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2005/11/2
The discovery of 53 new species of ginger in CIFOR’s Malinau Research Forest in East Kalimantan once again demonstrates the importance of the world tropical rainforests for global biodiversity.
Several species of ginger are an important livelihood supplement for many forest dwellers in Borneo, who use it for a range of purposes. Ginger is used as bait in fish traps. Its leaves can be used to call deer while hunting. It can be used to make small mats for drying seeds. Ginger is also important for magical, ceremonial and medicinal purposes. It is even used as a shampoo.
Some species of ginger in the Malinau district may also have the potential to be cultivated and marketed as ornamental plants or sold to the cut flower industry.
Gingers are exciting plants for a botanist and also the general plant lover. For the scientist they are a real challenge, because they are often bulky, difficult to collect and process, and they rarely have flower. Paulsen believes Kalimantan’s wild ginger species have a great potential for future domestication. In Australia the use of large, showy, ginger inflorescences such as the Torch Ginger for the cut flower industry has become very popular, but other species could also be used. In these cases, it is important to respect the indigenous property rights to plant resources. |
