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Eucalyptus Deglupta in the Table Mountain of Manokwari Papua
Eucalyptus deglupta is a species of tree whose bark has colors that are similar to army uniform. This beautiful tree makes it attractive to be grown as decorative plant at the front yard of houses. The seeds are traded both on the internet and in the plant market. Adult eucalyptus tree can have trunk diameter of more than 1 meter. When I was a little child, I and my friends like to go to the Table Mountain. There we saw birds, and various tropical plants. There was a tree which I considered very unique. Its bark color is similar to army uniform. Years later when I am an adult now, I still like to travel around the tropical rainforest of the Table Mountain guiding foreign tourists. Again this army uniform like tree attracts the attention of the tourists. Every time I and my friend bring tourists to the tree they will ask us to take some photographs of them standing by the tree. I had not known the exact name of the tree until yesterday when I found it on the internet. Its name is Eucalyptus Deglupta. This tree species, according to the explanation of my friend - Nico, absorbs a lot of water. The surrounding land area will become dry if there are eucalyptus trees growing. Eucalyptus is very fibrous. Its wood is good for furniture, and planks or pillars of houses. On January 2010, I and Paul brought three Russian tourists to the Table Mountain. I was drizzling at that time but we really enjoyed the trip to the tropical rainforest of Papua.
I don't know why the Dutch plant eucalyptus in the Table Mountain. Perhaps they want the seeds of the trees for making large plantation for making pulp that is essential in paper production. In addition, the planting of the eucalyptus in the swampy area, the is closed to human settlements, can dry the land and prevent the malaria mosquitoes from living in the area. The information which says that eucalyptus wood can be used for marine purposes still needs further research and experiments. Woods for boats hull have to be more resistant against marine borers.
Well, if I guide tourists around the forest of the Table Mountain Manokwari again, I will bring them to the eucalyptus tree. They will be happy to take some photos of it and them standing by the "army tree."
There are a lot of species of trees, insects, and birds in the rainforest of Papua island. They form an integral ecosystem that is vital to the survivability of the forest itself. Tropical rainforest absorbs CO2 gases that we emit every day through our cars, cooking and heating or cooling equipment at our houses. Although rainforest plays a very important role in reducing or countering global warming, modern human society seem to ignore it. Everywhere around the world, the size of rainforests is shrinking. In Brazil, forest are massively cleared to make way for sugar cane and soybean plantations that are used to produce "renewable energy" fuel such as alcohol and bio-fuel or bio-diesel. In Indonesia and Malaysia, the rainforest along the equatorial region are being exploited for their timber and to make way for palm oil (sawit) plantation whose CPO products are highly needed by consumer goods industries around the world.
It is definitely wrong to replace the pristine rainforest with mono-culture palm oil or sugar cane plantation using bio-fuel and renewable energy as the reason to justify the practices. The destruction of the rainforest will bring more disastrous effect to the environment than the good one. To produce or generate renewable energy, big businesses should consider of replanting desserts in Africa or Asia which used to be covered with forest or construct wind turbines along the coastal or hilly areas, and solar photovoltaic panels on the rooftop of residential houses.
Eco-tourism scheme that I am now promoting through the internet should be seen as a safe and responsible alternative for generating income for the indigenous people living in or near the rainforest so that they will not easily give up their forests to businesses who are interested in exploiting the rainforest irresponsibly.
If you are interested in visiting Manokwari to enjoy the natural beauty of Papua's scenery, watch the birds of paradise or study the herbal medicine and interact with the indigenous people, you can contact me - Charles Roring - via email: peace4wp@gmail.com
Indonesian version of the article: Eucalyptus Deglupta
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