Balikpapan – To commemorate the International Day for Biological Diversity, PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam (PHM), PT Pertamina Hulu Kalimantan Timur (PHKT), and PT Pertamina Hulu Sanga Sanga (PHSS); part of PT Pertamina Hulu Indonesia (PHI) – Kalimantan Regional 3; signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Balikpapan City Government on Orchidarium Thematic Park Management and Biodiversity Protection in the Balikpapan Botanical Garden. Zona 8 GM Raam Krisna, Zona 9 GM Andre Wijanarko and Zona 10 Djudjuwanto, along with Balikpapan Mayor H. Rahmad Mas’ud, SE, ME signed the MoU on 23 May 2022.

Rahmad Mas’ud said during the signing that Pertamina played an important role in the city’s development. He also hoped that the Company could continue its partnership with the government in the environmental sector as well as other sectors. “This mutual agreement acts as a basis for the cooperation implementation agreement for all parties in an effort to manage the Orchidarium Thematic Park and biodiversity protection in the Balikpapan Botanical Garden to make Balikpapan as a livable and environmentally friendly city,” Rahmat Mas’ud said.

On a separate occasion, PT Pertamina Hulu Indonesia (PHI) Relations Senior Manager Farah Dewi explained that the MoU was an implementation of collaboration and synergy between the Company and its stakeholders. “The Orchidarium Thematic Park conservation effort is part of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) implementation to benefit the Balikpapan and East Kalimantan people. The program is aimed to support the Balikpapan Botanical Garden as a conservation, research, education, and tourism platform that are inline with the Company’s biodiversity protection program,” Dewi said.

The Orchidarium Thematic Park has several types of orchid collections from the Balikpapan Botanical Garden ex-situ area. The orchids are planted according to theme and kinship pattern, which consists of orchid families endemic to the Kalimantan natural forest area. The orchids are deemed protected according to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s Ministerial Regulation No. 106/2018 and/or has a critical status/endangered based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List).

The thematic park has  an area of 1.5 hectares with 600 meters of trekking path, where it will be planted with Kalimantan orchids on its sides. The orchids will be planted using epiphyte pattern to mimic the pattern in their natural habitat. The garden is expected to enrich Kalimantan’s orchid collection in the Balikpapan Botanical Garden and make Balikpapan a livable and environmentally friendly city.

PT Pertamina Hulu Indonesia (PHI) is part of Pertamina’s Upstream Subholding that manages upstream oil and gas operations and business according to the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principles in Kalimantan Regional 3. To achieve its vision to be a world-class oil and gas company, PHI conducts various innovation and technological application to achieve #KalimantanEnergyforIndonesia. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, PHI carries out innovative Corporate Social Responsibility programs in the economy, education, healthcare, environment, infrastructure and disaster response sectors to support a sustainable community empowerment and achieve the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). PHI is headquartered in Jakarta. Further information about PHI is available on https://phi.pertamina.com.