Wet Tropics: SE Asia
Recent Achievements
Collections (2001-2005)
Since the formation of the regional team in late 2002, some 3,570 collections, usually in sets of four, have been made as part of the surveys of under collected area (Papua, Indonesia and Vietnam) or as part of surveys of proposed protected areas (Imbak Valley, Sabah) or other projects (Thailand and Sabah).
An additional 19,500 specimens collected from SE Asia and the Pacific have been donated, during 2001-2005, for naming or incorporation by collaborators in several countries, especially those in Malaysia (KEP, SAN and SAR), Indonesia (BO and MAN), The Netherlands (L), Papua New Guinea (LAE), Thailand (BKF), and the USA (BRIT, F, GH, and MO). Approximately 5,500 determinations have been sent to collaborators since 2002.
Baseline Plant Diversity Research (2001-2005)
RBG Kew expertise has contributed significantly to Flora Malesiana (Palms of New Guinea) and Flora of Thailand (Grasses of Thailand) and is represented on the board of both Floras. As well as the regional Floras there are numerous local Flora projects, in particular the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak and the Field Guide to the Forest Trees of Brunei Darussalam, to which RBG Kew expertise is adding. Since 2001, RBG Kew has co-ordinated one major collaborative floristic inventory in the region, the Guide to the Alpine and Subalpine Flora of Mt Jaya, and has started two new floristic surveys: Assessing and conserving plant diversity in commercially managed tropical rainforests in Sabah and the Field Guide to the Forest Trees of Southern Thailand. These projects have contributed significantly to a better understanding of the region’s biology, and have generated excellent material (herbarium, DNA, photographic, etc.) which is used at RBG Kew for comparative plant biology research and is also distributed widely. An annual Tropical Plant Identification course has been initiated and developed in collaboration with other Herbarium sections. This has enabled 32 people to be trained in identification skills over the initial two year period.
Comparative Plant Biology (2001-2005)
RBG Kew’s work has been essential in publishing the Labiatae volume of the Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie in 2004 and for the Aquifoliaceae and Dipterocarpaceae part of the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak in 2002 and 2004. A monograph dealing with the common, but difficult genus Antidesma has been published in 2005. RBG Kew has supported Dr. J. Beaman’s work on the flora of Mt Kinabalu, of which the last volume was published in 2004. Several papers dealing with South East Asian flora have been published, in particular on Elaeocarpaceae, Orchids, Palms, Myrsinaceae and Labiatae and the wood anatomy of a new genus of Icacinaceae from Borneo.
Sustainable Utilisation of Plant Resources (2001-2005)
RBG Kew staff have played a crucial role in the understanding of rattan and bamboo diversity in the SE Asia region. These non-timber forest products were neglected in the past. RBG Kew has provided baseline data on taxonomy (for identification), ecology and natural history, essential for their sustainable utilisation from the wild (See interactive CD-ROM Rattans of Borneo, published 2005). Baseline data has recently been gathered on the uses of sedges in the SE Asia region and has been published as checklists. Research on rattan seed physiology at Wakehurst Place has provided baseline data for rattan seed storage, an essential component in the development of rattan plantations.
Conservation and Environmental Monitoring (2001-2005)
Approximately 45 species of various families have been assessed for conservation status using the criteria set by the IUCN and all these assessments have been published. RBG Kew staff with expertise in the SE Asia region are much in demand to provide taxonomic information essential to conservation (see project Thai Cyperaceae: distribution and conservation). A joint expedition in 2004, at the request of the local land owner in Imbak Valley, Sabah has resulted in the valley being preserved as a Forestry Conservation Area, within the Yayasan Sabah Foundation concession. In 2005 RBG Kew staff attended the Red Data list workshop in Kuala Lumpur, which dealt with selected species from Malaysia.