Indonesia’s Race to Preserve the Habitat of Javan Gibbon

Indonesian researchers have been working to preserve a pocket of land on Java for the Javan gibbon, a species of apes that live primarily on the island’s subtropical and tropical rainforests. The skyrocketing population growth and human encroachment, coupled with the devastating effects of climate change, have pushed Javan gibbons off their ideal habitats in the forests.

The Javan gibbon are instrumental to central and western Java. They play an important role in the local ecosystem of the island by dispersing seeds and regenerating forest vegetation. The increasing number of harmful human activities on the Petungkriyono Forest in central Java has pushed Javan gibbons off their natural habitat, leading them to become endangered and their surrounding environment to be negatively impacted. If the problem worsens, experts warn that there is a 50% chance that the gibbons could even become extinct in the next decade.

Local conservation groups like the SwaraOwa are working on initiatives and educational campaigns to raise awareness about the threat facing the Javan gibbons. Together with the Indonesian government, SwaraOwa holds outreach programs with the local community every month to discuss potential plans to save the gibbons, and they have also installed signage prohibiting hunting and illegal logging in the forest. They even had a project working with local village chiefs to cultivate shade-grown coffee as a business as a way of removing the heavy toll of growing coffee in the forest. 

As climate change continues to worsen over the next decade, protecting our natural habitats is a priority. Especially in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia where there hasn’t been enough government support or funding for preservation efforts, local conservation groups and community members are key stakeholders in protecting the environment. I wonder if ASEAN has the power to unite the different Southeast Asian countries to work on a large-scale climate change mitigation initiative to ensure that endangered primate species like the Javan Gibbon can continue living in their natural habitats. I’m also curious to know if this is an issue that is just specific to island communities or if urban cities in Southeast Asia are also facing similar problems. 

Sources: 
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesias-race-to-preserve-habitat-of-javan-gibbon 
https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/fears-grow-endangered-javan-gibbon-80457001