In Java’s hills, former bird hunters are rebuilding a songbird haven
PURWOREJO, Indonesia — As a young man, Parman hunted songbirds here in the Menoreh Hills, a landscape of karst valleys near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. The area is now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, but back then Parman would raid nests for rare birds, taking fledglings before they had learned to fly, then raising them […]
In the heart of Java, once a thriving hunting ground for songbirds, a group of former hunters are now working to restore a haven for these avian creatures. The Menoreh Hills, a picturesque region near the city of Yogyakarta, was once a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, teeming with rare and colorful birds. However, Parman, a young man who hunted these birds in his youth, now reflects on the drastic decline in their numbers.
Parman recounted the practice of capturing fledgling birds, raising them until they were sold to buyers often from distant cities like Yogyakarta and Magelang. The colorful Javan blue flycatcher, once a common sight, is now critically endangered, signaling the severity of the songbird trade in Indonesia. Although many of these birds now reside in captivity, the wild population has dwindled to fewer than 1,000 individuals.
Realizing the dwindling numbers, Parman and his peers stopped hunting songbirds and shifted their focus to goat rearing. However, the allure of outsiders persisted, leading to the continued decline of these species. Today, Parman and his peers are dedicated to rebuilding a sanctuary for these birds, striving to reverse the damage caused by the songbird trade.
Written by urgent.news from Mongabay's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
