Rafflesia: Conservation

Ten Things I Like About... Podcast

Summary: Is the stinkiest flower in the world in danger of disappearing forever? Join Kiersten as she discusses the conservation status of Rafflesia.

For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean

Show Notes:

“Most of the world’s largest flowers (genus Rafflesia) are now on the brink of extinction,” by Pastor Malabrigo Jr, Adriane B. Tobias, Joko Witono, Sofi Mursidawati, Agus Susatya, Mat Eunuch Siti-Munirah, Adhityo Wicaksono, Reza Raihandhany, Sarah Edwards, and Chris J. Thorogood. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10431

“Colossal Blossom: Pursuing the peculiar genetics of a parasitic plant,” by Jonathan Shaw. Harvard Magazine. https://www.harvardmagazine.com

Music written and performed by Katherine Camp

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

(Piano music stops)

Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating.

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

This is episode five of Unbelievable Unknown Plants and the final episode of rafflesia. The fifth thing I like about rafflesia is awareness that conservation discussions are bringing to this unknown plant.

Awareness is always important for any conservation efforts. That is one of the main reasons I decided to do this podcast. Getting the word out is the best weapon in a conservationist’s tool belt for saving an imperiled species.

When it comes to rafflesia the conservation efforts is what really brought this flower into the public eye. The first paper I found when diving into the research on this lifeform was titled “Most of the world’s largest flowers (genus Rafflesia) are now on the brink of extinction.”

Despite the recent increased interest in Rafflesia, the flower as a species is in danger of extinction. When we say that we mean all species of Rafflesia not just one species. What makes Rafflesia so vulnerable to disappearing? If you’ve listened to the last four episode you might be able to piece it together yourself.

In the second episode in this series, I talked about where Rafflesia can be found. All species of Rafflesia are restricted to one area of the world. They are found on several islands within the southeast Asian region but they are only found in the Philippines, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and Peninsular Malaysia. They rely on the tropical rainforest areas of these islands, which restricts them to only a portion of the terrain.

The number one reason Rafflesia are endangered is habitat loss. The above mentioned paper predicts that 67% of known habitats for Rafflesia are not in a protected area. This means that these habitats are at risk from human encroachment for lumber, clear cutting for farming, and greed, in general.

Rafflesia are found only on Tetrastigma vines, as far as we currently know, and these are only found in rainforests of southeast Asia. If these vines are removed, we lose all species of Rafflesia.

Those of you that are loyal listeners may be saying, what about protections that come with IUCN listings of endangered species? That is a good point, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature only lists one Rafflesia species as Critically Endangered. In 2008 Rafflesia magnifica was listed as Critically Endangered with a population trend of decreasing.

Rafflesia magnifica is found only on Mindanao Island, Philippines. The habitat in which this particular flower is found is being destroyed for road construction and conversion of the rainforest into banana plantations.

Why are more species not listed by the IUCN? Even though researchers that published this paper urge the world to take action to list all Rafflesia as endangered, there are steps that must be taken to warrant this listing. The biggest obstacle is the lack of data determining the population numbers of Rafflesia. These flowers are hard to find as they bloom at random times and have no indication that they are about to bloom. It’s hard for scientists to find them, much less make an accurate count of them. Without this hard evidence, a listing by IUCN is impossible.

So scientists are doing the next best thing. They are bringing awareness of this plant to the world. Many international news companies have picked up this story and run with it. Smaller news outlets are highlighting this flower, and people like me are getting the name out there as well. The best way to save any species is to get the public interested. The more that they know the better.

What can we do? The scientists involved in the research of Rafflesia populations have proposed a four-point action plan.

1. We need greater protection of Rafflesia habitats which targets the populations at most risk. Southeast Asia has the fastest disappearing forests on the planet, and as we know this is the only place where Rafflesia are found.

2. We need a better understanding of the full diversity of Rafflesia that exists which will better inform decision-making. A big problem with current protections is that the species diversity of Rafflesia are still under debate. How many species actually are there of Rafflesia? Sampling expeditions and genetic testing must be a priority.

3. We need to develop methods to successfully propagate Rafflesia in captivity.

4. If we introduce new ecotourism initiatives to engage local communities in Rafflesia conservation, it can go a long way. When given alternatives to destructive farming to feed your family, locals get on board with protecting local wildlife.

Several of the countries that host Rafflesia are doing their best to protect these flowers through ecotourism initiatives, local laws, and research in National Parks. For example, local villagers in West Sumatra are benefiting from Rafflesia ecotourism by building social media platforms that announce blooming events to attract paying tourists, bring awareness to the Rafflesia, and carefully manage the risks of trampling the flowers due to unsupervised visitors.

Indonesia celebrates Rafflesia as one of its national flowers.

In Sarawak, Malaysia all Rafflesia are listed by the local government as “Total Protected Plants” under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance of 1998.

Let’s go bak to number three of the four-point action plan. Many species of wildlife, flora or fauna, have benefitted from our efforts to breed or propagate individuals in captivity, so why not do this with Rafflesia? I love your thought process, listeners! The problem with this is that Rafflesia is a parasitic plant that relies on a host plant for survival, it’s not like other flowers where we just collect some seeds and put them in the ground. Rafflesia seeds have to get into the Tertrastigma vine to germinate and we still don’t know how that happens.

No having said this, Bogor Botanic Garden in West Java, Indonesia has had some success in propagating Rafflesia. They have successfully bloomed Rafflesia patma 16 times. There are several botanical gardens around the world that are in line to learn the secrets discovered at Bogor Botanic Garden, so they too can help conserve this amazing plant.

Even with these efforts, most Rafflesia species are still at great risk of disappearing forever, but hopefully with more exposure we can help Rafflesia have a bright future.

This is the final episode of Raflessia but only the fifth in the Unbelievable Unknown Plants series and my fifth favorite thing about Rafflesia is the conservation effort being made to secure their future.

If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change.

So join me next week for another episode about Unbelievable Unknown Plants.

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This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.