Southeast Asia”,  Dr. Barry Conn from the National Herbarium of New South Wales, Australia on “Botanic Gardens, Research and Conservation:  Successes and Failures”,  and Dr. Ir. Iskandar Zulkarnaen Siregar from the Institut Pertanian Bogor on “ Genetic Diversity and Conservation Efforts: Case Studies from Priority Forest Tree Species in Indonesia.”

The seminar was divided into four parallel sessions, namely:  (1)  Ecology,  (2) Biological Species and Systematics,  (3) Biological Conservation, and (4) Ethnobotany and Horticulture. Two SEAMEO BIOTROP scientists presented papers under the Ecology session.  They were Dr. Sri S. Tjitrosoedirdjo  on “Threats of Invasive Alien Species to Biodiversity” and Dr Ulfah Siregar on “Conservation of Fast Growing Species for Climate Change Adaptation.” Drs Sri and Ulfah were among the 19 session paper presentors of the seminar. A total of 101 posters were also exhibited during the seminar.