Petition: STOP THE SMUGGLING OF INDONESIAN COCKATOOS AND PARROTS

[Guest guest]

Indonesian Parrots

 

President of Indonesia

 

PLEASE STOP THE SMUGGLING OF INDONESIAN COCKATOOS AND PARROTS:

A Petition to Your Excellency, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

 

Sign the Petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/forchina/petition.html

 

As Citizens of Indonesia and the World, we offer this Petition to you, as

the President of Indonesia. We request that Your Excellency use the powers

of his office to protect the parrots, cockatoos and other endangered birds

of Indonesia. Many of these remarkable creatures are found nowhere else on

Earth yet they are approaching irrevocable extinction.

 

Based on the findings outlined below this Petition, we humbly but urgently

request that you:

 

1. Declare the endangered cockatoos and parrots of Indonesia

to be “Harta Karun Indonesia” ( Hidden Treasures of Indonesia )

2. End ALL trapping of cockatoos, parrots, lories, and lorikeets

(including cessation of the issuance of all ‘special licenses’),

with ZERO TOLERANCE

3. Ban export of wild-caught birds and confiscate birds sold

illegally at Indonesian bird markets, with ZERO TOLERANCE

4. Ban taking of wildlife as oleh-oleh (souvenirs) by members of

the Indonesian Military during or after tours of duty,

with ZERO TOLERANCE

5. Increase the funding, and the number of officers, for

appropriate departments to fight these offences

6. Make it illegal for Indonesian airlines to transport any

wildlife protected by law (except where needed for veterinary

care), with ZERO TOLERANCE

7. Set severe penalties for government Conservation Officers

who issue illegal permits, ignore quotas, or themselves perpetuate

the illegal bird trade, with ZERO TOLERANCE

8. Deliver confiscated birds to non-governmental Wildlife Transit

Centers and Care Centers (“PPS” and “PTS”) which have the

facilities and expertise to rehabilitate, and potentiately

release back into the wild, illegally gotten wildlife

9. Revoke the licenses of bird dealers acting illegally,

with ZERO TOLERANCE

 

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

In 2001-2002, ProFauna Indonesia (a group of young, courageous volunteers)

carried out an undercover investigation of the illegal trade in Indonesian

cockatoos, parrots, and lories. The findings were shocking. These endangered

birds were being trapped in large numbers using brutal and painful methods.

Their feathers were sometimes pulled out to prevent them from flying. The

birds were transported under inhumane condition and sold openly in Indonesia

’s infamous bird markets, in searing heat, in tiny cages, with inadequate

(or no) food and water. As a direct response to these finding, a petition

was directed to then-President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Forestry Minister

Prakosa strongly urging enforcement of the protections accorded

internationally and/or locally to many of these charismatic birds. This

petition was signed by over 6800 people from over 50 countries in a few

months.The results of this investigation and petition were limited, although

(at least on paper) all exportation of parrots was declared illegal.

However, since the major part of the trade in birds in Indonesia is

internal, not via export, the problem would have persisted anyway.

 

This first undercover investigation focused mostly on the birds of the

Northern Moluccas (such as the “Umbrella” Cockatoo) and of West Papua, in

Eastern Indonesia. However, in 2003-2004, at the request of and with funding

from Project Bird Watch, a second investigation was carried out to determine

the status of bird smuggling on Seram Island. Seram is the only remaining

home in the wild of the magnificent but endangered Salmon-crested cockatoo,

which (at least on paper) is protected to the highest degree by both

international law and Indonesian presidential proclamation.

 

The results were alarming and showed that little had changed since the first

study. Ironically, one trapping site is the ‘protected’ Manusela National

Park; ‘manu-sela’ means “Bird of Freedom”. The Seram cockatoos pass through

the port of the nearby island of Ambon, where shipping permits can be

illegally obtained for less than $5. They are then shipped to Jakarta

squeezed in the middle section of three-part boxes, where the outer two

sections are filled with lories and lorikeets to hide the presence of the

cockatoos within. Of course, the cockatoos cannot eat, drink, move, and can

barely breath during this trip; many die. Even worse, when individuals buy

the birds directly from the market in Ambon, they often stuff them in

thermos bottles to avoid detection. If illegally obtained birds are

confiscated, they sometimes are kept by authorities or are actually turned

over to animal exporters. Those traded openly at market are met with a blind

eye by authorities. In a 6-month period, an estimated 9600 Seram cockatoos

might have been sold.

 

 

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Indonesian Parrots Petition to President of Indonesia was created by

Project Bird Watch and the Indonesian Parrot Project

Sign the Petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/forchina/petition.html

http://indonesian-parrot-project.org/