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18 Years of Burung Indonesia: A Journey to Preserve the Archipelago

On 15 July 2020, the Birdlife Indonesia Association commemorated its 18 years. The special number was also a reflection to relentlessly strive for the conservation of birds and their habitats in the archipelago, which is in line with the initial mission of the organization's establishment.

The organization's long achievement began with the establishment of Burung Indonesia on 15 July 2002, with the mission of conserving birds and their habitats. Sumba Island was the first field of work to facilitate the Village Resources Management Agreement (VRMA) and participatory delineation of national park boundaries in Sumba. Successfully maintaining the habitat of the sumba hornbill and the yellow-crested cockatoo, Burung Indonesia was not complacent and expanded its wings to Halmahera by facilitating multi-stakeholder management of Aketajawe Lolobata National Park in 2004. In the same year, a hope emerged with the inauguration of ecosystem restoration in production forests as an instrument of forest management in Indonesia with the enactment of regulations on Ecosystem Restoration by the Ministry of Forestry (now the Ministry of Environment and Forestry).

For an organization, a legal entity is like a foundation. In 2005, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights approved Burung Indonesia as a legal entity organization. In its 5 years commemoration in 2007, the wingspan of Burung Indonesia has expanded with the issuance of the first Timber Forest Product Utilization-Ecosystem Restoration Business Permit (IUPHHK-RE) in Indonesia as well as marking the birth of Hutan Harapan. Meanwhile in Sumba, conservation efforts were increasingly entering the education sector by introducing the conservation of birds and their habitats through local textbooks.

The flapping of the Burung Indonesia’s wings did not stop at that point; the introduction of endangered birds was carried out in a unique way. The first edition of the Birds of Sumatra stamp collection was launched in 2009, in collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry and PT Pos Indonesia.

Five years later, the innovations made by Burung Indonesia in efforts to conserve and protect ecosystems in Indonesia have received appreciation. Taking place in Sydney, Australia, the Kenton Miller Award was received. This award confirms the organization's position in ecosystem restoration in Indonesia.

As a conservation organization, Burung Indonesia is aware of the importance of direct public support in efforts to conserve birds and their habitats. For this reason, in 2017, a membership program was launched.

New achievements were obtained in the following year. Burung Indonesia was officially a full partner of BirdLife International concurrently with the initiation of conservation priority setting in Papua. Another encouraging leap was the start of the entrepreneurial era marked by the establishment of a business entity in Gorontalo. Also in 2018, after years of working in the Wallacea region, Burung Indonesia returned to Java by starting a biodiversity survey in the mountainous forests of western part of the island. This further confirms the organization's commitment to conserving birds and their habitat together with the communities.

The publication of the book "Inspiration from Wallacea" which contains inspirational stories from the Wallacea Partnership Program, gave a nuance in the year of 2019. Along with the publication of the book, Burung Indonesia awarded the first "BirdLife Indonesia Association Award" to inspiring figures who were tireless in their struggle to conserve the nature of the Nusantara (Indonesian Archipelago).

Reflecting on the decades of journey of the organization, with such proud achievements, doesn’t make us complacent and then stop. The commitment to conserve birds and their habitats together with the communities will continue to be carried out in line with the big dream that the nature of the Nusantara will continue to be sustainable. We are also optimistic that these environmental preservation efforts will continue and will always receive full support from all parties, without exception.

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