Toba 'orchid paradise' yields 200 new species

Scientistssay they have found almost 200 new species of orchids in the Eden Park touristforest in Sionggang village in Toba Samosir, North Sumatra.

A group led by botanists and orchid experts Ria Telambanua and Michele Siraithas been exploring the area for years.

“We’ve successfully identified almost 200 species of forest orchids afteralmost four years of research. We intentionally haven’t published any of themfor the sake of preservation,” Ria said on Sunday in Toba Samosir.

Kalimantan is one of the world`s flora center

KalimantanIsland (Borneo) is one of the world`s flora center because the diversity oftrees in a small plot of land in the island`s forest equals to those in thewhole Papua or South America, according to the forestry ministry`s a pressstatement.

The Island has the richest flora on the Sunda Islands because it has 10,000 to15,000 special of floral plants.
The flora diversity on the Borneo island is as rich as those in the wholeAfrica, which is 40 times bigger than Borneo.