National Partnership for Conservation of Migratory Birds and Their Habitat (NPCMBTH) in cooperation with Directorate of Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Environment and Forestry organized Workshop on the Development of a Strategic Plan for the Conservation of Migratory Birds and Their Habitat in Indonesia in Bogor on Tuesday, 27 November 2018. This workshop aimed to study and formulate various national level activities related to the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.
The parties involved in this workshop presented various ideas related to the conservation of migratory waterbirds and the protection and management of their habitats inside and outside the conservation area. According to the Director of Biodiversity Conservation KLHK, Drh. Indra Exploitasia, one of the important elements of this partnership is the establishment of mechanisms and guidelines for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.
“Since the beginning, the Indonesian government has been actively involved in coordinating the formulation of strategies and priorities conservation of migratory birds and their habitats, and supporting international cooperation in East Asia -Australasia flyway," she said.
Meanwhile, the Head of NPCMBTH Ferry Hasudungan said that there are eight ‘flyways’, one of those is the East Asia -Australasia flyway. This flyway stretches from the northern hemisphere from in the Russian Far East to Alaska, then southwards through East Asia and Southeast Asia, to Australia and New Zealand, passess 22 countries in total. The flyway itself is home to about 50 million migratory waterbirds from 250 different populations, including 28 globally endangered species.
Cooperation through international networks along migration pathways is indispensable. While at the national level, inter-regional synergy is important to support efforts to conserve migratory bird groups, including cooperation between the government and the parties.
Hasudungan, who works as Biodiversity Conservation Specialist at Burung Indonesia, which also the Secretariat of NPCMBTH, added, “During the migratory season, various types of waterbirds utilize the productive wetlands as their temporary homes to rest and eat, to gather energy before continuing their migratory journey. However, raptors and forest birds are highly dependent on good forest conditions along their migratory route, where food is available in it.”
This partnership is expected to at least be a forum for migratory waterbird conservation initiatives and also as a medium for coordinating, synergizing, and sharing ideas regarding efforts to conserve other migratory birds, such as groups of raptors, seabirds, terrestrial birds, and also forest birds.