Unforgetable Journey to Forgotten Islands

A story from Tanimbar Islands, Western South-east Maluku

by Fahrul P. Amama

Arrival

It’s the end of the rainy season and the Monsoon breeze is still blowing humid air from the east, along with rain clouds from the Pacific Ocean, through Maluku Region. A Cassa 212 with 20 passengers from Ambon flies over the Banda Sea heading the South to the Tanimbar Islands, known as the forgotten islands of Indonesia. These islands lie between Timor and Papua on the South-eastern edge of Indonesian territory, closer to Australia in the South than to the provincial capital Ambon (06o 35’- 08 o22’ S; 130o 40’ – 132o 03’ E). There are 67 islands in the Tanimbar group, most of them tiny, separated by shallow waters and ringed with mangrove forests and coral reefs. The three main islands with significant forest are Yamdena, Larat and Selaru.
After about two hours flight, this propeller plane approaches Yamdena Island, the largest of the Tanimbar group. A long black cloud hangs over most of the southern shore of the island, reducing visibility, and the plane has to drop low, searching for a fissure in the cloud, before starting its final descent. When plane bursts through the low cloud a magnificent view unfolds of a broad, flat island still covered by semi evergreen rainforest. The remoteness of Tanimbar Island has helped protect it from the ravages experienced by forest in much of Indonesia, and Yamdena supports the most extensive tracts of monsoon and semi evergreen forest in eastern Indonesia. However, this rich green carpet is vulnerable. Tanimbar's limestone geology and small size make it very vulnerable to soil erosion and reduced water supplies if forest is cleared.
As the plane passes low over the forests of southern Yamdena we can see the green canopy from the window. Below us, a flock of stunning bright white birds flies over the dark green. It is not hard to guess that these are the Tanimbar Corella Cacatua goffiniana, one of the main reasons for this journey: to take action for threatened parrots in Tanimbar.
Indonesia is one of the two most important countries in the world for biodiversity conservation. This exemplified by the psittacines: 77 parrot species occur in Indonesia and the country is the most important in the Asia Pacific region in terms of the number of threatened parrot species, the Maluku region itself supports 32 parrot species. Two of them are endemic to the Tanimbar Islands: the Cockatoo, Tanimbar Corella C. goffini and Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata. Both are currently considered ‘near-threatened’ but are vulnerable to exploitation and habitat loss across their small island range.
The plane is getting lower, approaching the small airfield at Saumlaki. Saumlaki is the only large town in the Tanimbar Islands and is the headquarters of the Government of the new District of Western South-east Maluku. As we drive into town, the small island atmosphere is disturbed by the activity of a newly developing District. In the town center, many new buildings have been constructed for housing and government offices. Western South-east Maluku District owes its existence to a radical law passed by the Indonesian Government in 1998, decentralizing many powers to provincial and local governments. However the delegation of power has not been followed by funding for the new administration or for development of these poorest regions of the country. As a result there is a great risk that the new local government, under-staffed, under-skilled and lacking income, will turn to the forests and land on Yamdena as one of the most obvious sources of support.

The Market

The next day, when we wandered though the crowded market close to the harbour, familiar calls attracted us to the edge of the market area. There was a stall with at least 27 Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata, crowded in a tiny cage. Trappers from Laroembun, a small village in eastern Yamdena, caught the Lories by using snares. They are selling the distressed birds cheaply, not more than 2 US$. From previous survey reports, we already aware that trapping is carried out openly and is a normal activity for the people.
The reports and our finding in the Saumlaki market on my first day on the island have shown us how important BirdLife Indonesia’s work for the conservation of the Tanimbar parrots is. The communities on Tanimbar are poor, very religious, and have strong traditional systems for managing land and resources. However their traditional systems have not coped well with new commercial pressures from outside the island (such as the demand for Parrots), or with the conflict between the system imposed from central Government in Jakarta in the past, and local ways of managing resources. Environmental education can make communities aware of the threats posed by these new problems, and the new opportunities that they have under a decentralised government. At the same time it can make them aware of the unique species and habitats that there are on Tanimbar, and increase their sense of pride in the islands environment.
common that it is a problem for farmers, should we be worrying about its conservation?” Well, there are many examples of birds which were apparently common becoming threatened or even extinct (look at the passenger pigeon). We also know that the forests on Tanimbar are under increasing threat from local owners of chain saws. Habitat loss and trapping could combine to produce a devastating reduction in the population. Now, whilst there are still significant number of the birds, is the critical time to work out how Corellas and people can co-exist and the birds’ survival can be ensured. We need to know how we can help individual farmers who suffer most from the loss of crops to the birds. At the same time we need to change the attitude of people on the island so that they agree that trapping is not something that should be part of daily activity on Tanimbar. The good news is that there seems tIn some places, at certain times of year, the Parrots are significant problems for farmers. During my friend’s previous visit he saw flocks of 100s of Cacatua goffini raiding rice crops close to the edge of the forest. When we hear such reports it is natural to ask, “If the species is soo still be time to take action on Tanimbar, the challenge is to use that time effectively!"

foto: David Purmiasa, Fahrul Amama (Burung Indonesia), Thomas Arndt (Papagien Stifftung)

Journey to the East Coast

by Fahrul P. Amama

The journey began with a short visit to Arui das, a coastal village in eastern Yamdena. We visited Arui Das at the end of June to meet some parrot trappers and have discussion with them about parrot trapping and trade activities. With their help, we have been able to investigate the Blue-streaked Lory and Tanimbar Corella trade. This approach has proven to yield the greatest amount of information as trappers have the detailed knowledge of their target species and are very familiar with the bird trade business. This information will be communicated to KSDA (the Natural Resources Conservation Agency of the Indonesia Department of Forestry, who have responsibility for law enforcement) and will be as the basis for the future joint activities with KSDA on trapping and trade.

Field Trip to Arui Das
The east wind was still strong in June, and the eastern sea was not friendly at all, so we went to the nearest village by minibus. After 3 hours bumpy excursion on a road that reminded me of the “Camel Trophy” off road competition, we reached the end of suitable road in Sangilat Krewain village and had to continue the trip on foot, walking through white sandy beach about 4 km to Arui Bab Village. We used small boat to cross the river and the coastal reef from Arui Bab village to Arui Das. We stayed 3 nights at Arui Das and spent 2 nights in the forest with some villagers.
On the second day, we were directed to the farm nearby the forest and found some roost sites of Tanimbar Corella. We also saw Eclectus parrots sharing the habitat with Tanimbar Corella. Although the site is about 7 km inland from the village, it is still a few hundred meters outside the forest edge. Only a few pairs of Lories were seen passing through the area during that afternoon and the following morning. Although this lack of birds could be due to seasonal movements, it seems more likely that the findings reflect the general decline in the species in Yamdena, which has been exploited since 1986.

According to a parrot trapper from Arui Das, there are as many as 25 parrot trappers still active in 15 villages in eastern Yamdena. They trap parrots only if they get orders from Saumlaki. He said that the parrot trade started to be common around 1986, and had a booming year in 1992 when trader from Bugis (Sulawesi) came to some villages and bought the birds. If there is a market for them, each trapper can get 100-200 birds in a trapping season each year, and some trappers get as many as 300 or more birds. However the trapper also said that the price for birds is now so low that many people do not bother with trapping, and he was convinced that if there was any enforcement of the law (a risk of penalties for trappers), it would not be worth it for anyone.
The trapper also claimed that trappers were supposed to ask for licenses from KSDA, but that some trappers ignore that and become illegal trappers. The trapper’s explanation illustrates the confusion about implementation of the law on Tanimbar: in fact, all trapping is illegal and KSDA does not have the authority to issue a trapping permit for these species, which are protected.
In the past some reports concluded that the main reason for trapping the Cockatoos and some other parrot species is to reduce crop damage, and that the income is only a side- benefit.. Based on our observation and discussions, this is not now true. People trap the parrots for economic reason (to earn extra cash income), not because the birds are pests for the crops. If there is no buyer they do not trap them.

Foto: Fahrul Amama, Hans Bashari (Burung Indonesia)

Journey to the West Coast

by Fahrul P. Amama

Daily he works as a labourer in Saumlaki harbour. He receives birds from village trappers and sells them to cargo ships that sail to Surabaya (East Java). He claimed that to avoid trouble from government officials many traders pay about 300000 IDR (35 US$) to KSDA for a licence to transport the birds. It seems that they are exploiting an exception in the law on trading protected species, which allows a licence to transport one or two individuals of a protectedAfter the trip to Arui Das we met a parrot trader in Olilit lama, a small village near Saumlaki, the capital of Tanimbar. According to him, parrot trading is a side job for him in the trapping season, from March to June. species which have been given as a gift, not for buying and selling. The trader also claimed that they pay a ‘tax’ of about 2500 IDR (0.25 US$) to local government for each bird they sell. The traders story has not been proved, but if it is true it is an example of the conflicts that can occur in the implementation of law – at national level one branch of the Government (KSDA) sets a zero quota for a protected species, whilst at local level another branch of Government is only concerned with getting tax on trade, without worrying whether the trade is legal or not!
Even more interesting was the traders comments confirming what the trappers said about the current trends in the market for these birds. He said that the price is now so low that he breaks even if only he sells fifty parrots a year, and only makes a worthwhile profit if he can sell at least a hundred parrots each year. He claimed that he is still indebted to some trappers, because the birds he received from them died before he could sell them, and so he does not have the cash to pay them.

Wermaktian Journey

The next field trip, in July and August, was visiting some villages in Wermaktian Sub-district on the western side of Yamdena. We visited 3 villages in this region (Makatian, Wermatang and Batu Putih) and made a short visit to 5 villages in Seira Island, a nearby island close to Batu Putih to get some information about local knowledge of natural resources management. We spent 4 nights in each village.
In Makatian village, we went to the forest near the Makatian River and observed the forest condition there. We also saw flocks of Blue streaked Lories flying pass the village. These flocks of Lories containing a hundred or more individuals come across the sea to Yamdena Island every morning from nearby small islands. In the evening, as the sun sets on the horizon these birds fly back from the main island to its satellites. The view reminded us of what S.J. Hickson, a naturalist from Europe, wrote about his visit to the Talaud Islands (North Sulawesi) in the 19th century, where he saw a similar spectacle of huge numbers of the endemic Red-and-blue Lories. These days the Lories on Talaud have been drastically reduced, and it was a pleasure to see this that this beautiful sight can still be found on Tanimbar.
The next day, we made a short visit to Seira, a small island off-shore from Makatian village. We visited 5 villages in this island and met with the head of Wermaktian sub-district and the village heads. From there, we crossed the straits on a small boat through the strong current and high waves to Wermatang village. At Wermatang village, we saw groups of villagers logging the forest along the river side. Each group can log 10 m3 of wood per week and sells it in Saumlaki. We spent 3 nights in this village and had a meeting with village leaders. On the next day, we visited Batu Putih, spent one night, and then went back to Makatian Village. The main objective of these meetings was to fill questionnaires and carry out group discussions, to enable us to understand the local people’s perceptions and ideas about conservation, forests and Parrots on Tanimbar. One of the points that emerged very clearly is that there is widespread ignorance amongst communities of the zero quotas set by the government for parrot trade, and no idea that their endemic Parrots are protected from international trade through listing in CITES appendix 1. In mid August we sailed back to Saumlaki.

foto: Fahrul Amama (Burung Indonesia)