Conservation Dilemmas Confronting The Population Of Pelajau (Pentaspadon Annamense) Trees On Laut Island, South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

Pelajau, Pentaspadon annamense (Evrard and Tardieu) P.H. Hô. is an endangered tree species of the Malesian region with fruits similar in eating quality to the walnut. The fruit has potential as a food ingredient in lieu of walnut. Laut Island in South Kalimantan Province, of Indonesia is one of its habitats but forests there are being converted to tree plantations and to settlements, thus the pelajau populations are being reduced. The purpose of this study was to observe the conditions of these populations; to grow out seeds of the tree at Banua Botanical Garden in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan; and to determine the overall conservation issues for the species in this location. The method used was exploratory, with counts made in 20 x 20 m quadrats in populations separated by a distance of 100 m to 500 m. The treatment of seedling media (soil, husks, compost, sand and mixture) by Complete Random Design (CRD) used for analysing of germination parameters. The number of seedlings in each population varied from 10 to 202 seedlings. Seed germination experiment results showed that the average germination rate was 23.8% (low germination). Soil is the best seedling media, because of its superior in response to germination (28.6%) and rate germination (day 16th).