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Bird-keeping in Indonesia: Conservation impacts and the potential for substitution-based conservation responses
Abstract and Figures
Bird-keeping is an extremely popular pastime in Indonesia, where there is a thriving internal market in both wild-caught and captive-bred birds. However, little is known about whether the scale of bird-keeping represents a genuine conservation threat to native populations. Here we present the results of the largest ever survey of bird-keeping among households in Indonesia's five major cities. Birds were found to be urban Indonesia's most popular pet (kept by 21.8% of survey households) and we conservatively estimate that as many as 2.6 million birds are kept in the five cities sampled. Of bird-keeping households, 78.5% kept domestic species and/or commercially bred species and 60.2% kept wild-caught birds that we classified into three conservation categories: native songbirds, native parrots and imported songbirds. Compared to non-bird owners, households keeping wild-caught birds in all three conservation categories were richer and better educated, whereas households owning commercially-bred species were richer but not better educated and households keeping domestic species did not differ in educational or socio-economic status. We conclude that bird-keeping in Indonesia is at a scale that warrants a conservation intervention and that promoting commercially-bred alternatives may be an effective and popular solution.
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... Until recently, measuring people's interest in wild animals on a large scale would be a complicated task requiring extensive social and ethnozoological research, demanding time and resources [23,24]. As a result, most studies that analyzed the trade and breeding of wild birds in Brazil were conducted at a local scale [25,26]. ...
... Several factors can in uence the public's interest in birds sold for pet purposes, including the species' appearance, coloration, and vocal capacity [11,26,40]. The latter is particularly linked to the existence of activities such as singing competitions, in which birds with a 'singer' pro le are more valuable in the market [24,[41][42][43]. However, the popularity of a species on the market can simply be determined by its abundance in the wild and how easy it is to keep in captivity. ...
BACKGROUND
Several bird species involved in commercial trade of pets in Brazil, have presented occurrences outside their natural habitat, which may indicate possible introductions due to this activity. In this context we sought to evaluate the factors that influence the public’s interest in wild birds sold as pets in Brazil, and the relationship of those factors with new occurrences of birds outside their natural distribution area, discussing the relationship of commercial trade with possible introductions in new environments.
METHODS
We compiled the richness of bird species traded in Brazil and obtained comparative data of public interest directed to these species through the Google Trend tool. In addition, we gathered data on biological attributes and data on the sale price of the species in the trade, to analyze which factors would be related to public interest. New occurrences of birds outside their natural range were considered only if they were at a minimum distance of 800 km. Thus, factors related to public interest were then used to assess whether there was a relationship with these new occurrences. Data analysis was performed using Mixed Generalized Linear Models (GLMMs).
RESULTS
The results indicated that the public’s interest in certain species varies according to the region of the country, suggesting that the profile of interest in wild birds by people on the internet can be guided by sociocultural factors of each location. In addition, we found that the public interest is greater for songbirds, with generalist diet, which live in more open environments, have a greater distribution area and are sold at lower prices. All those factors, except for the distribution area, also showed to be related to the birds that presented new occurrences.
CONCLUSIONS
The public's preference for birds from more open and more generalist environments is probably the most important data, as such factors generally indicate greater environmental tolerance, which may favor the establishment of these birds in new environments. Thus, actions aimed at the conservation of commercialized species are essential to reduce the interregional trade of species, and consequently reduce the impact on natural populations and reduce the potential for new biological introductions.
... In this case, birds have an essential role and function in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem (Morante-Filho & Faria, 2017). On the other hand, student literacy in bird conservation also needs to be improved and strengthened (Jepson & Ladle, 2005;Morante-Filho & Faria, 2017;Shepherd et al., 2016). The analysis results are a basis for the initial product design at the next stage. ...
... Furthermore, the depth of ornithology material is complemented by morphological, anatomical characteristics, as well as an overview of its conservation. The conservation overview in Avipedia is one of the key components that differentiates it from other encyclopedias (Jepson & Ladle, 2005;Morante-Filho & Faria, 2017;Shepherd et al., 2016). ...
The development of information technology encourages innovation in the world of education, including in the development of electronic-based learning resources. However, developing electronic encyclopedias based on the diversity of fauna in Indonesia still needs improvement. This research aims to develop an electronic encyclopedia about bird diversity as a source of learning biology. According to the Lee and Owens developing model, this research uses five steps of the developing process. In the final step, the evaluation involved 37 Biology Education Department students at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang with a pretest-posttest group design. Data collection uses validation sheets, pretest-posttest questions, and questionnaires. Pretest and posttest data were analyzed using a gain score to measure its effectiveness in improving student learning outcomes. The effectiveness test results for each indicator item show that the average score for all aspects shows a percentage of 94.7% (very practical). Furthermore, the gain score is 0.47, which indicates that the encyclopedia is feasible, valid, and effective in improving students' cognitive learning outcomes.
... Hunting and illegal trade significantly threaten many bird species, including songbirds, forest birds (beautiful colors), parrots, raptors, owls, and waterbirds. Jepson and Ladle (2005) and Rentschlar et al. (2018) reported that in a year, an average of 614,180 songbirds are caught from their natural habitat to be traded on the islands of Java and Sumatra, and this should be a lesson learned for conservation areas to increase conservation efforts in securing the site and empowering communities, including in Way Kambas National Park and the surrounding villages. ...
The development of avitourism in villages around the conservation area still needs optimal support to increase welfare and reduce illegal practices like bird hunting. Birds are wild animals that play an essential role in the ecosystem. One of the efforts that have been developed in the buffer village to improve the welfare community and the conservation of birds is avitourism. This study aimed to analyze birds that have the potential as objects and attractions in avitourism. The bird species recorded were 82 species from 39 families. The results of key informants’ perception analysis revealed that 55 bird species (67.07%) have the potential as objects and attractions of avitourism, showing the nocturnal birds, top 50 birds of Way Kambas National Park, and parrot species as the top classification (> 75%). The colorful, raptor, and protected criteria are second with the favorite classification (51-75%). Endemic and migrant criteria are in the third position with the impressive classification (25-50%), and the songbird criteria are the lowest with the interesting classification (< 25%). The existence of birds that have the potential as objects and attraction of avitourism in the villages around Way Kambas National Park indicates that areas can be used in locations for avitourism, including bird photography, to improve welfare. Keywords: Avitourism, birds, buffer villages, Way Kambas National Park
... Sebenarnya memelihara burung sangat lekat dengan faktor kebudayaan (Jepson, P. & Ladle, 2005). Kicauan yang dianggap lebih bervariasi menjadi salah satu daya tarik memelihara burung kicau. ...
Burung adalah salah satu jenis makhluk hidup yang memiliki keunikan sehingga banyak disegani oleh orang-orang. Keunikan yang dimiliki dari bentuk yang menarik, burung juga memiliki ciri khas tersendiri selain memiliki keindahan fisik, burung juga mampu mengeluarkan suara yang indah. Keindahan burung seperti halnya dari suara burung tersebut yang memiliki kicauan yang sangat indah sehingga dapat menarik perhatian orang-orang untuk menikmatinya. Ciri khasnya dari jenis-jenis burung tersebut, seperti suaranya yang merdu, suaranya yang melengking dan ocehan dari burung tersebut atau yang sering disebut “Gacor”. “Gacor” selain dikarenakan sering berbunyi dari suara aslinya bisa juga bunyi yang dikeluarkan bervariasi, yang mungkin menirukan suara burung yang lain sehingga menambah daya tarik atau keindahan burung tersebut. Demikian pula dalam karya karawitan dengan judul “Gacor” sebagai bentuk alunan irama yang lihai dengan berbagai dinamika keindahan setiap nada. Dengan menonjolkan kelincahan pada kotekan yang dimainkan dengan gamelan bambu menjadikannya ciri dari garapan yang berjudul “Gacor” sehingga penikmat itu sendiri, dapat merasakan keindahan, dari alunan melodi, dinamika dan irama sebuah karya ini, yang dapat menyejukan hati yang penuh dinamis.
... The IWT is an important negative factor on the conservation of Neotropical birds (García-Moreno et al., 2007;Souto et al., 2017), and it is linked with many cultural traditions of bird-keeping throughout the tropics (Jepson and Ladle, 2005;Alves et al., 2010;de Oliveira et al., 2018). The largest country in South America, Brazil, is well known for its avifauna diversity, holding almost a fifth of the 10,000 bird species described to science (Butler, 2019). ...
The illegal wildlife trade is one of the main factors of biodiversity loss worldwide. Brazil, the largest country in South America, is a hub of wildlife trafficking, but availability of information on the issue is constrained to specific regions and to Portuguese speakers. Knowledge gaps hinder the establishment of targeted countermeasures in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. Thousands of animals are seized from IWT and sent to wildlife centers each year. Here, we reviewed the literature on seized songbirds for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a global hotspot of biodiversity. Using a systematic review approach, we compiled a database with all available papers containing seizure records for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We focused on the 10 most seized species in each study to construct a comprehensive view of the main victims of the illegal trade. We reported 23 studies in 20 locations throughout the BAF. In 19 years, 139,000 passerines were recorded, distributed in 47 species – and two genera – across 10 families. Thraupidae was the most important family, with 27 species in the list and comprising 70% of individuals recorded. We highlighted the preference for granivorous birds and birds deemed good singers. There were few threatened species in the top list, but many of the ones included have population trends of decline, indicating a conservation issue that can direly affect even currently common species if the high demand continues. We appointed knowledge gaps within the Brazilian scenario of wildlife trafficking and provided practical recommendations on the issue considering the global scenario of IWT.
... Evidence from market surveys and communications with local experts (Harapan field staff and the trappers themselves) suggest that bird trapping is generally indiscriminate in its methods, in part because markets accept most species and because there is high mortality of birds along the supply chain (Chng et al., 2015(Chng et al., , 2018bShepherd, 2006;Shepherd et al., 2004). These factors together incentivize trappers to maximize capture rates (Jepson and Ladle, 2005;Shepherd et al., 2004). As trapping depletes local bird populations, the economic incentive for indiscriminately trapping any species will likely intensify, with or without increases in market demand (Beastall et al., 2016;Courchamp et al., 2006;Shepherd, 2012;TRAFFIC, 2018). ...
Tropical forest restoration stands to deliver important conservation gains, particularly in lowland Southeast Asia, which has suffered some of the world's highest rates of recent forest loss and degradation. This promise, however, depends on the extent to which biodiversity at forest restoration sites continues to be exposed to threats. A key knowledge gap concerns the extent to which biodiversity recovery in naturally regenerating tropical forests is impacted by trapping for the multi-million-dollar wildlife trade. Here, we use a repeated survey dataset to quantify rates of avian community recovery under forest regeneration, at a flagship restoration site in the lowland rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. We show that over a decade, forest regeneration was associated with significant abundance increases for 43.8 % of bird species. However, the apparent negative impacts of trade-driven trapping on avian populations also intensified: the proportion of species dependent on very remote forests increased from 5.4 % to 16.2 %. Moreover, the overall accessibility of the forest increased. We found that 14 % of species did not recover as fast as predicted based on the observed forest regeneration over the study period. We found trapping to disproportionately impact species targeted for trade: compared to opportunistically trapped species, twice more species showed increased abundance only in very remote forests. Our results highlight the potential for rapid avifaunal recovery in regenerating tropical forests, but also emphasize the urgency of tackling the serious threat of wildlife trade to Southeast Asia's biodiversity.
India has an extensive bird trade that provides income and livelihoods for many people but involves considerable unregulated and illegal activity, threatening both native and exotic species and posing potential health risks to people and wildlife. Action to curb illegal trade is vital, but there is currently a lack of information on trade routes and the species involved to inform the development of strategies to address such trade. We therefore examined media reports of bird trade seizures published during 2010–2020 as a cost-effective approach to gaining insights into the composition and structure of the bird trade in India. We collected 182 media reports referring to 109 seizure events by searching for keywords on popular search engines and Indian newspaper websites. We found that 25,850 birds were seized, most frequently members of the family Psittacidae. Of the 58 species identified, 18 were native and 40 non-native to India. The greatest numbers of birds were seized in Uttar Pradesh. Analyses of trade networks indicate that Uttar Pradesh is an important trade hotspot particularly for native species and has strong transnational connections with neighbouring Nepal. We identified West Bengal as an important trade hotspot, particularly for non-native species, probably because of its extensive land borders with neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh. Our study highlights priority areas for interventions as well as key knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to facilitate the development of strategies to manage illegal, unsustainable and otherwise harmful trading of birds.
While hunting wild animals may be considered a problem for conserving native fauna, they can represent an essential part of the diet for some human communities, such as those living in rural areas. Therefore, regulations to combat overhunting should be designed to accommodate the needs of local communities dependent on hunting as a source of food and income in a sustainable way. We interviewed local residents in three communities and wildlife specialists in Sergipe, NE Brazil, where the hunting of columbids is common both for subsistence and leisure, about their perceptions of Columbidae hunting using a semi-structured questionnaire. Most residents defend hunting and make regular use of columbids, suggesting quota hunting as a way of reconciling the practice with the conservation of the species while also noting that columbid populations are decreasing. The wildlife and conservation specialists are opposed to hunting and propose improvement of the socioeconomic status of the residents to mitigate the hunting problem, while also noting that the national environmental agency (IBAMA) is understaffed and underfunded, and there is a lack of adequate reliable data on columbid populations to adequately assess the impact of hunting.
Graphical abstract
For more than a decade, the quality of democracy around the world has been declining, but we still know little about the diverse impacts of this democratic recession on environmental politics. This article provides new insights about the implications of democratic regression for environmental politics in Indonesia, which is Southeast Asia’s largest democracy, a globally important biodiversity hotspot, and an example of democratic decline. Based on an analysis of academic literature, international and Indonesian media reports, as well as survey data, this article argues that in Indonesia, democratic decline has had several detrimental consequences for environmental politics. In particular, we argue that the nationalist framing of infrastructure development, along with controversial new laws and tightening restrictions on both activists and academics are undermining prospects for environmental protection. The article also highlights some silver linings that provide hope for both Indonesia’s democracy and its embattled environment.
Pajareros are people who know, use and handle songbirds. Their profession, a tradition in Mexico and part of the living biocultural heritage of the country, is currently threatened by various social factors, such as a distorted perception and criminalization. This research aims to document for the first time in an academic article their experiences concerning this problem. The methodology used was ethnographic immersion, participant observation, and 60 interviews with aviaries in Mexico. Pajareros coincided in naming five types of problems, and most of the solutions proposed were based on the request to be heard. To solve this problem and for their voice to be part of a plural valuation of the profession, transdiscipline is proposed as a democratic environmental practice that places them as protagonists in the decision-making process for permit issuance, and promotes teaching/learning processes among all those involved.
Between 1.5 and 2 million people worldwide are believed to keep marine aquaria. The trade which supplies this hobby with live marine animals is a global multi-million dollar industry, worth an estimated US$200-330 million annually, and operating throughout the tropics. Ornamental marine species (corals, other invertebrates and fish) are collected and transported mainly from Southeast Asia, but also increasingly from several island nations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, to consumers in the main destination markets: the United States, the European Union (EU) and, to a lesser extent, Japan.
Very few of the species in trade are exploited directly for other purposes, and there is little doubt that aquarium animals are the highest value-added product that can be harvested from a coral reef. If managed sustainably, the trade could support jobs in predominantly rural, low-income coastal communities and so provide strong economic incentives for coral reef conservation in regions where other options for generating revenue are limited. However, damaging techniques occasionally used to collect the animals, possible over harvesting of some species and the high levels of mortality associated with inadequate handling and transport of sensitive living organisms undermine this potential, and continue to pose significant challenges to achieving sustainability. As a result the trade has seldom been free of controversy as traders try to generate a profit, conservationists try to avoid further decline in coral reefs also suffering from other pressures, and policy makers try to assemble a legislative framework that protects coral reefs without threatening a legitimate business activity or the incomes of communities engaged in aquarium fishing.
In the main, this debate has taken place without access to impartial and quantitative data on the trade and, with so many different viewpoints, achieving consensus on its impacts, and hence the identification of suitable responses, has been difficult. In 2000, the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the Marine Aquarium Council
(MAC) and members of various aquarium trade associations
collaboration, to address this need for better information and created the Global Marine Aquarium Database (GMAD). Trade data have been obtained from wholesale exporters and importers of marine aquarium organisms, most often through copies of trade invoices, integrated and standardized into quantitative, species-specific information which has been placed in the public domain: www.unep-wcmc.org/marine/GMAD. Fifty eight companies, approximately one-fifth of the wholesalers in business, and four government management authorities have provided data to GMAD. In August 2003 the dataset contained 102,928 trade records (7.7 million imported and 9.4 million exported animals) covering a total of 2,393 species of fish, corals and invertebrates and spanning the years 1988 to 2003. These data have permitted the most accurate quantitative estimates to date of the size of the global trade in marine ornamental fish and corals, and the first ever estimates for invertebrates other than corals, a previously overlooked section of the industry.
FISH
A total of 1,471 species of fish are traded worldwide with the best estimate of annual global trade ranging between 20 and 24 million individuals. Damselfish (Pomacentridae) make up almost half of the trade, with species of angelfish (Pomacanthidae), surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), wrasses (Labridae), gobies (Gobiidae) and butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) accounting for approximately another 25-30 per cent. The most traded species are the blue-green damselfish (Chromis viridis), the clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris), the whitetail dascyllus (Dascyllus aruanus), the sapphire devil (Chrysiptera cyanea) and the threespot dascyllus (Dascyllus trimaculatus). The ten most
traded species account for about 36 per cent of all fish traded for the years 1997 to 2002. Trade data, correlated with aquarium suitability information, indicate that two species known not to acclimatize well to aquarium conditions are nonetheless very commonly traded. They are the bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus: GMAD records 87,000 worldwide imports of this species from 1997 to 2002) and the mandarin fish (Synchiropus splendidus: GMAD records 11,000 live individuals exported to the EU in the same period). Data further indicate that species characterized as ‘truly unsuitable’, mainly due to their restricted dietary requirements, such as the foureye butterflyfish (Chaetodon capistratus), the harlequin filefish (Oxymonacanthus longisrostris) and the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse (Labroides phtirophagus), are also commonly traded, albeit in lower numbers.
CORALS
A total of 140 species of stony coral, nearly all scleractinians, are traded worldwide, with the best estimate of annual global trade ranging between 11 and 12 million pieces. Although difficulties associated with accurate coral identification probably make species data less reliable for corals than for fish, it is clear that species in seven genera (Trachyphyllia, Euphyllia, Goniopora, Acropora, Plerogyra, Catalaphyllia) are the most popular, accounting for approximately 56 per cent of the live coral trade between 1988 and 2002. Sixty-one species of soft coral are also traded, amounting to close to 390,000 pieces per year. Sarcophyton spp. (leather/mushroom/ toadstool coral) and Dendronephthya spp. (carnation coral) are two of the most commonly traded species. However, whilst the biology of the former makes it a hardy, fast-growing and easily propagated species under
aquarium conditions, Dendronephthya spp. usually die within a few weeks, mainly due to the fact that they lack photosynthetic symbionts and rely on filtering particles and nutrients in the water column for food.
INVERTEBRATES
More than 500 species of invertebrates (other than corals) are traded as marine ornamentals, though the lack of a standard taxonomy makes it difficult to arrive at a precise figure. The best estimate of global annual trade ranges between 9 and 10 million animals, mostly molluscs, shrimps and anemones. Two groups of cleaner shrimp, Lysmata spp. and Stenopus spp., and a group of anemones, Heteractis spp., account for approximately 15 per cent of all invertebrates traded.
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