Last week I sent an email to Richard Grimmett, director of Birdlife
Indonesia and senior author of the new Indonesian field guide, asking for
details on the current status of the Gurney's Pitta conservation programme.
Here is his extremely interesting and thorough reply.
>Dear Ronald Orenstein,
>
>Thank you for your e-mail of 13th April and for your expression of concern
>about Gurney's Pitta. It is good, and probably timely, that the birding
>community is expressing anxiety about the situation. The following is a
>recent note that I have circulated to colleagues which I hope provides an
>overview of the current situation. Forgive me if it lacks the emotion that
>this issues deserves, but I want to present a brief and 'objective'
>picture, free of too much personal opinion. A more detailed and considered
>response will be issued by BirdLife around the end of May and once relevant
>parties have had a chance to consider and review the current situation (see
>below).
>
>
>>1. Over the past four years, Mahidol University and the Royal Forestry
>Department has been working to conserve the forests of Khao Nor Chuchi,
>with a particular focus on the lowland forests which lie outside of the
>current boundaries of the WildLife Sanctuary. This project is funded by the
>Danish Ministry of Environment (DANCED Programme) and is managed on behalf
>of DANCED by DOF (Danish Ornithological Society/BirdLife Denmark). The
>project has advanced a range of interventions including education and
>awareness, community development (especially agroforestry and market
>gardening), boundary consultation and demarcation, protected area and
>forest mapping and management planning, ecotourism development, engagement
>of local and provincial government etc. The Local and Provincial
>Governments (including two successive Governors) have been actively involved.
>>
>>2. The project was a follow-on from initiatives managed by Mahidol
>University with support directly from the BirdLife Secretariat, with
>funding from a variety of sources including in the early 1990s ODA. There
>have been considerable activities at the site since the late 1980s. Indeed
>early successes include the designation of a Non-hunting Area (later to
>become a WildLife Sanctuary). There has been the most remarkable commitment
>by many at the site over the years. Those who know the area will know key
>people who have devoted up to the last ten years of their life to efforts
>there. Well over 1 million US $ has been committed to activities.
>>
>>3. There have been many important and rewarding successes at the site.
>Over time there have been committed sanctuary superintendents, committed
>villagers, local government and provincial government efforts etc. The
>above-mentioned activities have all delivered results. The bottom line,
>however, is that the rapid and ongoing encroachment of the forest
>(especially the lowland forest outside the Sanctuary) has continued
>throughout this period. Powerful economic forces alongside confused and
>weak government policy and practice, that extend well-outside the
>Sanctuary, are at play, and we are witnessing the tail end of a process
>that has transformed Southern Thailand over the past thirty years. Current
>and past project activities, and the existing and past levels of Political
>and Executive commitment, have not been enough to stem this dynamic
>transformation of the landscape.
>>
>>4. Whilst recognizing some important achievements of the project, and by
>Mahidol/DOF, the DANCED programme in Thailand has recently decided that it
>would not extend the project as it was currently arranged. This means that
>financing of current activities will come to an end at the end of May.
>DANCED, with considerable encouragement from DOF, has been exploring the
>option of a direct project with the Royal Forestry Department, and perhaps
>Local Government, to implement management and land-use plans developed by
>the current project. There is still a hope that there will be ongoing
>activities, on a bilateral basis, with DOF/Bird Conservation Society of
>Thailand/ BirdLife playing a role as technical advisors and in
>biodiversity (including Gurney's Pitta) monitoring. This is one of a
>number of projects which is expected to be considered by DANCED and Gov't
>of Thailand when they meet to plan their future programme in Mid May. A
>next phase initiative will, however, take time to formulate, appraise and
>commence.
>>
>>5. DOF will be visiting the project site at the end of May, and will also
>meet with officials from RFD and the Provincial Government. This will be
>followed by the 'final' Project Steering Committee (PSC) on the 28th of
>May, which will be presided over by the Deputy Director General of RFD and
>the Governor of Krabi Province. At this meeting we will receive a final
>report on activities, a review of the current situation, and plans for
>future activities. Representatives from Mahidol, Bird Conservation Society
>of Thailand, and the BirdLife Secretariat will be at that PSC. We will
>know then the prospect of a follow-up project by DANCED/RFD. At that time
>I expect DOF/BirdLife to make a statement about the current situation and
>plans for the future. It is not appropriate for us to do this now since the
>current project has not yet been concluded. It may be that it would then be
>time to renew and exert, diplomatically, public concern and pressure both
>within and from outside Thailand. Organizations such as the Oriental Bird
>Club have a very legitimate concern and role to play here. OBC may feel
>they wish to take up the issue with the Government of Thailand sooner.
>>
>>6. There are numerous concerns circulating the internet about specific
>threats to the Pitta from persecution and trapping etc. This has always
>been a threat, and one lesson learnt might be that it was a mistake to give
>this species such high profile. I am not aware of a greatly increased level
>of persecution/threat, and Uthai Treesucon is also not aware of any
>increased threat. There is a chance of a greater risk after the end of May.
> I am sure the situation will not have improved.
>>
>
>Richard Grimmett,
>Senior Programme Officer, Asia Division &
>Programme Coordinator, BirdLife Indonesia Programme,
>BirdLife International,
>Bogor,
>Indonesia.
>Tel.+62 251 333 234
>Fax +62 251 357961
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2
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