Raptor conservation in Jakarta

Five bald eagles finally enjoy vast skies
Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post 6 Jan 09;

Saving the capital's symbol -- the bald eagle -- from extinction is everybody's business.

Bringing the raptors back into the wild is not be enough if residents fail to preserve their natural habitat, said a conservationist from the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), Femke den Haas.

In 2006, she and her colleagues started intensifying education to save the bald eagle by visiting schools and inviting them to see the foundation's conservation activities in Kotok islet, Thousand Islands regency.

"School children are the key because they are the ones voicing our campaigns to adults around them," den Haas told The Jakarta Post recently.

So far, JAAN had been campaigning among school children of Kelapa, Harapan, Pramuka and Panggang islets.

They have begun seeing change as more and more residents take part in the monitoring of the eagles' condition and whereabouts.

"Those who found wounded eagles would call us or deliver the birds to our place, without asking for money in return, while there was also a resident asking us to free an eagle being kept as a pet by a neighbor," said den Haas, who previously worked for the Tegal Alur Animal Rescue Center in West Jakarta.

There are also murals at public places initiated by locals campaigning for eagle conservation.

"The sense of belonging is spreading ... people are starting to feel proud about their eagles. In the long term, they can benefit from becoming ecotourism guides, for example," she said.

Jatini, 37, a shop owner in Pramuka islet, said tourists came to Thousand Islands to see the eagles.

"That is a good thing for us here, in terms of the local economy."

Pramuka islet was previously known as Elang islet (Raptor), because of the many eagles found on the island. Before it was renamed, the eagle population was declining due to illegal trade and habitat destruction.

The bald eagle, or Brahminy Kites (Haliastur Indus), which has been a symbol of Jakarta since 1995, was declared a protected species by a 1990 law on conservation of natural resources and ecosystems and the 1999 law on flora and fauna preservation.

Article 21 of the 1990 law punishes those who capture, kill, own, keep, transport and trade protected animal species with a maximum of five years' imprisonment and Rp 100 million fine.

"If you see an eagle for sale, call us and we will try to get it confiscated. But never ever give money ... because in a way you are supporting the illegal trade by buying it," den Haas said.

In 2004, den Haas said, there were only three bald eagles found throughout the entire Thousand Islands. Today, JAAN has so far released 46 Brahminy Kites and three White-Belied Sea Eagles, another kind of endangered bird, back into the protected areas of the Thousand Islands National Park.

In December 2008, JAAN released five more eagles into the wild funded by the Care for Wild organization, while 27 more are still waiting for release at Pulau Kotok's rescue center. Most of the birds were confiscated from the animal markets in Pramuka and Jatinegara, both in East Jakarta, and from owners keeping them as pets.

The long-tailed monkey (Macaca Fascicularis), turtles and dolphins also live around Thousand Islands. The campaign to save the bald eagle stretches to activities to preserve coral reefs, mangroves and the whole ecosystem.

As more trash from Jakarta washes up on the shores of the island, especially during the wet season and high tide, JAAN advised the local administration to educate residents to compost and recycle garbage.

However, a resident of Pulau Pramuka, who works as a trash picker, Suwarni, said the administration's composting program stopped a few months ago "probably because there were not enough funds allocated".

Suwarni, who only collected recyclable trash from households in Pramuka islet to be sold to a recycling factory in Tangerang, said that during the west wind season and high tide, about one of garbage could wash up on shore.

"The trash is usually picked by sanitation agency officers. But they do not work on a daily basis," he said.

Den Haas said a similar thing happened at Kotok and other islets throughout Thousand Islands.

"There is no end to it (the accumulation of trash). The administration and government should have an action plan to handle this because it affects tourism and the fishing industry.

"Now is not too late, but it will be too late if we have to wait another 10 years," said den Haas, whose foundation last year gathered residents from Kotok, Tidung, Kelapa, Harapan, Pramuka and Panggang islets to start the composting program.