Indonesia Needs Numerous Researchers: LIPI

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia needs a large number of researchers on taxonomy to identify different types of biodiversity, which reaches some three million species, according to chief Indonesian scientist Iskandar Zulkarnaen.

"We lack researchers on taxonomy. We hope we could recruit more. But the problem now is that the government has been imposing a moratorium (on civil servant recruitment) since last year and this year, while many of our experts have now reached the retirement age," Head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Professor Iskandar stated during a function  here on Thursday.

He explained that at least one thousand researchers are ideally needed for a population of one million. However, the number of researchers in Indonesia is still far below the required number, reaching only 40 per million people. Indonesia now has a population of about 250 million people.  

"In Europe, the number of researchers accounts for two thousand per one million population, South Korea about four thousand, and Israel 6.5 thousand," he remarked.

He emphasized that there is a huge demand for taxonomy researchers, particularly those involved in the research on amoeba specimens. According to the LIPI chief, his institute did not have a taxonomy researcher.

The LIPI data reveals that there are some one million plant species in Indonesia and have been collected by Herbarium Bogoriense since 1841.

In the meantime, the Zoologicum Bogoriense Museum houses a scientific collection of animal specimens reaching three million animal species, which have been collected since 1819.

LIPI has acknowledged that it had yet to complete the data on the identification of species found in 74 varied ecosystems in Indonesia. So far, the state could have only identified 30 percent of its fauna species and 50 percent of its flora.

Therefore, research to identify Indonesia's abundant biodiversity is important and needs funding support and qualified human resources. (WDY)