Abdul Khalik

Abdul Khalik
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Dozens of Japanese expatriates and foreign bird lovers flocked to
Bukit Gantole in Puncak, Bogor, West Java, on Sunday to watch the
arrival of thousands of the Oriental Honey-Buzzard, Chinese
Goshawks and the Japanese sparrow hawks from the Northern
Hemisphere.

"We enjoy watching them arriving, making nests and breeding.
The view is very beautiful as we can walk down the mountain to
search for these raptors," Yasuo Nakajima, one of 60 Japanese who
joined a visit organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture
on Sunday.

Nakajima, who works for a printing company in Jakarta, told
The Jakarta Post that many Japanese in his group had already
decided to return to the area next year to watch the birds.

"This is the second time the event was held. Last year, around
40 Japanese came here to watch the birds, many of them coming
from Japan directly," he said.

Some bird lovers from China and India also joined Sunday's
visit to Puncak, which is known as a weekend hideout for Jakarta
residents.

After watching the birds, the tourists planted trees in the
location and went to several villages to give money to charities.
Others helped build several public toilets for local villagers.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Tourism and
Culture, the Raptor Conservation Society (RCS), the Asian Raptor
and Research and Conservation Networking (ARRCN), the Jakarta
Bird-Watchers Community and National Geographic Indonesia.

Every year, several areas in Indonesia are destinations for
dozens of species of birds, including that migrate from Northern
to Southern Hemisphere. Beside Puncak, the areas include Merak in
Banten, Mount Dieng in East Java and the Sangir Talaud islands in
North Sulawesi.

The birds start to arrive in Indonesia at the end of September
and leave the country by the end of November.

Director general for tourism and marketing at the Ministry of
Tourism and Culture Thamrin B. Bachri said that the event was
held to add variety to tourism options in Indonesia and to show
the international community that Indonesia has a lot to offer.

"The event will become a pilot project for many other nature-
based specific tourist industries. We hope that travel agencies
can become more creative in designing tourism packages and hence
create a larger market," he told the Post.

Thamrin said that Indonesia had many other destinations in
Greater Jakarta and throughout the country that could attract
foreigners.

He acknowledged, however, that the ministry lacked data about
places that could become nature-based tourist sites.

For the purpose of identification, the Asian Raptor Migration
Survey Project, which is supported by Japanese government, helps
gather data on bird migrations in the country.