location: West Java

location: West Java

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‘The Javan tiger still exists’: DNA find may herald an extinct species’ comeback
- A 2019 sighting by five witnesses indicates that the long-extinct Javan tiger may still be alive, a new study suggests.
- A single strand of hair recovered from that encounter is a close genetic match to hair from a Javan tiger pelt from 1930 kept at a museum, the study shows.
- “Through this research, we have determined that the Javan tiger still exists in the wild,” says Wirdateti, a government researcher and lead author of the study.
- The Javan tiger was believed to have gone extinct in the 1980s but only officially declared as such in 2008, along with the Bali tiger; a third Indonesian subspecies, the Sumatran tiger, is also edging closer to extinction.

Biomass-burning coal plants leave the air even dirtier, Java communities say
- PLTU 1 Indramayu, a 13-year-old coal power complex, has begun adding biomass to the coal it burns on the north coast of West Java province.
- Indonesia’s state electricity firm said its 43 coal units nationwide consumed 1 million metric tons of biomass across in 2023, a 71% increase over 2022, as it seeks ways to trim emissions.
- In Indramayu, local people fear coal plants are endangering public health.

Java’s frogman reflects on half-century dive into amphibian world
- Djoko Tjahjono Iskandar has spent nearly 50 years exploring rural Indonesia in pursuit of novel frog species.
- Indonesia is home to almost 10% of around 6,000 known species of frogs in the world; however, scientists warn half of amphibians worldwide could be lost without urgent action.
- The archipelago of 270 million people also accounts for a majority of the world’s exports of frogs’ legs to Europe and other regions, most of which are caught in the wild.

Communities on troubled Java river mold future from plastic waste
- The Ciliwung is a highly polluted river running from Mount Pangrango in western Java, through the city of Bogor, before ending in the bay north of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital.
- Since 2018, Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto has overseen an initiative to rehabilitate the river, which was awash with plastics and dangerous levels of fecal coliform bacteria.
- Bogor is among more than 50 global cities participating in the Plastic Smart Cities, initiated by WWF to help eliminate plastics from nature.

Finance and support are key to fishers adopting eco-friendly gear, study shows
- Access to financing, the support of a peer group, and a general awareness of environmental problems are all factors that make it more likely a fisher will switch to using eco-friendly gear, a new study shows.
- The findings come from a three-month survey of nearly 650 blue swimming crab fishers on the north coast of the Indonesian island of Java.
- It found that those who made the switch also enjoyed significantly higher production and profitability, while also reducing their catch of egg-bearing female crabs, thus helping the sustainability of stocks.
- The study authors say these factors should provide valuable insights for fisheries policymakers in Indonesia and other less-industrialized countries.

Iconic Indonesian raptor still threatened by habitat degradation, isolation
- The latest survey has showed an increase in population of the Javan hawk-eagle, an iconic bird of prey endemic to Indonesia, from the previous survey carried out in 2009.
- Still, the research also found habitat isolation is a growing concern, linked to the small size of forest patches as primary forest is lost due to human activity.
- The Javan hawk-eagle heavily relies on primary forests for breeding, particularly for the tall trees in which it builds its nests.
- The hawk-eagle is Indonesia’s national bird, and conservation efforts were meant to boost its population by 10% from a 2019 baseline; this hasn’t happened, according to the recent survey.

Java farmers displaced by dam remain treading water after decades
- Farmers displaced by Indonesia’s Jatigede Dam have been forced to find new livelihoods or move to different regions of the archipelago.
- Many families were paid the equivalent of just 50 U.S. cents per square meter of land at the time, or 4.5 cents per square foot, as land acquisition accelerated in the 1980s.
- Indonesia’s second-largest dam is about to commence operation as a 110-megawatt hydroelectric plant, in addition to providing irrigation water for around 1 million farmers.

In Indonesia, ‘opportunistic’ whale shark fishery shows gap in species protection
- Indonesia has since 2013 banned the capture, trade and exploitation of whale sharks, a protected species.
- Yet scores of records from 2002-2022 shown whale sharks continue to be butchered and sold along the southeastern coast of Java Island after either beaching or being unintentionally caught by fishers, according to a new study.
- The continuing illegal exploitation shows the need for more awareness raising against it by conservation authorities and groups, experts say.
- Indonesia is home to the longest coastline in Asia, and its waters serve as both a habitat and an important migratory route for species of marine megafauna like whale sharks.

Plastic ‘Frankenrocks’ pose new pollution threat to coastal environment
- Scientists are finding more evidence of a new, insidious form of plastic pollution: melted plastic that has melded with rocks, coral and other naturally occurring material in coastal areas.
- Samples of these “Frankenrocks” collected from a single beach on a single island in Indonesia were likely formed by the burning of plastic trash.
- They pose a danger to marine life because they can break down into microplastics that then enter the food chain, and can also leach toxic chemicals into the environment.
- Scientists have called for more study into this new and growing phenomenon, saying these Frankenrocks require specialized cleanup management to ward off a “serious problem.”

Indonesian project shows how climate funding can — and should — go directly to IPLCs
- Three of Indonesia’s largest Indigenous and civil society organizations have launched a new initiative that will be first to channel climate funds directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) on the frontlines of protecting forests, restoring land and ensuring food security.
- The initiative, called the Nusantara Fund, is part of a pledge by five countries and 17 private donors to distribute $1.7 billion, announced at the COP26 climate summit in 2021.
- The current climate investment model often excludes local communities, with only 7% of the roughly $322 million disbursed in the first year of the pledge going directly to IPLC organizations.
- The Nusantara Fund seeks to correct this faulty model by distributing funds directly to IPLCs and letting them manage and monitor the funding by themselves, based on the fact that they’re the ones who know best what their needs are.

Java communities rally as clock ticks on cleanup of ‘world’s dirtiest river’
- A national program to transform Java’s Citarum River into a source of drinking water expires in 2025.
- A reforestation program in uplands near the source of the river is drawing on community volunteers.
- West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil tells Mongabay that residents will see improved water quality by 2025 and that there is political will to tackle the crisis.

Planned coal plants fizzle as Japan ends financing in Indonesia, Bangladesh
- Two planned coal-fired power plants, one in Indonesia and the other in Bangladesh, have had their funding withdrawn by the Japanese government, as part of Tokyo’s decision to no longer bankroll coal projects in either country.
- Officials in both countries have already confirmed that neither project — a new installation in Bangladesh and an expansion of an existing plant in Indonesia — will be going ahead.
- For Indonesia in particular, the move also means the loss of the top three foreign funders of coal plants in the country, after similar decisions by China and South Korea; the three East Asian countries account for 95% of foreign funding of coal plants in Indonesia since 2013.
- Activists have welcomed Japan’s announcement, including communities living near the existing plant in Indonesia, who have reported health problems and loss of livelihoods as a result of pollution from the plant.

Environment award stokes urge to save Indonesia’s karst landscape
- A youth group that started out as a rock-climbing club has reached new heights in its efforts to stop the illegal mining of the Citatah karst landscape in Indonesia’s West Java province.
- The karst’s limestone is coveted for cement production, but its destruction has led to groundwater depletion, air and noise pollution, land erosion, animal extinction, and farmland loss.
- The Citatah Karst Care Youth Forum was last year recognized by Indonesia’s environment ministry for its work in conserving what remains of the landscape.
- Since its founding in 2009, the forum has staged public awareness campaigns, helped build a nascent “geotourism” industry, and engaged mining companies to conserve and restore local ecosystems.

In Indonesia’s ‘Dragon Village,’ customs and nature are at the center of life
- The village of Kampung Naga in Indonesia’s West Java province has for decades eschewed modernization for a way of life rooted in a deep spiritual connection to nature.
- Kampung Naga families have worked for generations to preserve the forest in the Ciwulan River Basin, all under the guidance of a customary rule book.
- They have also worked to reintroduce more than 10 variants of rice seeds that were phased out during the 1950s in favor of new higher-yield varieties.
- Today, Kampung Naga offers a limited form of tourism, aimed at presenting the community’s customary traditions to a handful of curious outsiders at a time.

Beached whale shark in Indonesia reportedly cut up by locals to eat
- Locals in Indonesia’s West Java province reportedly cut up and ate a whale shark that washed up on a beach last week.
- Authorities have deplored the incident, noting that the species is protected under Indonesian law.
- Marine animal strandings are common in Indonesia as its waters serve as both a habitat and an important migratory route for dozens of species.

Scientists describe new tree frog in push to catalog Indonesia’s amphibians
- A recent study by researchers from Indonesia and Japan describes the molecular, morphological and acoustic traits of a new frog species from Java: Chirixalus pantaiselatan.
- Scientists recommend further research be conducted to evaluate the breeding traits, distribution and population size to determine IUCN and Indonesian national conservation status of the new species.
- Of the more than 400 frog species in Indonesia, only one amphibian, the bleeding toad (Leptophryne cruentata), is currently listed as an Indonesian protected species.
- Citizen science program Go ARK (Gerakan Observasi Amfibi Reptil Kita) is using the iNaturalist scientific data-sharing platform to contribute to a national database for amphibian and reptile research across the Indonesian archipelago.

Indonesia reports two new Javan rhino calves in the species’ last holdout
- Indonesia has reported the sighting of two Javan rhino calves on different occasions in April and June.
- The new calves have boosted hopes of stable population growth for the nearly extinct species in its last habitat on Earth.
- While strict conservation measures have helped stabilize the population, the species still faces other threats from natural disasters, a resurgence in human encroachment, and the risk of contagious disease from livestock herds.

Javan leopards, the dwindling ‘guardians’ of Java’s forests
- Tradition holds that the Javan leopard is a symbol of prosperity, and a guardian of forests that provide people with healthy water and fresh air.
- However, this big cat species is critically endangered and relegated to small patches of forest scattered about the heavily populated Indonesian island of Java.
- Mongabay spoke with biologist Hariyo “Beebach” Wibisono about its status and the conservation strategies which could be successful, if supported by officials, citizens and donors.

Two new Javan rhino calves spotted in the species’ last holdout
- Indonesia has announced sightings of two Javan rhino calves this year in Ujung Kulon National Park, the last place on Earth where the critically endangered species is found.
- The new additions bring the estimated population of the species to 73; conservationists have recorded at least one new calf a year joining the population since 2012.
- Despite the stable population growth, the rhinos remain under the looming threat of disease, natural disaster, and a resurgence in encroachment.

Bribery-tainted coal plant in Indonesia held up as landowners hold out
- Landowners in Indonesia have refused the compensation offered by a power plant developer seeking to build on their land.
- This marks the latest setback for the Cirebon 2 coal-fired power plant project, which says it only wants to rent the land and not buy it outright.
- Construction of the 1,000-megawatt plant has already been held up by the COVID-19 pandemic, while the project developers also face allegations of bribing local officials to greenlight the venture.
- Other coal power plant projects in Indonesia have also been mired in corruption, with activists saying the confluence of money, politics and power makes them a “bribery hotspot.”

Lockdown should have cleared up Jakarta’s air. Coal plants kept it dirty
- Cities around the world have seen an improvement in air quality as a result of lockdowns and restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Jakarta has been a notable exception.
- A new study shows that persistently high levels of PM2.5 air pollutant in the Indonesian capital come from coal-fired power plants within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the city.
- Indonesia is set to build more coal-fired power plants in the vicinity of Jakarta in the coming years while maintaining emissions standards that are much laxer than regional or global standards.
- Air pollution has a significant impact on public health and the economy, with studies linking it to higher rates of COVID-19 infection.

Indonesia’s $300m geothermal play risks being undercut by cheap coal
- The Asian Development Bank has granted Indonesian power developer PT Geo Dipa Energi (GDE) a $300 million loan to expand two geothermal plants in Java.
- But the plants will be supplying the Java-Bali grid that is already 40% overcapacity,thanks to a glut of cheap power from coal-fired power plants.
- Clean-energy observers also say the expansion of the plants carries the risk of environmental damage, including land subsidence from groundwater extraction, and deforestation to build new wells.
- Indonesia plans to generate 23% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2025, but growth in renewables is far outstripped by existing and new coal-fired plants, 10 of which came online last year alone.

Indonesian activists denounce a road being built illegally in leopard habitat
- Environmental activists and residents have demanded a road project in Indonesia’s West Java province be scrapped because it lacks the required permits and could exacerbate floods and landslides.
- The road will cut through a protected forest on Mount Cikuray, home to Javan leopards and other threatened wildlife.
- District authorities have admitted they began clearing forest for the project before obtaining the necessary permits from the central government.
- The national parliament and the environment ministry have also weighed in on the issue, with the latter saying it will investigate and may order the project stopped.

Indonesia investigates oil spill in Java Sea by state energy company
- An oil well operated by Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina has been leaking crude into the Java Sea for nearly three weeks now.
- The slick has spread as far as 84 kilometers (52 miles) to the west and covers an area of more than 4,500 hectares (11,100 acres), according to satellite imagery.
- Pertamina says it may take eight weeks to shut off the leaking well, and three months for affected areas to recover from the environmental damage.
- The leak is the latest involving Pertamina. Five people were killed in March last year when oil from a ruptured Pertamina pipeline caught fire in Borneo.

Search for a new home for Javan rhinos put on hold
- The Indonesian government says plans to establish a second habitat for the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros have been put on hold.
- The species numbers an estimated 68 individuals, all of them corralled in a national park on the western tip of the island of Java.
- Conservationists had for years considered finding a second habitat outside the park to establish a new population of rhinos, given the risks they currently face from disease and natural disasters.
- However, the top contender for a second habitat currently serves as a military training ground, leaving conservationists to find ways to expand the rhinos’ suitable habitat within the national park.

Vets rule out poaching and disease in recent death of rare Javan rhino
- In March, a Javan rhinoceros was found dead in a protected area at the western tip of the Indonesian island.
- A necropsy carried out by veterinarians has now determined that the young rhino bled to death, due to injuries likely sustained during a fight with an adult male rhino.
- The finding rules out earlier fears that the rhino may have been killed by poachers or contracted an infectious disease from livestock living near the park.
- The estimated population of the critically endangered animals is now at a minimum 68 individuals.

Illegal online sales driving mercury pollution crisis in Indonesia
- Illegal online mercury sales are booming in Indonesia.
- Use of the toxic metal was banned in 2014, but it remains popular among small-time miners, for whom it’s become increasingly easy to procure online.
- It’s a quick and dirty process that constitutes the livelihoods of some 1 million people spread across the country. But prolonged exposure to mercury can have severe health consequences.

Deadly tsunami leaves Javan rhinos untouched, but peril persists
- A tsunami that killed more than 400 people in Indonesia has left the last remaining population of Javan rhinos unscathed.
- The species’ last habitat, Ujung Kulon National Park, was hit by the Dec. 22 tsunami caused by an eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano, but the rhinos were not in harm’s way, officials have confirmed.
- The disaster has once again highlighted the constant peril that the species lives under, and strengthened calls to establish a new habitat elsewhere to ensure the survival of the rhino.

Indonesian court throws out lawsuit against green expert’s testimony
- A court in Indonesia has thrown out a lawsuit against an environmental expert whose testimony was instrumental in the conviction of a governor over a mining scandal.
- The governor, Nur Alam, had sued Basuki Wasis, an environmental degradation expert, over his assessment of the damage caused by illegal mining resulting from his improper issuance of mining licenses.
- It’s the second lawsuit Basuki has faced and overcome in connection with his role as a government witness in environmental cases. Fellow expert Bambang Hero Saharjo faces a near-identical lawsuit, which is also widely expected to fall flat.
- The judges in Basuki’s case emphasized the need to protect the testimonies of expert witnesses, to allow them to do their job without fear of a legal backlash.

For elusive Javan rhinos, camera traps are a benevolent Big Brother
- Camera traps in an Indonesian park have recorded the first ever video of Javan rhinos mating in the wild.
- The critically endangered species, with an estimated population of just 68 individuals, is notoriously elusive, evading even the conservationists and rangers responsible for studying and protecting it.
- The network of 120 camera traps, introduced in 2010, has given researchers and park officials valuable insights into the rhinos’ biology and behavior, and helped inform conservation strategies for the species.

Activists urge end to South Korean funding of Indonesia coal plants
- Activists in Indonesia have called on three South Korean financial institutions to withdraw their funding for new coal-fired power plants to be built in Java.
- The plants will be part of a complex that is already the biggest polluter in Southeast Asia, whose proximity to the metropolis of Jakarta could put the health of 30 million people at risk.
- The funding bucks a rising trend worldwide by governments and financial institutions to divest from coal projects and put their money in renewables instead.
- Building the new plants also makes little economic sense in light of dire warnings that the world must completely end coal-fired power generation by 2050 to avoid a global temperature rise of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

In protecting the Javan rhino, locals gain a ‘more meaningful life’
- Working in Javan rhino protection programs is no mean feat, according to locals who have dedicated decades of their lives to the endeavor.
- From getting chased by rhinos to meeting face-to-face with armed hunters, their experiences speak to the often grueling reality of on-the-ground conservation work, highlighted by rare encounters with the elusive animals.
- Yet despite the challenges, the workers say they have found worth in their daily duties, and have come to value the rhinos even more as a result.

Indonesia cites twisted bowel in death of Javan rhino
- Last month, rangers in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park found an adult male rhino dead on a beach.
- A necropsy determined the rhino’s death was due to complications from a twisted bowel, putting to rest fears of poaching or contagion.
- Despite the death, the Javan rhino population has shown stable growth with the birth of two calves earlier this year, putting the tally at minimum 68 individuals.

Javan rhino population holds steady amid ever-present peril
- The latest survey from the Indonesian government shows the population of the Javan rhino, one of the world’s most endangered large mammals, holding steady in its last remaining habitat.
- While the findings indicate a healthy and breeding rhino population, wildlife experts warn of the dangers looming over the animal’s existence, including human encroachment into its habitat and the ever-present threat of a volcanic eruption and tsunami.
- The Javan rhino is one of the last three Asian rhino species — alongside the Sumatran and Indian rhinos — all of which have been pushed to the brink of extinction.

In rural Indonesia, women spearhead the fight to protect nature
- This past July, some 50 environmental defenders, most of them women, from across Indonesia’s rural areas gathered for a discussion at an Islamic boarding school in West Java.
- The event highlighted women’s increasingly leading role in the grassroots movement to protect the country’s indigenous cultures, its natural resources and its long-held, but now threatened, traditional wisdoms and customs that champion sustainable development.
- Researchers say these women are at the leading edge of a new wave to defend and protect their homeland.

Global tropical peatland center to be established in Indonesia
- A tropical peatland center will be established in Indonesia’s city of Bogor soon.
- The Indonesian government will discuss the detail of the establishment next year.
- Indonesia said other countries could learn much from its experiences in managing peatlands and dealing with recurring peat fires.

In search of the fireface: The precarious, scandalous lives of the slow lorises of Java
- Cute and fuzzy but also vicious and venomous, Javan slow lorises have been driven to the brink of extinction by habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade.
- The Little Fireface Project in West Java is the first long-term research project focusing on the critically endangered primate.
- In addition to making strides toward understanding how to care for and reintroduce lorises to the wild, the project has revealed new details about the species’ complex, and often reality-show-worthy social behavior.

Photo of ‘resurrected’ extinct Indonesian tiger is actually leopard, scientists say
- A recent photograph of a big cat by park rangers in Java sparked suggestions that it could be the Javan tiger, which was officially declared extinct in 2003.
- Scientists, however, have concluded that the animal in the picture is a Javan leopard.
- The sighting of the critically endangered leopard subspecies has renewed calls to protect it from also going extinct.

China sends first pandas to Indonesia under captive-breeding agreement
- Two giant pandas from China arrived in Indonesia on a mission to increase the species’ population.
- The couple, a male and a female, will live in a special enclosure at a zoo outside Jakarta for the next decade.
- Zoo officials are open to trying every possible breeding technique to help the bears reproduce.

Indonesia abuzz over possible finding of extinct tiger
- Park rangers in Java photographed a big cat that resembled the Javan tiger which was officially declared extinct in 2003.
- The finding prompted authorities and NGO in Indonesia to deploy an investigation team to gather more evidence.
- Meanwhile, some experts argued that the animal was most likely the Javan leopard.

Indonesian court revokes environmental license for the Cirebon coal plant expansion
- An Indonesian administrative court ruled that expansion plans for the Cirebon coal-fired power plant in West Java are in violation of the local spatial planning law.
- The court ordered the project’s environmental license be revoked, without which development should not be able to continue.
- The verdict came one day after a consortium of lenders, led by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), committed to providing $1.74 billion in project financing.
- Local and international environment activists have protested the expansion plans for years, and the project is currently the subject of a civil suit.

Camera traps reveal undiscovered leopard population in Javan forest
- Government camera traps spotted three individuals in the Cikepuh Wildlife Reserve, along the southern coast of Indonesia’s main central island of Java.
- The environment ministry says 11 leopards are thought to exist in the sanctuary.
- The Javan leopard is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.

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