{"id":105403,"date":"2026-03-07T10:45:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T03:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ekuatorial.com\/?p=105403"},"modified":"2026-03-07T10:56:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T03:56:48","slug":"traditional-dish-adds-to-threats-facing-indonesias-carnivorous-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ekuatorial.com\/en\/2026\/03\/traditional-dish-adds-to-threats-facing-indonesias-carnivorous-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"Traditional Dish Adds To Threats Facing Indonesia\u2019s Carnivorous Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Daswarsya is in the rainforest hunting carnivores, but not dangerous ones. The 60-year-old has brought me to the forest at the edge of Lake Lingkat, near Lempur village in Jambi Province, Sumatra. In the shade, he bends to scan the area for pitcher plants, known in Indonesia as kantong semar.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These carnivorous plants are still abundant today. Some grow in clusters on the forest floor. Others hang from tree branches. One by one, Daswarsya picks around 30 of the plants and places them in a cloth bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let’s just take a little for making lemang<\/em>,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daswarsya is referring to a traditional food made from glutinous rice, coconut milk and salt. Usually, it is cooked in bamboo. But here in Kerinci Regency of Jambi province, people instead place the ingredients in pitcher plants, which they then steam, giving the lemang<\/em> a distinctive aroma and flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daswarsya is concerned that the old tradition has turned into a modern threat for the pitcher plants, alongside habitat loss, illegal harvesting for the ornamental plants trade, and climate change. And while Indonesia\u2019s legal framework offers protection to some of the country\u2019s pitcher plants, enforcement is a challenge \u2014 and the plant used to make lemang<\/em> is not among those covered by current regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lemang Nepenthes ready to be served. (Ekuatorial\/Gresi Plasmanto)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sumatra: Pitcher plant paradise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitcher plants (Nepenthes<\/em> species) grow as climbers on trees and other plants. They have modified leaves that form cup-like or tubular structures filled with fluid \u2014 locals call them monkey pots. Nectar produced around the rim of the cup lures insects and other small animals, which slip into the cup and drown. The plant then digests them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indonesia is the global center of diversity for these plants, with at least 68 of the 170 species described worldwide. According to data from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), most of these carnivorous plants are found in Sumatra (34 species), with smaller numbers in Kalimantan (22 species), Sulawesi (11 species), Papua (11 species), Maluku (3 species), and Java (3 species).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The species that people in Kerinci Regency cook lemang<\/em> in is Nepenthes<\/em> ampurallia. <\/em>Its pitchers resemble round jars that are 5-10 centimetres tall, and either light green or green with red spots. This species grows in shady places, thriving under the protective cover of rainforest trees. The Lempur forest where Daswarsya took me is an ideal place to find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back at his house, three kilometres away, Daswarsya prepared the plants then stuffed the lemang<\/em> ingredients into them ahead of cooking. Village elders told him that the practice of making lemang<\/em> in pitcher plants began in the 17th century, and has been passed down from generation to generation ever since. After about an hour of cooking, Daswarsya brings a tray of cooked lemang<\/em> kantong semar <\/em>and serves it with sweet srikaya<\/em> sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nepenthes ampuralia, or pitcher plant, grows in the Lempur forest in Kerinci Regency, Jambi. This carnivorous plant is still used to wrap the traditional food lemang, known as the pitcher plant. (Ekuatorial\/Gresi Plasmanto)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rising demand for pitcher plant lemang<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In the past, this dish could only be enjoyed during certain events, such as traditional ceremonies or Eid al-Fitr,” said Daswarsya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today he fears that the pitcher plants are being overharvested to meet growing demand for lemang kantong semar<\/em> from tourists. Sungaipenuh City is only37 kilometres away and its residents increasingly visit Lempur and the lake. Some home-based cake sellers in Kerinci Regency advertise this food through social media networks. To meet demand, local people take pitcher plants directly from the forest \u2014 there is no cultivation of these plants, or conservation of the wild population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daswarsya laments that pitcher plants are now used without traditional ceremonies, and that people are unaware that the plants are rare. He says a lack of supervision and awareness campaigns by the government has encouraged the harvesting of Nepenthes<\/em> ampurallia<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry issued a regulation that added 59 species of pitcher plants to the country\u2019s list of protected species. They include six species classified as \u2018critically endangered\u2019 in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, and several others classified as \u2018endangered\u2019. Nepenthes ampurallia <\/em>is not one of the protected species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If it is not regulated, it could be depleted, and we are afraid it will become extinct,\u201d says Daswarsya, who is also the chairman of the village\u2019s Forest and Environment Care Forum. \u201cTherefore, the harvesting of pitcher plants must be limited. I hope that the residents will only harvest it for traditional ceremonies and special occasions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n