National Plant and Animal Love Day

Every November 5th, Indonesia holds Hari Cinta Puspa dan Satwa Nasional (HCPSN) or National Plant and Animal Love Day. This commemoration is an effort to change awareness and love of Indonesian people in raising awareness, protection, and preservation of national plants and animals so they will not become extinct. Some efforts can be made like keeping the ecosystem balanced so that humans and nature can coexist. Other ways are not make animals as a pet, hunting, and illegal trading.

The concept of HCPSN was initiated by President Soeharto (Second President) in 1993. He invited the Indonesian people in general to be able to preserve the environment, and also invited all levels of society to succeed in the movement of one million trees in each province.

Mascots

Until now government is still commemorating the event. Every year they choose two mascots (an animal and a plant) to become icons of HCPSN. In 2018, the theme was, “Let’s Save Plants and Indonesian Animals”, and the mascots are julang Sulawesi / knobbed hornbill (Rhyticeros cassidix) as animal mascot and Pohon Raja (Koompassia excels) as plant mascot.

Knobbed hornbills ( photo credit: Esli Kakauhe)

Julang Sulawesi is an endemic bird in Sulawesi. It have a large horn like a horn that lies on its beak. The horn have two colors, red for males and yellow for females. Today, the population size has not been quantified. But the population suspected to be declining rapidly caused by habitat destruction, hunting for food, gold mining, and fires.

Pohon Raja is know as tualang tree or tapang tree. This plant lives in low land till 3000 asl. Distributed in Kalimantan, Malaysia, Filipina, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. It can reach 85m high. Koompassia timber is currently gaining importance in trade because the shortage of heavy hardwood timber. In Kalimantan this tree is protected by local people, because its honey bee usually build a nest on the branches. This can be harvested in certain periods of time as medicine and income for local people. HELMI

Honey Bee nests in a pohon raja tree (photo credit: Shankar Raman)

pohon raja is the tallest tree in the area.

Sources/Additional Reading

Asian Regional Workshop (Conservation & Sustainable Management of Trees, Viet Nam, August 1996). (1998). Koompassia excelsa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1998: e.T33208A9765707. (retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T33208A9765707.en on 16 November 2018)

BirdLife International (2017). Rhyticeros cassidix (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22682525A117182222. (retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22682525A117182222.en. on 16 November 2018).

Kemp, A.C. & Boesman, P. (2018). Knobbed Hornbill (Rhyticeros cassidix). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/55919 on 16 November 2018).

Pratama A. N. (2018). Julang Sulawesi dan Pohon Raja, Maskot Hari Cinta Puspa dan Satwa Nasional 2018. Ed: Galih B. (retrieved from https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2018/11/05/18555771/julang-sulawesi-dan-pohon-raja-maskot-hari-cinta-puspa-dan-satwa-nasional. On 16 November 2018)

Pusat Konservasi Tumbuhan Kebun Raya. (2015). Koompassia excels (Becc) Taub Kebun Raya Bogor. (retrieved : http://krbogor.lipi.go.id/id/Koompassia-Excelsa-Becc–Taub-Kebun-Raya-Bogor.html on 16 November 2018)