Tag Archives: Birdwatching

01Nov/22

Petungkriyono Bird Race 2022

all participants, guest speakers and commitee

With the announcement of the winners, the Petungkriyono Bird Race drew to a close on Sunday, 23 October 2022. This competition cum workshop, which had centred on the Black Canyon tourist area in Tinalum Hamlet (Kayupuring Village), lasted three days in total.

In the General category, Team MuLia comprising Wahyudi and Candra Setyawan Nurwijaya came out on top. The delegation from the Youth Organisation of Tlogoguwo Village, Purworejo, managed to beat the seven other registered teams.

The first and second runners-up in the same category were both teams from Jakarta. In second place were Muhammad Bilal Yogaswara and Ainaya Nurfadila (Team Butuh Pendamping Hidup) who represented Simpul Indonesia, and coming third were Aditya Nurrahma Badri and Niken Rahmawati (Team Finding Burung Dulu), from Finding Orchid.

The General category also comprised several other youth groups, agroforestry organisations, as well as the Masyarakat Mitra Polhut, who hail from all over Java, including Jakarta, Pekalongan, Purworejo, Klaten, and Yogyakarta.

participants activity

For the Student category, Team Ngalor-Ngidul won the first place, representing Paguyuban Pengamat Burung Jogja (Birdwatchers’ Association of Yogyakarta). The association, which brings together campus-based birders in Yogyakarta, sent Raden Nicosius Liontino Alieser and Rio Syahrudin.

The second place was won by Muhammad Nafis Ufsi and Ridza Dewananta Subagyo (Team Haliaster team), who took part on behalf of Mapala Haliaster (the Student Naturalists’ Association) of Diponegoro University, Semarang. Placing third were David Suharjanto and Haqqul Fata (Team Bionic) from Kelompok Pengamat Burung Bionic (Bionic Birdwatching Group), Yogyakarta State University. David had been tasked with briefing all participants on the Indonesian Birdwatcher’s Code of Conduct before the race started.

It was in the Student category that we had the most intense competition. The winners had to beat dozens of other teams representing bird and wildlife interest groups from a wide array of universities, namely Jakarta State University, National University, IPB University, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Malang Agricultural Institute, Malang State University, and Airlangga University.

The winners were each given a trophy and prizes worth a total of 12 million rupiah. In addition, a special prize for the Most Dedicated Team was awarded to Team Rangkong Racing Club from Mapalipma (Student Naturalists’ Association of the Malang Agricultural Institute) consisting of Arrayaana Artaka and Ahmad Nizar Zulmi Yahya

Chesnut-breasted Malkoha, (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris), encountered by participants in the 2022 Petungkriyono Bird Race

Conservation Workshop

In addition to the competition, the event also included a conservation workshop that was divided into three sessions.

The first featured Untoro Tri Pamungkas, Perhutani chief administrator and Director of the SwaraOwa  Arif Setiawan as speakers. This session was all about conservation in the Petungkriyono forest area.

The next workshop session started with a keynote speech by Waskito Kukuh Wibowo from Birdpacker, Malang, who covered various aspects of birdwatching ecotourism in Indonesia. Kuswoto, chairman of Welo Asri, was the opening speaker representing managers of tourist sites in Kayupuring Village.

the winner General Category

At the third and final session, which focussed on community-based bird conservation, Imam Taufiqurrahman from the SwaraOwa Foundation delivered the first talk. He explained how seven villages had been involved in a survey of Javan blue-banded kingfisher populations.

The second presentation was by Kelik Suparno, chairman of the Wanapaksi KTH Conservation Division, Jatimulyo. He talked us through his group’s efforts to turn Jatimulyo into a Bird-Friendly Village. Their flagship project is the nest adoption programme, which they have been running since 2017. As of October 2022, the programme has successfully protected 61 nests belonging to 15 bird species, including increasingly rare songbirds such as the Javan blue flycatcher (Cyornis banyumas) and Brown-cheeked bulbul (Alophoixus bres), yielding a total of 93 fledglings.

In total, this nest protection programme involves 45 adopters, both individuals and institutions, and 29 land owners. To date, it has raised more than 45 million rupiah for parties such as loca govt, landowners, and KTH Wanapaksi as coordinators.

Concluding the workshop was a debrief and discussion round moderated by Swis Winasis, the creator of the Burungnesia application. Swis Winasis began with a summary of the presentations of the previous speakers in order to get participants thinking and talking about how birdwatchers can contribute to bird conservation.

He then introduced to us the concept of the silent forest. This describes a situation where birds and other animals have largely disappeared from their habitats due to hunting and trading going unchecked. The verdant Petungkriyono forest is in fact the perfect example of a silent forest.

Swis Winasis, a Batu native, elaborated that in total, the participants had seen or heard no more than 32 bird species having spent half a day in the Petungkriyono forest, going by their notes. The average number of species contestants recorded was between eight and 10.

The ensuing discussion round was meant to introduce the projects of the organisations involved. One of the topics that subsequently emerged was the 10th Meeting of Indonesian Birdwatchers. The intention is now for the event to take place in Jakarta

After having been called off for two years in a row due to COVID, no plans had yet been made for a future edition of that meeting. In the discussion, representatives from Jakarta were tasked to draw up a conference agenda with the birdwatching community there.

The Petungkriyono Bird Race 2022 would not have been possible without the support and assistance of many parties. The Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP), Oriental Bird Club (OBC), Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Zoo Ostrava, and Chances for Nature were the main sponsors. Perhutani supported the event by providing a location to facilitate the flow of participants, funds, and door  prize.

As the organiser of the event, the SwaraOwa Foundation have also received invaluable assistance from various members of the Kayupuring Village community, especially the residents of Tinalum and Sokokembang hamlets. In addition, the organising committee comprised members of the Mendolo Young Farmers Association, Pekalongan University students, and Doro residents.

These conservation-themed competitions and workshops were organised in collaboration with the Black Canyon and Welo Asri tourist organisations, who provided the venue. Burungnesia and Birdpacker provided the applications used in the competition, as well as various door prizes.

Ticket to the Moon sponsored the main door gift for all participants. Other memorabilia were provided by Owa Coffee, Perhutani, and the Department of Environment and Forestry of Central Java Province. Tower Bersama Group provided free health services for one day for participants and committee members.

Written by : Imam Taufiqurrahman, translated by T.T Chan