Logging ‘pushes birds to brink of extinction’

The Jakarta Post 1 Jun 10;

Continued logging is pushing more bird species to the brink of extinction, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Tuesday.

Dewi M. Prawiradilaga said in Bogor that certain species were vulnerable to environmental hazards such as forest loss, poaching and air pollution.

The LIPI has noted that the great slaty woodpecker, which used to be found in droves in Java, Kalimantan and Sumatra, has entered the list of endangered species.

BirdLife and the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) has raised the bird’s status from “least concern” to “vulnerable”.

Dewi said that the woodpecker could still be sighted at Riau Islands. “Their existence indicates that the area still has reasonably good primary forests,” she said as quoted by Antara.

Outside Indonesia, the bird can be found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of China.

In Indonesia, she said, the population of birds continues to decline because they were traded in as pets. — JP