JP/17/BMBNG1

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.