Indonesian, French Institutes Reveal Lengguru's Natural Resources

BOGOR, W Java, May 4 (Antara) - The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has collaborated with the French Institute of Recourse pour le Development (IDR) to explore Papua's natural resources through the Lengguru Expedition, which is a karst area in West Papua Province. "The Lengguru Expedition was held at the end of 2014 to identify our natural wealth," Head of LIPI's Center for Biological Research, Wicaksono, said here on Wednesday. According to him, Lengguru is just one example of many places in Indonesia whose biological richness has not been revealed because of limited human resources. Through the expedition, we will know with certainty the potential of natural wealth so that we can plan the development without destroying the nature, he added. "The obligation to recognize natural wealth has been contained in the Quran Surah Al Baqoroh chapter 31 to 33, where Allah created Adam to understand what has been taught about anything on earth," Wicaksono explained. Meanwhile, the Lengguru Expedition team leader, Professor Gono Semiadi, explained that the six-week exploration consisted of an international team of 12 disciplines and involved 74 researchers from Europe and Indonesia. "The expedition technically explores an area from minus 100 meters in the ocean to an altitude of 1.4 thousand meters above sea level in order to capture the geodynamic processes of tectonic evolution from the sea to the land," he stated, adding that the Lengguru Expedition has been called a mega scientific expedition ever conducted in Indonesia. The expedition has found new species of bat and herpet (reptiles), which are currently being identified with molecular methods. "There are also more than 50 marine species revealed," Gono said. French researcher Regis Hocde lauded Indonesia's extraordinary biodiversity. "I have been in Indonesia since 1996. I have done a lot of research in several countries, but I am most interested in Indonesia because I learn a lot in Indonesia, which has tremendous natural wealth from sea to land, similar to Lisbon in Portugal and Tehran in Iran," he explained. According to him, the most important point in the collaborative research is to share knowledge and experience. The expedition team had a France researcher who had a diving license of up to a depth of 200 meters, an expertise not many people have. The Lengguru Expedition also involved Sorong Polytechnic of Marine and Fisheries, West Papua. The results of the exploration are utilized by the local administration to develop their natural wealth, one of which is for ecotourism.