The Bali Botanic Garden ( id, Kebun Raya Bali) is the largest

botanic garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

in Indonesia and is located in the mountainous region of

Bedugul Bedugul is a mountain lake resort area in Bali, Indonesia, located in the centre-north region of the island near Lake Bratan on the road between Denpasar and Singaraja the area covers the villages of Bedugul itself, Candikuning, Pancasari, Pac ...

Tabanan Regency Tabanan is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Bali, Indonesia. Relatively underdeveloped (compared with Badung and Denpasar to the east), Tabanan Regency has an area of 1,013.88 km2 and had a population of 386,850 in 2000, rising to 42 ...

, central

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

, around 90 minutes drive north of Denpasar. The Garden was established on 15 July 1959 and is situated around 1300 metres above sea level overlooking Bratan Lake and the Ulun Danu Temple on the slopes of Tapak Hill. The Garden is a centre for

botanical research Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, conservation, education and recreation. It is operated by the

Indonesian Institute of Sciences The Indonesian Institute of Sciences ( id, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, or LIPI) was the governmental authority for science and research in Indonesia. It consists of 47 research centers in the fields ranging from social to natural scie ...

(LIPI). The Garden has an area of and daytime temperatures range from 17 - 25 °C and 10 - 15 °C at night. The humidity averages around 70-90%. The Garden contains more than 21,000 living specimens belonging to 2,400 species, representing various species from mountainous areas of eastern Indonesia:

, Nusa Tenggara,

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

, Maluku and Papua. In addition its herbarium contains 10,000 preserved plant specimens ranging from algae to flowering plants.Koleksi Tumbuhan
, kebunrayabali.com Apart from plant collections that include orchids, ferns, cacti and carnivorous plants, there is also a traditional Balinese style guesthouse that functions as a guest house for visitors. One of the world's largest displays of begonias is also on display in the conservatory building.

History

The Bali Botanic Garden was first established on 15 July 1959 by Indonesia's first president,

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

. The Garden was first known as the Eka Karya Botanic Garden, where "Eka" means ''first'' while "Karya" means ''creation'' in the Balinese language, referring to the garden's status as the first Indonesian botanic garden to be established after independence. It was originally intended that The Bali Botanic Garden specialise in the cultivation of conifer plants (non-flowering seed plants, or Gymnosperms) and as a place for recreation. The garden accommodates scientific, cultural and recreational activities for visitors. Development of the garden stopped in 1965 due to political instability and was only reopened on 30 April 1975. When the garden became operational once again, its area was expanded to 129.2 hectares. It also added a new function for ex-situ conservation of plants from the mountainous region of eastern Indonesia. In 2001 the land area of the Garden was expanded to 157.5 hectares

Attractions

The garden is made up of both open areas for recreation and remnant mountain rainforest. Attractions include a large

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...

display (>300 species), carnivorous plants,

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

garden (87 species),

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

greenhouse (100 species), a

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

garden (188 species), traditional Balinese medicinal plants (300 species) and ceremonial plants (218 species),

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

garden (>20 species), a rose garden, aquatic garden, conservatory and one of the world's largest

begonia ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown i ...

collections (100 species). On a clear day, there are good views to Lake Bratan and one of the most photographed trees in the garden is a giant ficus or fig tree located on the upper slope of Tapak Hill. The garden is home to at least 79 species of birds, treeshrews are regularly seen and occasionally macaques can be spotted entering from the adjacent Batukaru Nature Reserve. Three Hindu temples are also accessed from within the Garden. As of 2011, the botanical garden is visited by 350,000 people, including 10,000 foreigners, yearly.

References

External links

{{commons
Official website
Botanical gardens in Indonesia Tourist attractions in Bali Buildings and structures in Bali Geography of Bali

History

Attractions

See also

References

External links