December 1, 2025
JAKARTA – Amid the doom and gloom characterizing recent global events, rare, positive, albeit pungent, news has bloomed from a forest in West Sumatra. A Rafflesia hasseltii, a parasitic flower from the same genus as the world-renowned Rafflesia arnoldii, was recently rediscovered in a community forest in Sijunjung regency.
The expedition involved local conservationists working alongside botanists from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
While relatively smaller than its cousin arnoldii, this rare sighting is astonishing in its own right. Like other variants of its kind, the parasitic Rafflesia hasseltii requires specific conditions from its host and environment to grow for months, only to bloom for less than a week. Consequently, catching a flower in full bloom is an extraordinary stroke of luck for researchers.
What makes this rediscovery even more compelling is the story of Septian Andriki, a conservationist and rafflesia enthusiast from Bengkulu, a region known as “The Land of Rafflesia.” His 13 years of arduous work identifying and mapping rafflesia across Sumatra finally paid off with the rare opportunity to witness this species firsthand.
Beyond its botanical beauty, the hasseltii sighting underlines the urgent need for forest conservation and reforestation to protect the at least 16 Rafflesia species discovered in Indonesia so far. As the country loses the forests that house the plant’s host vines, the Rafflesia is left with little space to grow.
The situation in the Sumpur Kudus community forest, where Septian found the hasseltii, is precarious, illegal gold mining and oil palm plantations are rampant in the area. Deforestation remains a prominent cause for concern.
Auriga Nusantara, for example, has recorded Indonesia’s highest deforestation rate since 2021. According to their latest tracking, the country lost 261,575 hectares (four times the size of Jakarta) in 2024, a 1.6 percent jump from the previous year. Auriga’s findings are particularly notable for identifying that this new wave of clearing is largely legal, overturning the historical trend of illegal forest destruction.
The rediscovery of Rafflesia should serve as a wake-up call for central and regional governments to intensify nature conservation efforts. One viable path is the one Septian has campaigned for: providing alternative livelihoods for those living near the forest.
Rather than felling trees for timber, communities could cultivate Rafflesia sites as ecotourism attractions. This would bring financial benefits while incentivizing forest conservation to ensure the flowers bloom for future visitors.
Unfortunately, the triumph of the hasseltii sighting was overshadowed by concerns of academic colonialism, sparked by Oxford University’s social media posts that failed to acknowledge the role of Septian and other Indonesian researchers in the discovery.
While Oxford has attempted to rectify the mistake by highlighting their collaboration with Indonesian, Filipino, and Malaysian researchers, the damage was done. The incident opened a Pandora’s box of historical trauma, reminding us of a time when Global South countries like Indonesia were treated merely as field laboratories rather than equal partners in knowledge production.
While we urge Oxford to dismantle this colonial perspective, the onus also falls on the government to better support its researchers on the global stage. Only by providing adequate research infrastructure and funding can our academics stand on equal footing with their Western counterparts, rather than be made to feel inferior. Indonesia has one of the world’s lowest research budgets, at 0.2 percent of GDP.
Domestically, academic decolonization begins with funding. We must empower researchers to produce knowledge suited to our context, reducing the need to rely on monetary support from Western institutions that often lack respect for Indonesian scholars.
The general public, and even seasoned scientists, will always be amazed by the sighting of a blooming Rafflesia. Yet, we must not forget that the plant, in its ephemeral nature is a reminder for domestic and international institutions to work harder.
We must protect not only the environment but also the researchers who work tirelessly behind the scenes, often without fanfare.