E

xperts have lamented the declining number of historical trees in Jakarta, many of which have been cut down to make way for development.

"Many historical trees have been cut down for buildings, roads and other infrastructure," an adviser of Jababeka Botanic Garden, Eka Budianta, said on Saturday.

He cited, as an example, a 300-year-old mango tree in East Jakarta that was removed to make space for a gas station.

"I believe it was the biggest mango tree in Jakarta. The old tree was cut down in an hour," he said during a seminar on natural heritage preservation by the Indonesian Heritage Center (BPPI).

Eka, who is also a BPPI member, said Jakarta had many historical trees, which were largely unknown to the public.

"In the city there are many old trees, many from colonial times and even earlier eras," he said.

Eka said such trees should be preserved because they were part of the city's history, but most residents did not even care about the existence of the trees.

He gave an example of a mahogany tree still standing near a parking space of the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center in Central Jakarta.

"I used to have conversations with the famous poet *the late* Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana under this mahogany tree. Another great poet *the late* Rendra and former city governor *the late* Ali Sadikin also used spend time under this tree," he said.

Under the tree, people can still find a rock inscribed with a poem written by prominent poet Taufiq Ismail.

"This tree is a witness to history, but its role is largely unknown," he said.

Nirwono Joga, the coordinator for GreenMap Jakarta, said residents in Jakarta were not aware that the trees complemented their areas' identities.

He said 80 percent of area names in the city were based on trees commonly found in those areas.

When his organization constructed a map of the city's green belts and conservation zones, some names hardly fit their areas.

"We only found one menteng tree left in Menteng, Central Jakarta, and only about five kemang trees left in the Kemang area in South Jakarta," said Nirwono.

Menteng and Kemang were named after the menteng and kemang trees, which used to be a common species in those areas.

Nirwono said that to stop the cutting down of old trees, people must be informed about the historical values of the trees.

Eka said historical trees should be documented.

"So that when the trees are gone the next generation will at least be able to inherit the knowledge of these trees," he said.