"Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan is scheduled to open the discussion," Riau Governor Rusli Zainal said here on Monday.
The governor said the discussion of biosphere reserve in the form of cooperation with UNESCO would be part of a series of international meeting on South-south cooperation.
"Riau is chosen to host such an international discussion because the province has leading Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve," Rusli said.
According to him, the participants of the discussion would come from countries with tropical rain such as Congo and Brazil, while the others from Japan, China, Taiwan, ten countries from ASEAN, one from Africa, namely Mali, and France from Europe.
The governor said designation of Riau as the host is an honor because Giam Siak Kecil biosphere reserve in the province is the seventh conservation in Indonesia which has been recognized by UNESCO, and the 564th from 109 countries.
UNESCO and the the National Committee of Man and the Biosphere Program in Jakarta in 2009 handed out awards to parties that contributed to the development of Giam Siak Kecil ? Bukit Batu (GSK-BB) as the 7th UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Indonesia.
The awards were handed out by the Deputy Director of UNESCO Office Jakarta, Robert Lee, to each of the recipients in an inaugural event held in Hotel Gran Melia Jakarta.
Recognizing as part of the Sumatra peat swamp eco-region, Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu (GSK-BB) posses a unique habitat and plays a significant role to help sustain populations of rare, endangered and endemic species.
About 189 plant species, consisting of 113 families and 59 genera are recorded in this area, with 29 out of the total number of this plant species are categorized as a protected species under Appendix 1 and 3 of CITES. ***4***
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(T.SYS/A/O001/F001) 03-10-2011 15:53:40
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
