Bogor Botanical Gardens

SERIES 34 | Episode 36
INDONESIA SPECIAL

Costa, Tammy and Sean explore the amazing Bogor Botanical Gardens. It’s a huge space - 87 hectares - so they split up to cover different parts.

Bogor is about an hour south of Jakarta, in West Java. It’s nicknamed the rainy city and there certainly seems to be a downpour at least once a day while they are there.

Bogor is the oldest botanic garden in south-east Asia, founded in 1817, as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. It’s also a centre for research and home to more than 12,000 species of plants.

Some of the trees are hundreds of years old. Costa introduces us to the couples trees – two giants planted next to each other, a Red Meranti and a Ficus albipila, both planted in the 1800s - so named because couples often pose at their base for wedding photos and it’s said that standing here will make your love last forever.

Costa meets research Professor Dr Sri Rahayu, from the Research Centre for Plant Conservation, Botanic Gardens & Forestry - BRIN, who specialises in hoya plants. Her work has taken her to most of Indonesia’s forests looking for unknown plants - she has described about 20 new species. 

There is also a medicinal plant collection of more than 200 plants long used for medicine - some are being studied for the potential for treating illness as well as use in cosmetics.

Only 20% of Indonesia’s plants are understood so there is a lot of work still to do. Sri says many of these plants risk being lost before their properties are realised.

Filmed in Bogor | West Java