(Unila): Unila hosted national webinar titled Campus Garden based on natural orchid conservation and hybrid orchid cultivation to promote sustainable campus, Saturday, September 4, 2021.
The seminar was opened by Prof. Asep Sukohar, Vice Rector for General and Financial Affairs. He also launched a new cruciferous hybrid orchid the name of which is Dendrobium Unila Campus Garden (UCG) and it has been officially registered in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) UK.
Dendrobium UCG constitutes a species of cruciferous orchid between the orchid Dendrobium Dyah Catarina and Dendrobium violaceoflavens cultivated by Unila researchers, Prof. Yusnita and Prof. Dwi Hapsoro. Dendrobium UCG would be special orchid collections available in the Unila campus area.
Prof. Karomani, the rector of the University of Lampung, supported the seminar as well as the launch of the Dendrobium UCG as a special collection devoted to Unila in its 56th anniversary. This is an attempt to promote biodiversity and sustainability in Indonesia and is in line with Unila’s mission as a green campus.
Prof. Dwi Hapsoro, the managing chairman of the webinar, reported that the event was attended by approximately 549 participants from different backgrounds such as, academics, orchid plant researchers, students, orchid plant cultivators, entrepreneurs, and general public across Indonesia.
Four speakers were scheduled to present the topic of the seminar, i.e., orchid conservation research, cultivation, and hybrid orchid business aspects. They are Prof. Yusnita, an expert on cultivating various ornamental plants and orchids with her topic, The Application of Growing Regulatory Substances in Hybrid Orchid Cultivation.
She is a lecturer at the Agronomy and Horticulture Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture Unila; Prof. Endang Semiarti is from the Faculty of Biology, Gadjah Mada University presented campus garden to support the conservation of natural orchids.
Dedek Setia Santoso, a hybrid orchid breeder and owner of DD Orchid nursery, Malang, shared hybrid orchid cultivation and business; Dwi Murti Puspitaningtyas, M.Sc., from Bogor plant and botanical garden conservation research center, Lipi, delivered her topic, Indonesia’s Natural Orchid Conservation: Prospects and Challenges.
The webinar was aimed to raise public awareness and understanding of the orchid conservation which Unila has transformed in the form of Unila Campus Garden. The orchid conservation at Unila campus garden was marked by planting several natural orchid species and hybrids which may result in a new species for the hybrid orchid’s cultivation.
The process of Hybrid orchid cultivation was undergone in a laboratory to create hybrid orchids that can grow both indoor and outdoor so that they can then be released to the nature.
Dr. Unang Mulkhan, the head of Unila SDGs Centre, said that the webinar was quite strategic to discuss biodiversity issues, especially orchid species. According to him, people’s understanding of preserved-orchid species and cultivated-hybrid orchids needs to be disseminated to public and academic staff.
The national webinar on orchids could be beneficial to communities as a medium of discussion and sharing experiences about conservation efforts, cultivation techniques, and hybrid orchid business opportunities.
The event of preserving orchids was an attempt to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly goals 13 and 15 with respect to, climate change (planet actions) and life on land, respectively, by protecting, restoring, and supporting sustainable use of land ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, fighting against desertification, inhibiting and reversing soil degradation, and inhibiting biodiversity loss.
With reference to the Presidential Regulation No. 59 of 2017 regarding the sustainable development goals that all stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to the 17 goals of the SDGs by 2030. National development planning agency (Bappenas) suggests that higher education can take part to achieve all 17 or a few goals of the SDGs.
Unila has very actively played a role in discussions about SDGs with national and international institutions as well as provided local governments with advice about how to achieve the SDGs goals.
Unila also actively joins Times Higher Education (THE) world university impact ranking to asses the extent to which Unila’s activities have an impact on sustainable development.
The seminar was also expected to provide opportunities for business, economic growth, arts and it simultaneously shared knowledge of orchid cultivation to the community which in turn supports a positive impact on the achievement of the SDGs goals.
At the same occasion, Junaidi, the representative of UI GreenMetric, said that the campus garden concept initiated by Unila is very challenging in the sense that it may promote orchids as one of biodiversity in Indonesia.
The campus garden can support learning efforts to create a comfortable and an enjoyable atmosphere which may inspire students to create a pleasant learning atmosphere for the younger generations as prospective successors to the nation’s leaders. [PR Team]
