EBONY (Diospyros celebica Bakh) CONSERVATION

Abstract

Eboni (Diospyroscelebica Bakh.) is aspeciesof Diospyros.It isone of the endemic species that distributesonly in Wallacea geographicalregion. Ebony is lowland tree species found in both rain forest and monsoon forest in Sulawesi with various soils types including in Alluvial, Latosols, Mediterranean, and Litosols. In its natural habitat this species associateswitharen (Arengapinnata), rattan and other palm trees.Ebony iswell known as an outstanding tree speciesthat producesdurable, fancy wood withcolorful mixed red and brownish yellow. Because of its superior quality and luxury, ebony has been utilized for high class furniture and house interior. Before trade banning ebony was an important species exported mainly to Japan.High demand in both domestic and foreign markets has lead the overcutting of the ebony and put the extinction of this species. To date, only few ebony treesremaining in Sulawesi natural forest. This species is having struggle of natural regeneration. The data showed that the potential ebony trees in term of IVI decreased dramatically from 92% to 23% during 1970 to 1990. At this moment, it is hard to find the ebony trees in the conservation areas, only a few ebony at poles levels can be found in those areas. Therefore, it is important to conserve the ebony through in situ replanting programs.Before Forest Concession was handed over to private parties in the 70s, the potential of value approached 92% and after management until the 90s, IVI droppedto less than 23%.At present the existence of ebony trees in some ex-processing is only in the pillars form and in the conservation area they can still be found at poles with small diameter. In the future, ebony conservation could be implemented through.