Indonesian and European researchers investigate the diversity of fauna flora in the Wallacea region
The Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, IPB University held ForeWall and Range Shifter Workshops with two major themes, namely Forecasting Biodiversity Losses in Wallace from Ecological and Evolutionary Processes and Spatial Eco-Evolutionary Modeling of Species Responses to Environmental Responses. Workshop led by Dr. Berry Juliandi is a researcher from Indonesia and Prof. Justin Travis from England was held at IPB International Convention Center, Bogor, Wednesday (10/7).
Researcher at the Biology Department at IPB University, Dr. Berry Juliandi said that this workshop was part of a joint research program between Indonesia and England. Not only England there are also German and Dutch. These European researchers are very interested in the diversity of flora and fauna in the Wallacea region. The Wallacea region includes the Malay Archipelago, which is between the island of Kalimantan, Sulawesi Island and also including the islands of Bali, Maluku, Sumbawa, Lombok and Timor.
Collaboration This research was conducted between IPB University and was supported by the Ministry of Research and High Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), University of Indonesia (UI) with three universities in the UK namely University of Aberdeen, University of Nottingham, Bangor University, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Science of The Environment, and Newton Fund.
Furthermore Dr. Berry said that the interest of British researchers in conducting research collaborations with Indonesia was motivated by history, with many popular British researchers providing information on the area of flora and fauna into Wallacea. "One of them is a biologist from the United Kingdom, Alfred Russel Wallace. He is best known for his understanding of the theory of evolution by natural selection, his paper on the subject was published together with some of Charles Darwin's writings," said Dr. Berry.
The Wallacea region, including Sulawesi, is a megabiodiversity and has a unique endemic. So that research collaboration in this workshop is in an effort to explore research potential. Dig deeper into what has not been explored, because they get a lot of literature related to flora and fauna in Wallacea in England. Currently they are very interested in working with Indonesian researchers to jointly conduct biodiversity research in the Wallacea region.
"I hope that through this joint research, the biodiversity potential of Indonesian flora and fauna will be explored so that this potential can be utilized, not lost or damaged," Dr.Berry said.
Head of the Department of Biology, IPB University, Dr. Ir. Miftahudin, M.Si very welcomed this collaboration. Dr. Miftah said that IPB University is one of the best universities in Indonesia. "Indonesia is an archipelago that has a lot of biodiversity. Through this workshop, it is expected that there will be a discussion on how the strategies related to conservation efforts and documentation of Indonesia's biodiversity will have a major impact on Indonesia and the world. The impact of this collaboration for the Biology Department will be very good, young lecturers, researchers and students can be involved in this research so that they can jointly carry out research and produce papers at the international level," he added.
Furthermore Dr. Miftah said that regarding research publications, the Biology Department of IPB University was one of the highest at IPB University, as well as in terms of international cooperation. There are around 30 international collaborations that have been carried out by the biology department of IPB. (RYS)
