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Thomas Geissmann, Gibbon Research Lab., Zürich
thomas.geissmann@aim.unzh.ch

August 2004

According to a report in the Jakarta Post (Aug. 28), five groups of the endangered Javan silvery gibbon (Hylobates moloch) have disappeared from the Kabandungan Forest, a forest corridor connecting Mount Salak and Mount Halimun in Sukabumi, West Java province. The five groups were believed to live in the corridor in 1998, but since then, illegal loggers have nearly cut down the entire corridor ... the small area of remaining forest is now isolated from the Kabandungan ecosystem," Mount Halimun National Park, a park official said. It is unknown how the gibbons dispappeared; they may have died as a result the massive deterioration of their habitat or because they were poached.

The Kabandungan corridor is believed to be an important link between the mountain ecosystems of Salak and Halimun, enabling the species in both areas to interact and expand their gene pools for better survival. The Ministry of Forestry placed Salak and Halimun under a single management last year, expanding the national park from 40,000 ha to 113,357 ha across Sukabumi and Bogor regencies of West Java and Lebak regency of Banten. The Kabandungan forest corridor is located in Lebak.

In the next five years, the national park, along with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was planning to initiate a program rehabilitating the diminishing forest corridor. The park management and JICA are currently surveying the economic base of villagers living around the forest, establishing the park's border and involving locals in conservation programs. In addition, they are encouraging villagers to switch to farming to reduce their dependence on forests as their main sourceof income.


Sources:

Sufa, T. 2004: Javan gibbons face extinction, illegal loggers blamed. The Jakarta Post, Sukabumi
(24 Aug. 2004: http://www.kehati.or.id/english/news/view.php?q=35&categ=News%20Clip )

Sufa, T. 2004: Javan gibbons face extinction, illegal loggers blamed. The Jakarta Post, Sukabumi
(28 Aug. 2004: http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20040828.B01 )

Xinhua English: Five groups of silvery gibbon disappear in Java
(27 Aug. 2004, http://english.sina.com/news/technology/6973192.shtml )

Xinhuanet: Five groups of silvery gibbon disappear in Java
(28 Aug. 2004, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/ 2004-08/28/content_1906860.htm )