From orchid plants, how do you feel about starting a new orchid collection? This time, postal stamps featuring fabulous orchids.
Anggrek Orchid Stamps
Exciting orchid lovers not only Indonesia, but all over the globe, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has finally published its latest limited edition series of anggrek (which translates to orchid in the traditional Bahasa language), postage stamp series showcasing the prized orchids from the country’s 34 provinces.
The special orchid postal stamp collection was released as part of the celebration of Bogor Botanical Garden's 200th anniversary last May 18.
Orchids of Indonesia
One of the orchids shown in LIPI’s anggrek collection is the Coelogyne marythae, which is a newly discovered orchid species unveiled during the 2013 exploration at the Katingan, Central Kalimantan. Other popular orchids from Indonesia include Moon Orchid (Phalaenopsis Amabilis), Melati (Jasminum Sambac), and Rafflesia (Rafflesia Arnoldi Indonesia), which are all rightfully regarded as the country’s national flowers.
House of Indonesian Orchids
According to Didik Widyatmoko, who heads the Botanical Garden Plant Conservation Center in Bogor, West Java, the Anggrek stamp is part of the organization’s many efforts to let the world know of Indonesia’s exquisite orchid species.
Apparently the orchid stamp series was an idea by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who inaugurated the House of Indonesian Orchids at the Bogor Botanical Gardens in 2002. Today, one of the most beautiful and the oldest in all of Southeast Asia, the Bogor Botanical Garden is home to all of Indonesia’s unique orchid species and possesses about 500 species from a total of 5,000 species of orchids found in Malaysia.
Saving Endangered Orchid Species
At least 10 percent of the entire proceeds from the orchid stamp collection will be donated to Bogor Botanical Garden’s ongoing research projects dedicated to identify, save, and conserve the rare and endangered orchid species naturally found in Indonesia’s rich forests.
Recently, the government has also partnered with other agencies and private institutions, such as the Orchid Society (PAI), PT Pos Indonesia (state-funded postal service), and PT Martina Berto Tbk ( a private manufacturing company), to carry out the necessary efforts with regards to protecting the country’s prized orchids.
A tropical paradise, Indonesia boasts of more than 40,000 unique species of flowering plants, 5,000 of which are orchids.
Leave a comment