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 Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (1794-1872) |
Botanical gardens are places of great natural beauty meant to give people pleasure and calm their spirits. Still, these living visions of paradise are earthly creations that exist with us and the rest of the world's creatures and creations. Sometimes the mix of people, the outside world, and paradise can be explosive.
Copters in the Garden The Bogor Botanic Garden is Indonesia’s premier botanical garden. The Garden is located in Bogor, a city of 300,000 about 35 miles south of the capital, Jakarta. Its 217 acres are in the heart of the city and adjoin the Presidential Palace and deer park of some 600 white-spotted miniature deer. Bogor Botanic Garden opened in 1817, a few years before there were any botanical gardens in the United States. On the Garden’s grounds of expansive lawns, avenues, and streams, and lotus ponds are more than 15,000 species of trees and palms and 3,000 varieties of orchids. In early November of 2006, heavy equipment moved into Bogor Botanic Garden and began excavating part of the lawn parts of the lawn about 150 feet from the lily pond down hill from the Garden’s plant conservation center. Several days before the equipment arrived, Indonesian Air Force helicopters practiced landings and take-offs from the lawn. The reason? The reason? Two helipads were being built in the Botanic Garden to receive a copter that would carry President George Bush to the Garden for a brief meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace on November 20th. When finished, each helipad will be about 60 by 60 feet square and will made of reinforced concrete strong enough to support Marine One, the eight-ton helicopter that will carry President Bush and his party. When the director of the botanical garden first heard of the plan to build the helipads, he said no. Aside from not wanting to pave part of the historic garden, he said he feared that wind generated by the chopper would damage the garden's trees, plants, and orchids. However, once construction work began, the director’s only comment was that he "carried out the task." Another source when asked why the helipads could not be built in or close to the Presidential Palace said that the noise of the chopper would stress the nearby deer herd. So rather than upset the deer, the open space in the Garden’s conservation area would be used instead. Indonesian’s opposition party said that using the gardens as a landing place for helicopters would hurt the fragile environment, and that building a helipad in a botanic garden “means the (Indonesian) president is sacrificing environmental conservation for the sake of political interests. " Despite the protests, the helipads were built. A few days before President Bush was scheduled to arrive, the U.S. Navy tested the pads by landing some helicopters like those that would carry President Bush to the Botanic Garden. Ironically, when President Bush arrived in Bogor, his helicopter landed at a nearby sports stadium instead of the carefully prepared helipads in the Botanic Garden. Then from the stadium, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush traveled in an unmarked car to the Presidential Palace. Now that President Bush has gone, the Botanic Garden wants the two landing pads removed and is asking the government to pay for repairs to its water catchment area. "We don't need the helipads and our water plant collection in the area will need extra attention if we have to host every visiting head of state," a garden manager said. As for now though the helipads remain and are becoming a popular attraction for visitors to the Garden.  >>>>>For more stories
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