LIPI uses auction proceedings to train future taxonomists

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) is utilizing its proceedings from a 2007 auction in the naming of 11 new marine species found in West Papua to train people to become taxonomists, who will hopefully help the country conserve its biodiversity.

Suharsono, the head of LIPI Oceanography Research Center, said that the center had received US$435,000 out of $2 million generated from the "Blue Auction".

Jatna Supriatna, the Vice President for Conservation International Indonesia which sponsored the auction in Monaco along with the Monaco-Asia Society, said that experts in taxonomy play a big role in the conservation of marine biodiversity.

"We cannot conserve what we can't identify...a taxonomist must be able to map areas resilient to climate change," he said.

Suharsono said that a taxonomy expert should not only be aware of species' names, but also their distribution, as well as their function in the food chain-knowledge that can aid the task of conservation.

"We are currently training five people, and hopefully three of them will become taxonomists," he said, adding that if the three succeed, they would add to the country's small population of around 20 taxonomy experts.

Indonesia's rich biodiversity calls for at least 100 taxonomists, but unfortunately not everyone wants to take up the job due to the long, arduous path to the profession, Suharsono said.

Source: thejakartapost.com

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