Tua Tunu Botanical Garden-BRIN Research Endangered Wild Rambutan in Bangka
- 14 Agt 2026 17:03 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Key Points
- Tua Tunu Botanical Garden and BRIN are researching and conserving the endangered Nephelium cuspidatum, an endemic wild rambutan with only three known trees remaining at the garden.
- The species is threatened by land-use changes from plantations, mining, and settlements, while the partnership builds on BRIN’s successful conservation research on the rediscovered Garcinia klabang.
RRI.CO.ID, Pangkalpinang - In a vital effort to safeguard local biodiversity, the Tua Tunu Botanical Garden in Pangkalpinang, in Bangka Beliting Islands collaboration with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), has initiated scientific research on the wild rambutan (Nephelium cuspidatum), an endangered plant endemic to Bangka Island, Bangka Belitung Islands Province.
"We, together with BRIN, are conducting research to re-conserve this endemic wild rambutan plant," Head of the Tua Tunu Botanical Garden Team in Pangkalpinang, Sugiantoro, said on Friday, August 14, 2026, as quoted by Antara.
Sugiantoro explained that the wild rambutan population across Bangka Island faces a severe threat of extinction due to widespread land-use changes, including the conversion of natural forests into oil palm plantations, rubber estates, mining operations, and residential settlements.
"Currently, the Tua Tunu Botanical Garden only has three wild rambutan trees left, and these must be protected and preserved so that this endemic plant does not go extinct," he noted.
"This wild rambutan fruit is almost identical in shape to ordinary rambutan, but its outer skin is sharp with small, prickly thorns," Sugiantoro noted,
This conservation partnership follows a previous successful collaboration between the botanical garden and BRIN regarding another rare indigenous fruit of Bangka Island, the kelabang mangosteen (Garcinia klabang). That particular species was previously declared extinct before being rediscovered within the grounds of the Tua Tunu Botanical Garden.
"Alhamdulillah, BRIN's research on the kelabang mangosteen was successful, and currently, we are developing and preserving this endemic kelabang mangosteen plant," Sugiantoro concluded. ***
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