Tag Archives: javan gibbon

10Aug/23

“A Decade of Javan Gibbon in the landscape of the Dieng Mountains, Central Java, Indonesia”

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Javan gibbon ( Hylobates moloch)

Press release

“A Decade of Javan Gibbon in the landscape of the Dieng Mountains, Central Java, Indonesia”

Yogyakarta, August 10 2023. The Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) as the only ape on the island of Java, can be said to be a global identity, because our country Indonesia is also known for the existence of endemic species such as gibbons which cannot be found naturally in other countries. Its population size and natural habitat remain important for Indonesia.

The population and distribution of gibbons on the island of Java are only found in West Java and Central Java. In Central Java, there are currently two large populations, namely on Mount Slamet and forest complex  areas that span across several regions (Kendal, Batang, Wonosobo, Banjarnegara and Pekalongan), which is hereinafter referred to as the Dieng mountain landscape.

In 2012 Setiawan, et al, (https://smujo.id/biodiv/article/view/208) conducted research on the population and distribution of gibbons in Central Java. The line transect observation method was used in this study, and the current estimation results are approximately 881 individuals in the Dieng mountain landscape and 175 individuals in Mt. Slamet . The results of this study later became the basis for a series of activities for the SWARAOWA in Central Java. After this research, SWARAOWA focused on conservation activities in one of the locations mentioned in the study which had the highest density and threat in the Sokokembang forest, Petungkriyono District, Pekalongan Regency. It is from the Sokokembang forest that gibbon conservation activities in the Dieng Landscape are currently being developed, through the Coffee and Primate Conservation Project.

In 2023, after a decade, how’s the gibbon population in Central Java, especially in this Dieng landscape?

Salmah Widyastuti, with colleagues then led research in 2021-2022 to update information regarding the population and distribution of the Javan gibbon in the Dieng landscape and has been published at https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/100805/. By using survey techniques based on gibbon vocalization(vocal counting triangulation) as well as habitat suitability analysis, the results of the study estimate the population after a decade there are 1092 individuals in the Dieng mountain landscape. This means that there is a population increase of 23% compared to 10 years ago. This population increase may indicate the success of conservation efforts from many parties in the Dieng landscape. However, more efforts and collaboration must be put in place to ensure the long term future of the gibbons in the central part of Java Island.

SWARAOWA

Arif Setiawan – Project Director for Coffee and Primate Conservation, email : [email protected]

16Apr/23

The Ecosystem Services behind Mendolo’s Coffee

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By Sidiq Harjanto, translated by T.T.Chan

The rufous piculet, perched on in Mendolo agro-forest coffee

Pekalongan Regency is one of the regions in Central Java Province known for coffee production. According to the Indonesian Plantation Statistics 2020-2022 data released by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture’s Directorate General of Plantations, the output of robusta coffee from smallholders in Pekalongan was at 372 tonnes, involving a total of 1,650 farmers on 483 ha of land. That of arabica coffee, on the other hand, was at 100 tonnes from 857 farmers on 198 ha.

In terms of total volume, Pekalongan produces far less robusta beans than the neighbouring regencies of Temanggung (9,761 tonnes), Kudus (1,594 tonnes), and Banjarnegara (1,570 tonnes). This significant difference in figures is due in part to the area of land and number of farmers involved in growing coffee. However, Pekalongan performs quite well on productivity per hectare at 823 kg/ha, which is above the national average of 817 kg/ha. That said, these figures are still a far cry from Vietnam’s 2,300 kg/ha.

Mendolo is a village in Pekalongan where livelihoods largely depend on coffee produced through the agroforestry system. In order to enhance the value of coffee beans grown by local farmers, the Mendolo Young Farmers’ Association (PPM Mendolo) now grind these, which they market under the brand ‘Kopi Batir’. The Kopi Batir brand also offers roasting services to locals who want to enjoy coffee from their village’s plantations without having to do the roasting themselves.

Last year, this coffee business produced around 700 kgs of premium quality coffee, sold in the form of ground coffee or green beans. While this amount still pales in comparison to the volume of coffee beans from this village sold as cherries or sent out without sorting, the production capacity of this business continues to increase year by year.

In fact, Kopi Batir roasted more than one tonne of coffee beans in 2022. M. Ridholah is the man behind this remarkable initiative that has revived his fellow villagers’ interest in drinking their own coffee. Only equipped with a simple self-assembled roaster machine, he has helped to place Kopi Batir at the forefront of steering consumption trends away from factory coffee and towards locally grown coffee.

A Small Step in a Promising Direction

Creating the optimal coffee plantation requires knowledge of and experience in land preparation, fertilisation, pruning, pest control and a well-thought-out harvesting process. In addition, coffee growers need to understand the ways in which their crop interacts with the natural environment – how their productivity could be influenced by ecosystem services, for example.

On 18 March 2023, as part of our ‘Mendolo Coffee Meet’ event, SwaraOwa/Owa Coffee invited PPM Mendolo and representatives of coffee growers to work out how coffee cultivation in Mendolo could be done in a way that reflects greater ecological awareness. Our hope was to come up with a set of improved practices that would allow the natural environment to thrive and provide farmers with ecosystem services in order to boost their income.

a tailor foraging for food on a flowering coffee tree

Biodiversity is an integral part of agroforestry plantations and has the potential to be a positive influence on the crops grown there. Chain-Guadarrama et al., in a 2019 article ‘Ecosystem services by birds and bees to coffee in a changing climate: A review of coffee berry borer control and pollination‘, state that birds and bees are two types of fauna that play a key role in coffee cultivation. Many bird species prey on insects and are therefore indispensable as ecological pest-control agents. Remove these birds and the insect population could explode, resulting in direct losses for farmers.

To ensure that birds can fulfil their role in the ecosystem, they must first be protected and allowed to live freely in the wild. Next, birds also need suitable habitat. Agroforestry or intercropping could provide this as they ensure that a variety of vegetation layers and types are present, thereby increasing opportunities for birds to find food and places to nest.

beekeeping in the agro-forest coffee is perfect combination in Mendolo

wildlife photography, as a medium to increase appreciation of biodiversity in Mendolo Agro-forest

Bees, on the other hand, help to pollinate coffee plants. Robusta coffee requires cross pollination, which is done by the wind and insects. Arabica coffee differs in being able to self-pollinate, but insect-mediated pollination has been proven to increase the quality and quantity of the crop. Therefore, bees have the potential to boost Arabica coffee yields.

There are numerous species of bee worldwide, including dozens of types of honey bee, hundreds of stingless bees (klancèng), and thousands of solitary bees. Each type has its own distribution and occupies different habitats. Which species of bees are beneficial for coffee and what type of habitat they need are issues that still require a lot of research.

Fully leveraging various bee species as pollinating agents necessitates the protection of their habitat, avoiding the use of pesticides and integrating beekeeping into spaces used for agriculture. In Mendolo, stingless bee husbandry has been practised since 2017. Aside from producing honey that could generate more income for locals, beekeeping in Mendolo also allows farmers to reap the benefits of the ecosystem services provided by bees, which both increase agricultural productivity and improve the sustainability of the forest.

Although the benefits agriculture stands to gain from ecosystem services are undeniable, our focus group discussions have revealed that much hard work is still needed to convince farmers to adopt bird and bee-friendly practices. More research needs to be done on the role of birds in keeping agricultural pest populations under control, and how these ecological services can best be harnessed. Likewise with bee pollination services, the ideal way of integrating beekeeping with agroforestry still remains to be found.

PPM Mendolo will spearhead participatory research to explore the roles of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Mendolo agroforestry system. They will also continue spreading awareness about the ecological roles of birds and bees. Given the community’s reliance on agriculture, Mendolo needs to be encouraged to become a village that cares about biodiversity. For this to be achieved, Mendolo and villages like it need to first have comprehensive data on their biodiversity.

We sincerely applaud PPM Mendolo for their pioneering work in pushing for innovation in agroforestry and raising awareness of how important biodiversity is to the local community. At our ‘Mendolo Coffee Meet’ event, SwaraOwa presented a roasting machine with a capacity of 1 kg to Batir Coffee. It was our token of appreciation to them for their hard work in developing coffee delights in Mendolo, as well as to PPM Mendolo for their efforts to encourage conservation in the village, including of the Javan gibbon and Javan slow loris.

 

10Feb/23

The richness of Mendolo Village – Durians and biodiversity

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By Sidiq Harjanto & Kurnia Ahmadin

Durian cultivars in Mendolo ( Foto Ikmal Biolaska)

We believe that a sustainable economy is key to safeguarding the forest habitat of the Javan gibbon. This is why SwaraOwa have made shade coffee (coffee that grows under the natural shade of forest trees), palm sugar and beekeeping ‘core businesses’ of ours. In this, our primary aim is to promote sustainable economic growth for the communities living around the forests inhabited by the Javan gibbon. If we manage to develop these businesses in line with forest conservation efforts, we will demonstrate that it is possible to improve the welfare of local communities without over-exploiting our forests.

In Mendolo Village, we are close partners with the Mendolo Young Farmers Association (PPM Mendolo), who are the driving force for nature conservation in their village. As the younger generation there mostly still practice farming, PPM Mendolo functions as an incubator for them to launch innovative projects at a local level.

Tasting the richness of Mendolo’s durians

Durian has long been a sought-after commodity in Mendolo Village. With its superior taste, Mendolo’s durians also form one of the main pillars of the local economy. However, because this village is quite hard to reach, its durians are not well known among lovers of this tropical fruit.

And so the PPM youth had the idea of transforming their village into an attraction where visitors can enjoy local durian directly at its source. Developing tourism will also boost Mendolo’s reputation as the home of quality durian.

On 15 January 2023, PPM Mendolo invited Biolaska (Students of Biology at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, IDS (Indonesia Dragonfly Society), and SwaraOwa to research the potential of durians from Mendolo Village. We inventoried and did taste profiling on durians grown by local farmers. Our aim is to produce a catalogue of durian varieties in Mendolo that will most certainly be of use to durian enthusiasts seeking to explore the richness of these durians that are Mendolo’s very own.

From a sample of 24 local durian varieties, we identified different physical and taste characteristics. Fruit shape ranges from perfectly round, to ovoid, to wavy, all the way to pear-shaped. Husk colours include green, yellow and brown. The fruit itself also varies in colour, from white to yellowish white  yellow. In terms of fruit taste, the profiles include sweet, creamy, alcoholic, slightly bitter, and sticky rice. The thickness of the fruit flesh is another variable characteristic.

During our time there, everybody was given a chance to experience ngramban, an activity where food plants growing wild in the forest are collected and then cooked for dinner. That night, we served up no less than 18 dishes. This is a valuable tradition, as preparing food from locally sourced natural ingredients instils in the village community an appreciation for the various wild plants and animals in their surroundings.

The wildlife found in the forests nearby also offers the potential for ecotourism. Wildlife watching has in fact vastly gained in popularity in recent years. In this connection, PPM Mendolo have actively collected data on the avifauna in and around the village, and monitored primates such as the Javan gibbon, Javan langur and Javan slow loris.

Sustainable growth for Mendolo

Our projects in Mendolo were not solely conceptualised as an alternative livelihood for the community, but also as a catalyst for village development. Law No. 6/2014 on Villages has brought about a paradigm shift, with the focus moving away from growing villages to villages growing. This puts villagers in the driver’s seat where village development is concerned. They are irreplaceable with their intimate knowledge of local conditions and history, and are our greatest hope in realising a development trajectory in line with sustainable principles.

Each village is unique in its potential for development. Getting villagers, especially the younger generation, acquainted with their biodiversity and various types of produce, will help spread awareness of how humans can enjoy tangible benefits from working in harmony with nature.

As a simple example, durian plantations do not automatically yield abundant fruit. In order to produce a good crop, farmers need wild birds to provide pest control services, as well as bats to do pollination. If they are made aware of this, the community will naturally want to protect the ecosystem to consistently reap a good durian harvest.

Biodiversity is Indonesia’s greatest asset and certainly also its future, but we need to preserve and manage it properly. For this to work, we must take care of diversity at the species, genetic and ecosystem level. The diversity of durian varieties in Mendolo is an example of diversity management at the genetic level. This diversity can be transformed into capital to develop Indonesia if more people come to appreciate the value of having such a broad range of durian flavours.

04Apr/22

Stingless Bee Honey Farming for Javan Gibbon Conservation Livelihood Program

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a stinglessbee hive box, among agro-forest habitat of Mendolo

Beekeeping has been named by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as one of the best sources of livelihood for communities in forested areas. Beekeeping provides two types of benefits that complement each other, the first economic, via the sale of the products thus generated, and the second ecological, by bees helping with pollination. For this reason, SwaraOwa have made promoting beekeeping one of our priorities for those communities living around the habitat of the Javan gibbon in Petungkriyono and Lebakbarang Districts, Pekalongan Regency, Central Java.

In Mendolo Village (Lebakbarang District), stingless bee honey farming – otherwise known as meliponiculture – has had a presence for a few years now. It all started with efforts to catalogue local bee species, which formed the basis for work on demonstration plots and on local outreach to explore the feasibility of keeping stingless bees in the area. Over the past year, several villagers have started rearing these bees, especially the species Heterotrigona itama.

stingless bee Heterotrigona itama

On March 25, 2022, SwaraOwa was assisted by the Young Farmers’ Association (Paguyuban Petani Muda, PPM) Mendolo in conducting a training session on stingless bee honey farming for the residents of Mendolo. It had originally been scheduled for the previous year, but the pandemic caused delays. A total of 21 villagers took part in the event, which comprised interactive discussions about the techniques used in keeping stingless bees and the residents’ progress with their bee colonies.

Rohim, one of the locals who took part, said that the main problems he faced was bee colonies losing their vitality and not yielding honey that could be harvested immediately. “I’d tried moving the bee colony several times but ended up failing. The bees seem to have all flown off,” he said, opening the discussion. Several other villagers faced the same problem.

Mendolo Beekeepers meet up

When the time came for the successful breeders to share their experiences, a lively discussion revealed that the culprit behind weakened colonies proved, in most cases, to be mistakes made when relocating the bees. “It is not that the whole colony had flown off, they were just short of winih (worker bees, ed.). This means that the bees hadn’t been relocated properly,” said Tarjuki, who, in the meantime, has succeeded in raising about 25 stingless bee colonies. Moving colonies inappropriately causes many worker bees to be unable to find their way home.

Aside from how colonies are moved around, the location of hives is also crucial. The ideal location is shady, but not densely packed with vegetation. Sunlight must still be able to reach the hive and there has to be enough air circulation so as not to trigger the growth of fungi that can harm the bees. On the other hand, if the vegetation is too sparse, the bees will be prone to attack by swallows and other birds.

Beekeepers should check on their bee colonies at least once a week. This is important, because nuisance species such as beetles, spiders and black ants have to be promptly removed to prevent them from attacking the colony and disrupting the supply of honey. Also, several kinds of parasite can destroy bee colonies and cause beekeeper huge losses.

Tarsono, another beekeeper, talks about his experiences from the previous season. He emphasises that only reasonable amounts of honey should be harvested to still leave the colony with a sufficient supply of food. This is especially relevant in the lead-up to the rainy season, when the flowers that the bees feed on become scarce. The attendees were encouraged to plant a variety of plants that bloom throughout the year. These flowers can help the bees tide over their ‘famine’ months.

The participants then looked at how to design the ideal beehive. The brood box for laying eggs is 15x15x15 cm. On top of it, a topping is installed as the honey compartment. By separating the brood and honey boxes, honey can be harvested without disturbing the bee colony too much. Harvesting should be done with an electric suction device to maintain cleanliness. This will also speed up honey production because honeycombs are not taken away and the bees can reuse the material.

At this event, SwaraOwa distributed practical manuals on stingless beekeeping. This book summarises the knowledge we had gained by doing research on demonstration plots over the past few years, supported by data from various sources. We hope for this book to serve as an additional reference for the community, so that they can continue developing the beekeeping industry they have pioneered.

Ultimately, this training session has equipped the Mendolo beekeepers with essential knowledge on how to prepare themselves for the dry season this year. It is then that the forest flowers bloom. If the villagers succeed in this year’s harvest, honey season will soon be upon us.

Written by : Sidiq Harjanto, Translated by T.T Chan

21Dec/21

Honey Bees in the forest habitat of the Javan gibbon

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Focussing especially on Pekalongan regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia, our work to conserve the Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch) mainly aims to support the sustainable production and marketing of coffee grown in the shade of forest trees (i.e. coffee agroforestry). However, since 2017, we have also launched a project that makes use of bees in the area to build and strengthen local livelihoods.

The SwaraOwa team’s very own bee specialist, Sidiq Harjanto, started this project by first compiling a list of the species  of bees found in the Sokokembang forest. He then did fieldwork at selected sites with different habitat types and altitudes to find out which species were present where. At the same time, he also researched which activities locals were already engaging in that related to bees. One of these, the harvesting of honey in the dry season, proved an interesting tradition to study and develop for sustainable use. In February 2017, we published a brief report detailing which species of bees were found in the area (read here). We concurrently started conceptualising projects to cultivate these bees. These projects centred around several villages near the forest habitat of the Javan gibbon, in Sokokembang, Tinalum, involving several species of stingless bees and the stinging bee Apis cerana in Setipis hamlet. All of these sites are in the Petungkriyono sub-district.

Because Javan gibbons inhabit the forests of the Lebakbarang sub-district, Mendolo village has become one of the focal points of our beekeeping project focused on stingless bees. One of the more important stingless bee species there is Heterotrigona itama, popular for its high yield of honey. To date, several community groups have used these bees for forest-friendly investments that have given them bountiful returns.

Beekeeping in and around the forest takes up a minimal amount of land, because it can be done in conjunction with forestry or agricultural activities in general. Unlike other livestock, bees can find their own food. The forest keeps them well supplied with nectar and pollen, which they store in their hives as honey and beeswax. By tirelessly visiting flowers, bees help to pollinate plants. It has been shown that in this, bees and other pollinating insects crucially support the production of fruits and other food crops, as well as help regenerate forests.

 

11Dec/20

Nyanyian Owa Jawa : diva di tengah rimba

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Oleh : Nur Aoliya , email :  [email protected]

Owa jawa (Hylobates moloch) di hutan Sokokembang, Petungkriyono

 “Emang ada Owa Jawa di Pekalongan?” itu pertanyaan pertama saya saat mendengar program konservasi owa jawa oleh Coffee and Primate Conservation Project atau sekarang lebih dikenal SwaraOwa  di desa sukokembang, kecamatan petungkriyono kabupaten pekalongan tahun 2014. Sampai sekarang tahun 2020 masih ada orang yang mempertanyakan akan hal itu, bahkan orang pekalongan sendiri ada yang tidak tahu kalo ada Owa Jawa di Pekalongan.

Salah satu yang unik dari owa adalah suara atau nyanyiannya, bak sebuah lagu. Baik owa betina maupun jantan dapat bersuara, namun waktu dan tipe suaranya berbeda. Owa jantan cenderung bersuara sebelum fajar sedangkan Owa betina cenderung bersuara setelah terang dan kadang siang hari. Jenis-jenis owa menghasilkan  nyanyian lagu yang keras dan panjang yang sebagian besar dipamerkan oleh pasangan yang telah kawin. Biasanya, pasangan menggabungkan nyanyian ini  (repertoire) dalam interaksi vokal, tepat waktu, dan kompleks untuk menghasilkan  pola duet yang baik.1

Perbedaan waktu bersuara Owa Jawa ini, kenapa seperti itu juga belum banyak yang meneliti. Di dunia hanya Owa dari Jawa dan Owa dari Mentawai dimana antara jantan dan betina tidak menyanyi bersama.

Sonogram , visualisasi suara owa jawa

Lebih menarik lagi suara yang dinyanyikan owa betina pada pagi hari yang disebut great call, karena suaranya sangat khas. Suaranya dimulai dengan suara “waa” dengan interval lambat yang semakin cepat sampai ke lengkingan panjang dan diakkhiri dengan interval yang semakin melambat.  Mungkin karena itulah satwa ini lebih dikenal sebagai owa-owa/ uwek-uwek karena suarnya terdengar melafalkan kata tersebut. Suara betina selain khas juga memiliki peranan sangat penting, yaitu sebagai tanda daerah teritorinya. Setiap kelompok owa memiliki area yang digunakan sebagai tempat mencari makan, istirahat, reproduksi, dan segala aktifitasnya. Area tersebut akan dijaga dan tidak akan mengijinkan owa dari kelompok lain untuk memasuki area mereka. Tugas owa betina ini menyiarkan batas-batas areanya melalui suaranya tiap pagi.

Lantas bagaimana owa tau bahwa ini suara betina yang mana? Dan dari kelompok mana? ini menjadi daya tarik saya untuk mepelajari variasi great call owa di sokokembang sebagai skripsi yang didukung oleh Swaraowa. Ternyata setelah saya mempelajari lebih lanjut baik secara literature maupun penelitian langsung setiap suara betina ini memiliki perbedaan. Perbedaanya dapat kita lihat dengan cara memvisualisasikan suara nyanyiannya, dan perbedaan yang utama  dari nadanya, durasinya dan frekuensinya (lihat gambar dan video). Seperti suara manusia yang berbeda-beda sehingga kita bisa membedakan manusia hanya dari suaranya tanpa melihat wujudnya kan? owa jawa juga begitu.

Saat ada satu betina yang bersuara maka akan memancing betina lain akan bersuara.  Antar betina yang beda kelompok tidak akan bersuara bersamaan alias bergantian, agar pesan  masing-masing kelompok tersampaikan. Biasanya betina remaja akan belajar bersuara bersama induk betinanya, tapi kadang suaranya masih nanggung atau tidak seharmoni induknya. Owa tidak akan bersuara saat hujan atau malam harinya hujan. Soalnya suaranya akan lebih sulit terdengar oleh kelompok lain dan butuh energi lebih saat hujan.  Jadi dari pada energi terbuang sia-sia untuk bersuara lebih baik digunakan untuk menghangatkan badan. Sama seperti kita kalo hujan juga penginya rebahan ajah, tidak  buang-buang energi.

Demikianlah sebagian fakta unik tentang owa jawa. Mudah-mudahan owa jawa dimanapun khususnya di Petungkriyono akan tetap lestari,  owa membantu regenerasi alami pohon-pohon alam, kita butuh hutan  dan owa jawa sebegai satu kesatuan, menikmati udara segar, air sungai yang deras dan jernih, sumber ekonomi dan  ilmu pengetahuan  yang harus kita rawat dan kelola dengan bijaksana. Menikmati nyanyiannya di hutan setidaknya akan memberikan rasa kedamaian diantara riuhnya suara-suara gemuruh pembangungan anthroposentris , nyanyian Owa seperti diva di tengah belatara, yang menunjukkan bahwa hutan tempat hidupnya masih terjaga. Melestarikan owa jawa dan hutan sama sajah menjamin kehidupan untuk manusia generasi selanjutnya.

 

Daftar Pustaka

  1. Geissmann, T. dan V. Nijman. 2001. Calling Behaviour of Wild Javan Gibbons Hylobates moloch In Java, Indonesia dalam Forest (and) Primates. Conservation and ecology of the endemic primates of Java and Borneo. Tropenbos Kalimantan Series