Indonesian helps orchids bloom again

YOGYAKARTA (Indonesia), Sept 18 (AFP): Orchids in hand and a bamboo ladder on his shoulder, farmer Musimin scans the forest at the foot of Indonesia's most active volcano to point out clusters of the indigenous flowers he has been salvaging for years.

The 56-year-old, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, is a self-taught conservationist with no formal background in botanics.

He has dedicated his career to cultivating plants he compares to gemstones, and has been on a one-man mission to save the exotic blooms unique to the land on the outskirts of Yogyakarta on Java island.

His work began after lava and ash ripped through the area from the powerful eruptions of Mount Merapi, the last major one in 2010.

"I remember orchids used to be abundant in the forest," he said.

"Locals from surrounding villages could take any orchids they wanted, and they sold the flowers at nearby tourist destinations."

But many were destroyed by the ash clouds that fell on the land below the volcano.

So he set about saving their wilting fortunes, over the years building two bamboo greenhouses where he could preserve the most special kinds of orchids.

The volcano killed about 60 people when it erupted in 1994, destroying thousands of hectares of forest.

Another eruption in 2010 left more than 300 dead, while also wreaking havoc on the land.