Research: Protecting Java’s threatened montane wildlife
Gathering evidence about the abundance of species only found in mountainous regions of this Indonesian island.
Summary
Research summary
We are gathering evidence of the unprotected wildlife populations on the Indonesian island of Java to help local conservationists secure protection for threatened species.
Many of the species on the island are found nowhere else on the planet, especially those in its mountains.
Little is known about much of the wildlife, and this gap in knowledge is concerning given the scale of deforestation and capture of species for the pet trade.
We carried out multi-taxon population surveys across 37 sites on 12 mountains over two years.
As well as active searches for birds, mammals and amphibians, we also used camera traps to detect ground-dwelling mammals and passive acoustic recorders to capture the sounds of birds and primates.
Our aim was to identify key mountains that hold important wildlife that is currently unprotected.
The results are feeding into efforts by our partner, Burung Indonesia, to push for new protected areas with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment.
We recorded nearly 200 bird species and some important mammals such as Javan Leopards, pangolins and several primate species.
Analysis of the acoustic data is underway but we have already identified several species that are facing a clear threat from excessive trapping.
Our first published paper identifies the need to protect Gunung Slamet, a particularly important mountain in Central Java. Future papers will report data on mammals, birds and the habitat associations of key species.
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Header image: © Gabby Salazar
Research outputs
Academic papers
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Devenish, C, Junaid, AR, Andriansyah, Saryanthi, R, van Balen, S, Fajar, Ganjar, Stanley, R, Poole, O, Owen, A, Collar, NJ and Marsden, SJ (2021) Biological richness of Gunung Slamet, Central Java, and the need for its protection. Oryx
Blog posts
Team
Funding
With funding from
Rainforest Trust
Chester Zoo
Contact
Contact us
For general enquiries about our Conservation, Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour research group, you can contact its leads Dr Robyn Grant and Dr Sue Anne Zollinger.
