Nusa Penida 2010 Trim 3

NUSA PENIDA, BALI
3rd Quarter Report – Year 2010
July – August – September
Wildlife Protection, Habitat Restoration & Community Wellbeing

1.Christmas & New Year appeal to support FNPF’s projects

Please support us by inviting friends and colleagues to donate to FNPF

2.Quarterly Highlights

  • Director of the World Parrot Trust attends FNPF’s release of 2 Mitchell’s Lorikeet’s onto Nusa Penida
  • A new FNPF supporter is rearing 100 Java Sparrows in Ubud, Bali, for rehabilitation and release by FNPF onto Nusa Penida in early 2011
  • FNPF’s 2010 inter-school annual “Conservation Competition” on Nusa Penida is now a major part of the island’s Independence Day celebrations
  • A scientific researcher from USA spends 2 months on Nusa Penida and publishes a report that is highly favourable of FNPF’s work and methodology

3.Regular quarterly updates

  • Wildlife Protection
  • Habitat Restoration
  • Community Wellbeing

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR APPEAL FOR SUPPORT

Please support us by inviting friends and colleagues to donate to FNPF. You can donate to FNPF directly via our web site here.

Or you can donate via our Australian partner organisation, Humane Society International on their web site here. Please specify “YES” that you are contributing to a specific campaign, and enter “Support for FNPF” as the name of the campaign.

  • $20 will purchase a bag of seeds for our nursery to grow thousands of saplings
  • $25 will fund a child to attend highschool for 1 month
  • $50 will plant 10 saplings and receive 3 years post planting maintenance (water, mulch, protection from fires)
  • $120 will employ 1 local person to work in the nursery or bird centre for 1 month

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS

Director of the World Parrot Trust attends FNPF’s release of 2 Mitchell’s Lorikeet’s onto Nusa Penida

Mr. Jamie Gilardi, Director of the World Parrot Trust, travelled to Bali to attend the release of 2 Mitchell’s Lorikeet’s (Tricoglosus haematodus mitchellii) onto Nusa Penida. The release on 14th July 2010 was done with a traditional Balinese ceremony and temple priest from Dalem Bungkut Temple, about 300m from the FNPF’s Centre. Jamie Gilardi also captured the event on film.

Drh Bayu Wirayudha, founder FNPF, and priest at Dalem Bungkut Temple on Nusa Penida releasing two Mitchell’s Lorikeets in attendance by Jamie Gilardi, Director of the World Parrot Trust.

The 2 birds were originally acquired by FNPF in 2010 and had been rehabilitated by FNPF at the centre for 8 months. Mitchell’s Lorikeets were once common on Bali and Lombok but were considered extinct on Bali in 1984, with just a few remaining in the mountains of Rinjani on Lombok. FNPF is hoping to create a wild population of 50 Mitchell’s Lorikeets on Nusa Penida within 5 years. Birds can then be relocated to areas of Bali and Lombok, once the threat from poachers has been overcome.

The birds were released using what is termed as a “soft release” method. This means that we continue to leave food for the birds for the first week or so. We take this approach to increase the chance of bird survival because it has been so difficult to acquire this species of bird. The rehabilitation process over the previous 8 months trained the birds to identify food in the wild. FNPF’s staff will monitor the birds daily.

Through the rest of July, the birds were observed eating the fruit and flower of the Jamaican Cherry tree (Muntingea carabula) and the flower of the Kassuf tree (Casea siamea). They spent most nights within the grounds of the FNPF centre and slept in a Jamaican Cherry tree. The birds rarely flew more than 300m from the centre. By mid August, the birds stopped coming to take food that we placed on the roof of their cage in the centre where they had been rehabilitated and flew up to 400m from the centre.

During September the birds increased their range, spending less time at the centre, going about 500m, as far as Puseh Ped temple, where they joined the Mollucan Lory and Mitchell’s Lorikeet that were released in October 2008. In addition to the other foods mentioned, they have been observed eating various flowers, such as Kepuh (Sterculia species), Hibiscus, and Coconut.

The World Parrott Trust is sponsoring FNPF to monitor the progress of the 2 birds over the next 6 months via a monthly donation to FNPF.

FNPF desperately needs funds to continue this project. Please contact us if you would like to support FNPF in rebuilding the wild population of Mitchell’s Lorikeet.

A new FNPF supporter is rearing 100 Java Sparrows in Ubud for release by FNPF on Nusa Penida in early 2011

In July 2010, Mr John Duffield walked into the FNPF office in Ubud, Bali to ask advise about keeping birds in the aviary of his Ubud house. This meeting has resulted in John supporting FNPF’s efforts to build a wild population of Java Sparrows (Padda oryza) on Nusa Penida.

Java Sparrows in John Duffield’s aviary in Ubud, Bali

John and his partner Rachel recently relocated to Ubud from Hong Kong. On moving into their new house in the centre of Ubud, they discovered a huge (but rather dilapidated) aviary within its expansive grounds and decided to populate it with birds. Having read a recent article about FNPF’s work with Bali Starlings on Nusa Penida, John came to meet with Dr Bayu Wirayudha, FNPF’s founder.

With Bayu’s assistance, John rescued over 100 young Java Sparrows from the Denpasar bird market. The plan is to rear the birds in Ubud until February 2011, when they will be relocated to FNPF’s bird centre on Nusa Penida to join FNPF’s flock of 50 caged Java Sparrows. They will be rehabilitated for 1-2 months and then released.

Java Sparrows were once common over all of Bali, especially in the areas of rice fields. But despite not being on the endangered bird list, they are now very rare in Bali. Bayu is concerned that they will be threatened with extinction before they become classified as endangered, so FNPF has started a project to build a backup wild population on Nusa Penida. This population can then be used for relocation to areas of Bali in the future.

Java Sparrows are flock birds. They survive by living and flying in large numbers to support the occasional loss of the weak and the slow. Hence, at least 100 birds are required to build a viable population. FNPF could not have proceeded with this project without John and Rachel. John tells us that he sits in the aviary with the birds every morning where he reads the daily paper. FNPF is extremely grateful to John and Rachel for their support of this project and look forward to them seeing the successful release of their birds into the wild … and then perhaps rearing another endangered bird species in their aviary!

FNPF’s 2010 inter-school annual “Conservation Competition” is a major part of Nusa Penida’s Independence Day celebrations

Conservation education is a fundamental part of FNPF’s conservation methodology. Our reforestation and agro-forestry activities are complemented with conservation-education to the farming community, and to the local children via the schools. In 2005, FNPF started an annual “conservation competition”, inviting all Nusa Penida Junior highschools to compete. The competition is held on August 17th, to coincide with Indonesia’s Independence Day celebrations.

3 Schools compete in the evening finals, watched by over 2,000 Nusa Penida residents

In 2009, with financial support from the Australian Consulate in Bali, FNPF produced a conservation reference book specifically for Nusa Penida and Bali. It was written in Indonesian and in 2010 many copies were was distributed freely to all of the Nusa Penida schools. The school children use the book as a reference book for the competition.

All 11 of Nusa Penida’s junior high schools enter a team of 3 children. All 11 teams compete in the afternoon to win 1 of 3 places in the evening finals. The competition has grown each year. At least 300 people attended to watch the afternoon session, and over 2 thousand people attended the evening final. This not only demonstrates the growing interest in conservation by the whole island community, but also provides FNPF with a forum to communicate conservation related questions and answers to the thousands of people in the audience.

Over 2,000 Nusa Penida residents attended to watch the evening final

Through 2010 FNPF has sponsored 43 Nusa Penida children to attend highschool (one from each village), and one to attend university in Denpasar. This was made possible using funds donated by the Humane Society International (Australia), Ms. Marcella Pierce, and a group of Australian veterinarians. FNPF wants to continue sponsoring children to attend highschool, especially girls because they are often taken out of school earlier than the boys. Our funding for sponsorship will last until end of 2010.

Please contact FNPF if you would like to sponsor a child to attend school. It costs just $25 to fund a child for 1 month.

A scientific researcher from USA spends 2 months on Nusa Penida and publishes a report that is highly favourable of FNPF’s work and methodology

Recent university graduate and conservation researcher Olivia Gilmore travelled from the U.S. to our bird sanctuary on Nusa Penida in September. She spent two months in Bali, dividing her time between conducting a field study research project at our Bird Sanctuary project on Nusa Penida, and volunteering in our main office in Ubud. While on Nusa Penida, Olivia, with the aid of a local assistant Nyoman Anton, monitored the rehabilitated and released Bali Starlings. The data she collected enumerated the population density, breeding rate, nesting locations, and general population health of the once nearly extinct bird, which has now established a burgeoning population on the island.

Olivia Gilmore at a Bali Starling monitoring location on Nusa Penida

Upon returning to Ubud, she wrote a comprehensive research report detailing the success of the Bali Bird Sanctuary and FNPF’s reforestation and community development projects on Nusa Penida. The report is highly favourable of FNPF’s work and methodology. It substantiates the benefits of FNPF’s approach of integrating Community Wellbeing with Wildlife protection and Habitat restoration. The report should also prove to be a useful public relations and volunteer recruitment tool in the future.

The report, which is entitled, Friends of the National Parks Foundation’s Bali Bird Sanctuary: A Field Study Assessment was accepted as a presentation proposal at the Seventh International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, to be held at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, January 2011.

Olivia’s educational background is in international environmental affairs and environmental science. She received a B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in International Studies with a concentration in Environmental Affairs and with two minors in Environmental Science and Spanish. Research interests include international conservation convention, the nature and results of conservation initiatives, and the social, economic and political dimensions of environmental protection. Future plans in the conservation field include pursuing a Masters of Science degree in Environmental Science or Sustainable Development. We wish Olivia all the best with her studies and look forward to her returning to Bali soon.

FNPF welcomes volunteers at its project sites, both in Nusa Penida (Bali) and Central Kalimantan (Borneo). We can take individuals or small groups (eg. groups of school children). Please contact us for more information

REGULAR QUARTERLY UPDATES

Wildlife

Bali Starling ( Leucopsar rothschildi).

JULY …Two pairs of Bali Starling at Ped Village had 2 hatchlings each. One of the pairs observed had 2 hatchlings in a Ceiba pentandra tree hole at Banjar Bias on the July 1 and they fledged on July 25. The other pair nesting in a nest box on Psidium sp tree at Banjar Bodong had two hatchlings on the July 2 and they fledged on July 27.

The total no of Bali Starling offspring monitored since starting the project now totals 87. The largest group observed together during this month was 20 and the total number of birds observed was 71. We believe that there are many more birds but we need more staff to do the monitoring because the birds have now spread to many different new places across the 3 islands.

AUGUST … The birds nesting in Ceiba pentandra started to leave their hatchling alone in the middle of August. The birds that nested in the nestbox on Psidium tree by Banjar Bodong weaned two of their hatchlings in mid of August.

The pair that used to nest in the beehive on the Eastern side of our office moved to another beehive about 75m away because bees have reoccupied their nest. The beehive they are using this month is located on the roadside.

The size of groups observed together this month was 21 at Tanah Bias cemetery at Ped Village, 21 at Banjar Nyuh village, and 10 at Balbuh hill. The total number of fledglings that we have monitored (hatchlings that have successfully left the nest) since the project started is now 91.

SEPTEMBER … The pair nesting on the Ficus tree at Puseh Temple Ped commenced breeding this month. We heard a baby on 20th but found the nest on the ground on the 27th. We assume a predator ate it.

At the end of this month we found the birds at Tanah Bias village had at least 1 hatchling. The pair nesting by the roadside near our office had 2 hatchlings in the middle of this month and the parents are comfortable raising the hatchlings by the roadside.

The pair at Banjar Nyuh that lost their nest last month seems to have a new pair of hatchlings. We also observed a new pair at Sental Kawan Village, spending most of their time on a Ficus tree in the village. They are not showing any breeding behaviour yet. The total hatchlings monitored to date are 93. The size of the groups is similar to the previous month with groups in two distinct area … Banjar Nyuh and Ped Village … each with about 21 birds.

Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatúa sulphurea parvula)

From our staff’s observation and information provided by the locals at Sedihing village, the pair of birds stays together at this village and never strays far. The female bird that we rehabilitated at the FNPF centre now seldom takes food from the cage area (but we continue to leave some). This bird now has a range of 700m from the FNPF centre, but spends most time she foraging close to the centre, and generally spends the night in the area of the centre. She was also observed for 3 nights at Dalem Bungkut Temple during August.

Red Lory (Eos bornea)

The 2 birds that have been on Nusa Penida for more than 2 years have been observed started going into one of Bali Starling nesting sites at Puseh Temple, which is about 500m from our centre.

Moustache Parakeet (Psitacula alexandri)

This bird is very hard to spot but we still it regularly. Occasionally we hear more than one bird. In the middle of August we rescued 3 young birds from Denpasar bird market. They were very poor condition. Thanks to Dr Pat MacWhirter who sponsored this rescue. We put them in a quarantine area in separate cages for the first month to ensure they do not pass any contagious diseases. Once we were convince that the birds were not carrying any contagious diseases we put them together in the same cage to allow them to develop their social behaviour. We will start to rehabilitate them for release once we they have restored them back to a healthy condition.

Habitat Restoration

Conservation Education

The conservation education program at the highschool is now being run by the school itself (we continue to provide any support that they need or request).

The biggest event of the year is the conservation education on August 17 (Indonesian Independence Day) when all 11 junior highschools compete (see Quarterly Highlight above).

Land Rehabilitation.

We continued to have very unusually high rainfall during this period, which encouraged many of the locals to come to the FNPF Centre to collect saplings from our nursery. The saplings were for their gardens and also for agro-forestry purposes. Additionally, many saplings were collected and planted at temples areas.

JULY, of 16,131 saplings at our nursery, 13,250 were taken by the community
AUGUST, of 15,340 at our nursery, 809 were taken by the community
SEPTEMBER, of 14,531 saplings at our nursery, 967 were taken by the community

Planting at Tanglad the reforestation site

We did not do detailed monitoring during this period because of the heavy rain. But we can see general that most of the saplings are now higher than the citronella tall grass.

Community Wellbeing

Community Development.

In early 2010, FNPF continued the Community Development program (see below) with the objective of maintaining support given by Nusa Penida residents for FNPF’s conservation programs.

Bamboo planting

During this quarter, we did not do any more planting and are still waiting for the result of the carbon conversion calculation from our donor.

Seeds For Bali Program

The seedlings for this program, funded by Pt. Bank Danamon Indonesia Terbuka (Danamon) and American Express Card members, is still showing some progress as there rain continued during this period.

Children’s Traditional Dance Class

The children’s traditional dance classes continued to be held in the grounds of the FNPF Centre at Ped and at the village of Batumadeg. Classes are held twice a week. About 40 to 50 students participate at the class in each location.

Scholarship

In addition of the scholarships for three high school students funded by Ms. Marcella Pierce, the Humane Society International (Australia) funded scholarship for 41 students (one from each village on Nusa Penida). We symbolically gave the first scholarship to two of the student during the celebration of Indonesia Independent day in the evening.

Contribution for traditional event

Humane Society International Australia is donating Rp 1,000,000 (approx US$110) to each of the 41 villages to be used for any traditional event decided by the village. This is an example of FNPF giving something back to the communities that have supported us more than 4 years by protecting the birds on the island.

Half a Cow Appeal

Until the end of this quarter the cow has not yet had a calf, but will do in the next quarter. Thank you to David Lambert and Norman van Hoff for their support and we hope we can encourage more people to support this appeal.


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