Exploration of flora diversity in Sebangka Island for Batam Botanic Gardens

Abstract

The protected forest area at Sebangka Island, Lingga Regency, is one of the protected forest areas recommended by the Riau Islands Province government to be a location for exploration and research because the condition of the forest and its diversity of vegetation is considered to be still good. However, the publication of the flora diversity of Sebangka Island and the surrounding small islands is still very limited. This research was conducted to explore the potential wealth of flora on the Sebangka island to be conserved ex-situ at the Batam Botanic Gardens. The results showed that there were at least 60 families, 149 genera and 145 species of plants that were successfully collected from Sebangka Island for the Batam Botanic Gardens collection. The most collected family are Araceae, Arecaceae, Clusiaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Moraceae and Myrtaceae. Some interesting plants found on Sebangka Island include bintangur (Calophyllum spp.), agarwood (Aquilaria spp.), Gelam (Meleleuca cajuputi), and the unique ornamental pitcher plant (Nepenthes spp.) and orchids. There are 29 species of the 288 plant collection numbers were included as rare plants.