By Dudi Nandika, La Eddy, Dwi Agustina | Indonesian Project Leaders
Dear Supporters,
In the past few months we mainly worked in Buru Island, which is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands, located west to Ambon city, and consisting of 8,473 km² landmass and 427 km (265 miles) of coastlines. The topography of Buru is very hilly, with mountains up to 2,736 m (almost 9,000 feet) above the sea level. The habitat is mainly dominated by primary tropical rainforest and semi-evergreen lowland forest, but almost all lowland forests have been converted into cultivated land, mainly for producing Cajuput oil. Buru Island has 94 villages, many of them engaged in gold-mining, especially in the Botak mountain located in Wayapo.
As one of the largest islands in Wallacea, Buru Island also has lots of flora and fauna endemic to this region. Its island endemic fauna includes four species of mammals (from the 25 species found on this island) and 10 species of birds (178 in total). As for parrots, Buru has three endemic species that are only found on this island: the Blue-fronted Lorikeet (Charmosyna toxopei; Critically Endangered), Black-lored Parrot (Tanygnathus gramineus; Vulnerable), and the Buru Racquet-tail (Prioniturus mada; Least Concerned). There is very poor data available on these and other endemic birds to Buru Island, not much is known about their populations and even less about their behaviour.
Based only on our own observations in Buru Island this year, we encountered 51 bird species from 26 families, including four parrot species. Sadly, from the endemic parrots, we only found the Buru Racquet-tail, while the other species are very difficult to observe, because of their low population density and poor ecological data about their occurrence. Unfortunately, there is almost no data available from these wild parrot populations, even though it would be very important to study them and other endemic birds to Buru Island.
During our visit, we did not see any of the endemic bird species traded or kept as pets, although we did observe some other parrot species like the Red Lory (Eos bornea; Least Concerned) and the Coconut Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus; Least Concerned) as pets. In Buru Island, the land conversion into cultivation and the illegal gold-mining are probably the biggest threats to birds. In addition, the illegal gold-miners use mercury to extract the gold, polluting the environment, plants, animals, and even humans.
To prevent any parrot poaching in Buru Island, it is important to give conservation awareness talks and remind local communities about the negative effects of destructive activities and give examples of more sustainable ones. In an ongoing collaboration with the Pattimura University in Ambon, we will continue to raise awareness about these issues on the island and other locations in Indonesia.
Thank you as always for your continuous support and please feel free to share our work with others!
By Dudi Nandika and Dwi Agustina | Directors, Konservasi Kakatua Indonesia
By Dudi Nandika and Dwi Agustina | Directors, Konservasi Kakatua Indonesia
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