Botanical Garden is a land planted with various types of plants intended for collection, research and conservation purposes as well. Moreover, botanical gardens are usually used as an alternative tourism destination for most residents who want to enjoy the beauty and lush large trees that are increasingly rare in urban areas.
The existence of botanical garden is very useful for the earth because the number of trees in urban areas are getting smaller while at the same time the amount of pollution produced by humans are increasing.
Indonesia itself has several botanical gardens scattered throughout the country, from the smallest to the largest. Here are 5 biggest botanical gardens in Indonesia.
1. Kuningan Botanical Garden
Kuningan Botanical Gardens, located in West Java, has an area of approximately 160 hectares and makes it the largest botanical garden in Indonesia. Unlike the common botanical gardens which are colonial-made botanical garden, Kuningan Botanical Garden is pure botanical garden made by Indonesian.
Kuningan Botanical Garden is situated at the foot of Mount Ciremai, precisely in Padabeunghar Village, Pasawahan District, Kuningan District, West Java. It is about one hour and 20 minutes from the center of Kuningan City and 1.5 hours from the City of Cirebon.
Kuningan Botanical Garden is quite unique park because almost along the road to the botanical garden is filled with rocks. You will be amazed, as far as the eye can see, there are beautiful hills, shady trees that surround the gardens and beautiful thematic zones such as Rock Garden, Taman Awi (bamboo garden), Ciremai Endemic Park and many more.
2. Eka Karya Botanical Garden
Also called Bedugul Botanical Garden, this park has an area of 157 hectares. This botanical garden is located in Candikuning Village, Baturiti District, Bedugul, Bali, about 60 km from Denpasar City. This garden which is exist at an altitude of 1,250-1,400 meters above sea level was created in 1959.
Eka Karya management is carried out by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and organization structure is under the guidance of Bogor Botanical Gardens Conservation Center. This botanical garden has a collection of 16,000 plants with 1,500 species, 320 genera, 155 plant tribes.
3. Bogor Botanical Garden
Bogor Botanical Garden has an area of 87 hectares. Located on Jl. Ir H Juanda No. 13 Bogor, this garden was inaugurated in 1817 by the Governor-General G.A.G.Ph Van Der Capellen. The collection of the most famous plants in this botanical garden is Bunga Bangkai (Rafflesia Arnoldii) which is the largest flower in the world that can reach 2 meters in height.
Bogor Botanical Gardens has an area of 87 hectares. The garden, which has a collection of 15,000 species of trees and plants, is used as a location for research and development of economic-value plants and native Indonesian plants.
Bogor Botanical Gardens has several scientific centers which are the Bogoriense Herbarium, the Bogor Zoological Museum as well as the Library. Therefore, every weekend the Bogor botanical gardens are often visited as tourist attractions and also at the same time as an educational place for schoolchildren.
4. Cibodas Botanical Garden
Cibodas Botanical Garden is one of attractive tourist destinations located in the Mount Gede Pangrango Forest Complex, Cianjur, West Java. This garden presents the beauty of green natural panorama which is harmonious with the exotic mountain views. Located at an altitude of 1,275 meters above sea level makes this park very cool and comfortable to visit.
Cibodas Botanical Garden was founded in 1852 by Johannes Elias Teijsmann. The most typical collection of Cibodas Botanical Garden is the Taman Lumut Cibodas (Cibodas Moss Garden) which has 216 types. Cibodas Botanical Garden has an area of approximately 80 hectares. The expanse of green park with the shade of rows of trees and well maintained grass can be a place to relax. Moreover, there are also several fountain pools that can make tourists feel welcome while there.
5. Purwodadi Botanical Garden
Purwodadi Botanical Garden has an area of 85 hectares, located in the village of Purwodadi, Pasuruan, East Java. This botanical garden was founded in 1941 by Dr. Lourens Gerhard Marinus Baas Becking. At first this garden was used for research activities on plantations. Then in 1954 began to apply the basics of cultivation started by making terrace of collection plants.
This botanical garden has 10,000 types of tree and plant collections. The management of this garden is under the responsibility of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). Located at an altitude of 300 meters above sea level, making the weather also relatively cool. Suitable as a choice of tourist destinations with family or friends.