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Taman Mini urban forest for water birds
Bambang Parlupi Jakarta
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) is one of Jakarta's "urban forests", with its unique location for water birds.
The East Jakarta tourist destination offers its lakes and swamps as habitat for these water fowls, which feed on fish and other water biota.
Visitors can watch the birds singly or in flocks around the pools located in the middle and on the fringes of the Taman Mini recreation center, particularly as they feed in the morning and afternoon.
Taman Burung, the bird park in TMII, is reason behind the continued existence of dozens of water bird species in this urban forest. According to Widyabrata, the park's bird collection officer, in the early 1990s this conservation center released about 300 birds from its captive breeding program, including kowak malam abu (black-crowned night heron), kuntul kerbau (cattle egret), kuntul kecil (little egret/Egretta garzetta) and pecuk padi (little black cormorant/Phalacrocorax sulcirostris).
The birds returned to the wild were able to survive by nesting in tall trees and their populations just kept growing, with a steep increase noted during 1996 to 1998 by Widyabrata, who has worked at the park for 15 years.
"Their numbers once reached more than a thousand. Nearly all tall trees like casuarina and spruce were packed with their nests, covering the ground below with bird feathers, bits of food and droppings," he said.
Populations have been dropping over the last few years, however. Widyabrata said that only around 100 were left, with black-crowned night herons and cattle egrets registering a drastic decline in numbers.
"The birds continue to nest and reproduce on palm, casuarina, coconut and kepuh trees," said Widyabrata.
According to his observations, the drastic population decline is due first, to the loss of lakes, marshes irrigated paddy fields in Jakarta, especially around TMII, with these former wetlands being converted into settlements, roads and industrial areas.
"The birds may also be vanishing as a result of hunting activities for their meat, and also because they are considered pests," the biology graduate from Jakarta's National University maintained. The other cause is that the birds may be joining up with flocks of wild fowl, or migrating to coastal areas.
When swamps and paddy fields were still found around TMII, Taman Burung's water birds fed there. Now most of these birds have to fly to Cileungsi, Bogor, at about six in the morning to seek more food and return to their nests in the park.
Further to this, the park used to provide live fish even for wild birds, while now it can only afford to supply dead fish in reduced quantities. Food can positively affect bird reproduction," he added.
Protected areas On the other hand, TMII does serve to protect the continued existence of water birds. The nesting areas of certain species are hard to reach and well guarded, so that hunting and poaching of young birds almost never happens.
The resemblance of TMII to the birds' natural habitat makes them feel at home. "There are marshy areas, nesting woodlands, food supplies and living organisms in it," he said.
Citing another example, Widyabrata referred to the Ragunan Zoo as an urban forest turned tourist destination, where water birds are still present. It would be very appropriate for these areas to become protected zones for endangered wildlife species.
Several lakes located in the Scout Camping Grounds in Cibubur also attract lots of water fowl, which usually flock to the pools for fish rather than for breeding purposes.
Yet another water bird habitat is the conservation tourism zone in the Bogor Botanical Garden. A six-month research program conducted by Fransisca Noni Tirtaningtyas from the Bio Bird Club in 2004 observed 56 bird species in the area, at least five of which were water birds.
Among the species in Bogor that are protected by the government are the black-crowned night heron, kuntuk besar (great egret/Egretta alba) and cekakak Jawa (Javan kingfisher/Halcyon cyanoventris).
Black-crowned night herons have the largest population of around 300, which, according to Noni, a bird watcher and member of Sahabat Buring Indonesia (BirdLife Indonesia), fly in flocks to Jakarta Bay between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., returning to the botanical garden at 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. The unique presence of these herons has draws thousands of tourists to the area. (The writer is a member of BirdLife Indonesia)