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Offering freedom in flight

To freedom: Founder of the Friends of the National Parks Foundation, Bayu Wirayudha (left), with Nusa Penida vice head Ketut Suklar, prepare to release Java Sparrows into the protected environment of the island chain

Trisha Sertori (The Jakarta Post)
Nusa Penida, Bali
Thu, July 21, 2011

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Offering freedom in flight

T

span class="inline inline-left">To freedom: Founder of the Friends of the National Parks Foundation, Bayu Wirayudha (left), with Nusa Penida vice head Ketut Suklar, prepare to release Java Sparrows into the protected environment of the island chain.Tiny Java Sparrows exploded from cardboard boxes like firecrackers; with chirps of joy they took to the blue skies over Nusa Penida Island off Bali last Sunday.

The release of the vulnerable species marked the fifth anniversary of an extraordinary conservation project that has stunned environmental law enforcers with its success.

Working with local communities across Nusa Penida, the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF) has — with funding under the Wildlife Land Trust of the Humane Society International — established a bird sanctuary across the three-island chain. Here, vulnerable and endangered species of birds are rehabilitated and released back into the wild.

Under the awig awig and adat traditional laws, birds find protection among these island communities.
To date, not one bird has been poached despite their high value at cage bird markets.

Ida Bagus Arnaya from the Bali provincial office of the Indonesian Biodiversity Conservation Unit (IBCU) said the community-based conservation and protection project has been so outstanding that traditional rules on wildlife conservation may need to be reexamined.

“[IBCU] was really surprised at the success of this project. In the beginning, we were very concerned it would not work, but then we see under awig awig all the communities working together. We are very happy with these results. Department regulations call for bird releases in places far from populations, but conditions here are totally different. The rule of release into wild areas is a general rule, but for Nusa Penida there is justification that we can have a different set of laws here,” said Arnaya following Sunday’s release of the 100 Java Sparrows that will join more than 100 Bali Starlings, Mitchell’s Lorikeets and Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, all listed as endangered or vulnerable in Indonesia.

The success of the Nusa Penida bird sanctuary lies in its commitment to wildlife and communities, according to FNPF founder and veterinarian Bayu Wirayudha, who spent two years in discussions and conservation education with Nusa Penida residents ahead of the first Bali Starling release in 2006. During the 2006/2007 release of the endangered bird that is Bali’s avian emblem, 64 Bali Starlings were rehabilitated and released.

Breeding successfully followed release, and the island chain’s population of the rare starlings — which should be a common sight across Bali — is now more than 100.

According to a FNPF press release, the value of the birds to poachers has made it almost impossible for them to be successfully released in other parts of Bali, particularly West Bali National Park, where “hundreds of cage-bred birds have been released but most have been stolen by poachers,” the press release said.

FNPF’s approach of ensuring benefits are returned to local communities in response to their conservation of released birdlife has sealed local commitment to the program, vice head of Nusa Penida, Ketut Suklar, said.

He had joined more than one hundred people for the FNPF Nusa Penida bird sanctuary and Bali Starling conservation project’s anniversary on Sunday.

“This program benefits our community and is very good for the people of Nusa Penida because not only does it increase the biodiversity of our birds, but our people also benefit. One aspect is the scholarship given to a deserving student. This scholarship [from FNPF] helps fund that student’s university costs,” Ketut said.

Other FNPF-supported projects are assistance to families for local education, agro-forestry, Balinese dance lessons, conversational English, weaving groups using natural dyes harvested from FNPF donated trees, conservation education and the training of farmers in financially viable, sustainable farming methods.

Of greatest benefit to the people of Nusa Penida for their role in protecting bird species and revitalizing their natural environment is the combining of humankind, nature and God, according to 80-year-old Pak Jero Mangku Rami, who says this bringing together of can be referred to as Tri Hita Kerena, an ancient Hindu philosophy that sees a balance between humans, the natural world and God.

“We are very happy to care for the birds because this is natural. It’s a foundation stone of our religion, so we are very enthusiastic to protect the birds and the environment. There is a relationship between God, our environment and humans. There is a connection, we are united in Tri Hita Kerena. With this philosophy, we look after the environment. We plant trees, birds need trees and the trees give us oxygen. Tri Hita Kerena — to unite the human being in harmony with harmony,” Mangku Jero said.

Success: Proud of their conservation achievements, Nusa Penida villagers read a booklet on the bird protection program developed by Friends of the National Parks Foundation.
Success: Proud of their conservation achievements, Nusa Penida villagers read a booklet on the bird protection program developed by Friends of the National Parks Foundation.He said under the FNPF Nusa Penida bird sanctuary, all villages on the island work from that perspective.

“From one perspective, from one angle, we develop the greater idea to achieve harmony with the natural world. This benefits our
kids into the future — they are discovering you don’t just need to be smart, but also wise. To love each other, the birds and other wildlife as we were all created by God,” said Mangku Jero ahead of the Java Sparrow release.

With the pressure of developers and tourism causing the loss of agricultural and forested lands in much of Bali, Penida villager Kutampi said his island was in good shape to withstand the pressure and lure of dollars.

“We have a filter in place with pakraman [traditional village laws]. If [development] is against our culture, it is not allowed. At the outset we prevent [inappropriate] development that breaks those rules. With the program, those adat rules are even stronger than in the past,” said Kutampi of how one small part of Bali is protecting its own and offering sanctuary to birdlife otherwise faced with extinction.

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