Bali to be Home to Biodiversity Center

(8/21/2010)

The Independent (U.K) reports that Indonesia and the United States will cooperate in the establishment of a regional biodiversity center in Bali dedicated to studying the wide variety of flora and fauna found in the Indonesian archipelago.

Funded by USAID with academic collaboration between three Indonesian universities and Old Dominion University in Virginia and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the center will be known as The Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC).

Paul Barber of UCLA, who is designated as the chief researcher of the IBRC, said the new center "will significantly enhance Indonesia's capacity to study its own biodiversity."

I Gusti Ngurah Mahardika of Bali's Udayana University praised the planned center as a focal point for biodiversity research, training and species collection. Explained Mahardika: "IBRC is the magnet that will attract Indonesian and international scientists to carry out researches focusing on biodiversity," Mahardika said."These researchers will employ the latest technology and methods in molecular genetics to gain understanding on the intricate nature and formation of Indonesia's biodiversity."

Expected to house 60 Indonesian and U.S. scientist, the IBRC will be located at the Udayana University's Biomedic Lab in Bali.