JP/17/BMBNG1

Jakarta water birds in peril

Bambang Parlupi Jakarta

Although a metropolis, Jakarta has remained home to various species of exotic animals, notably water birds, which live near lakes, marshes, downstream areas and coasts.

Yet the wetland habitats have now become increasingly rare, with the city's growing population and fast development of settlements and industrialized areas.

Compounding this threat to hundreds of water bird species is a government-approved coastal reclamation project along the northern waterfront of Java, where thousands of hectares of mangrove areas have vanished, depriving water birds of their natural dwelling places.

Firman Aldy, a wildlife observer from Trackline Indonesia, said the population of water birds around the Jakarta Bay and along Java's northern coasts had fallen drastically over the past ten years.

"During 1992 to 1993 I could still find some 150 species of birds in the Jakarta Bay from Muara Angke to Kamal," he noted. Dozens of those species have now disappeared.

The loss of mangroves along the bay has further reduced the extent of land where thousands of water birds feed and reproduce, forcing them to seek safer areas to lay eggs. Some birds continue to survive amid changing habitats.

"The Rambut Island sanctuary in the Seribu Island Group is today the safest breeding place for water birds around Jakarta. But they feed in the lower reaches like Muara Angke or in Muara Gembong, Bekasi," he said.

"Five years ago I also observed birds on the marshy land near the former Kemayoran Airport, Central Jakarta, such as kuntul (egrets), pecuk (cormorants) and raja udang (kingfishers)," said the director of the Institute for Biodiversity Research and Endangered Species Conservation. Nowadays, they are rarely seen.

According to Firman Aldy, who lectures in the department of biogeography, School of Biology, Assafiiyah Islamic University, Bekasi, several other wetlands in Jakarta are still frequented by certain water bird species looking for food.

Among these are the marshes around Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, East Jakarta, and on the fringes of Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

The greatest threats to the existence of water birds are human wastes and heavy metal poisoning, as wetlands birds are highly dependent on food like fish, crabs and mollusks. "All rivers in Jakarta are contaminated and empty into Jakarta Bay. The birds feed on fish in the heavy-metal polluted waters, causing poisoning that may lead to serious disease and even death," he warned.

With mangroves, however, the hazardous waste carried by rivers can be neutralized by their roots. "Because the northern coast was reclaimed when the rivers and swamps in Jakarta were already polluted, this triggered a gradual disappearance of water birds," he added.

Bekasi's northern coast One of waterfront area that has retained diverse water bird populations is the northern coast of Bekasi, West Java. A survey by the Leucopsar Bird Watchers Group of Assafiiyah University's Rafflesia Biology Students Association (Himabio), Bekasi, identified 151 species in the period from September 2002 to May 2003, of which 48 were water birds.

Two of the bird species are categorized as endangered, namely bangau bluwok (milky stork/Mycteria cinerea) and kuntul kerbau (cattle egret/Bulbucus ibis). In the same period, the Leucopsar group also gathered data on 11,079 water birds sighted in the survey.

The fish-eating birds' habitats on the coast are located in Babelan and Muara Gembong districts, covering the areas of Pondok Dua and Muara Sembilangan. Thousands of water birds can also be seen in the coastal areas of Tanjung Air, Muara Blacan and Asdam, Taruna Jaya district.

"They are generally found in mangrove forests along coastal and downstream river zones, continuing to survive in spite of the disruption caused by fish and shrimp ponds built by local people," said Asep Kuswara, chairman of Himabio-Rafflesia.

Some locals, he says, hunt the birds by shooting them with air rifles or netting them alive. Wild birds are considered pests because they feed around fish breeding areas.

"The dead birds are sold for Rp 2,000 to Rp 3,000," added Asep. Birds caught in northern Bekasi for sale purposes are usually ayam-ayaman (watercocks) and kuntul (egrets). Water bird hunting occurs during the migration season, with the northern coast of Bekasi and Jakarta Bay being transit points for thousands of migratory birds.

Firman has proposed that such bird zones be protected from the various threats posed by nature and humans, as water birds constitute part of an ecosystem's equilibrium. "Birds can also serve as natural indicators owing to their sensitivity to environmental change," he pointed out.

In an environmentally sound and balanced area, based on Firman's experience, over a hundred bird species should be found, whereas a polluted area will be abandoned. A place with lots of water birds indicates the presence of high quantity water biota. Thus the government and society in general must make serious attempts to protect the birds and their habitats.