Bali Starling Recovery Programme
ONE YEAR ON since the first release of the Bali Starlings on Nusa Penida, and it gives us immense pleasure to announce that as of the beginning of July 2007, despite five birds not surviving their release, that 52 adult birds are still flying free, 15 Bali Starlings have hatched and survived, and a flock of 7 young Bali Starlings was sighted flying together on June 30th 2007 by the television crew of Metro TV, Jakarta.
We are truly gratified that the Bali Starling recovery programme which Begawan Giri Foundation committed to some seven years ago is very much “alive and well” – thriving on Nusa Penida and proudly co-supported by the island’s community.
In the wake of the past few months’ rather unsavoury and antagonistic comments about the Foundation and its alleged “irresponsible conduct” by one Tony Tilford, we take this opportunity also to reiterate that the Foundation’s Bali Starling project is, and has been from its inception, designed to bring back to Bali its endangered symbol, and in no way seeks to outshine, outdo or interfere with any other programme currently in existence.
As a Foundation, we have deliberately stayed out of the recent fray for two principal reasons, the first being to desist from being drawn in to dignify Mr Tilford’s rather questionable literary histrionics by any kind official response; and the second – to attempt to understand objectively and with greater clarity Mr Tilford’s actual “position” with regard to the Bali Starlings, which appears to be fraught with both confusion and contradiction.
To date, we have yet to find any writings other than that from Mr Tilford which suggests that our Foundation’s Bali Starling Captive Breeding and Release Programme is in opposition to any other programme, or threatens any other programme, or contravenes any known laws in Indonesia. The fact that the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, himself has seen fit to release the birds in April this year, suggests that it meets with approval and is celebrated at the highest level. The fact that the provincial government in Bali, from the Governor down, the military and police departments, the local regency government and the local villages support the programme suggests it is seen as a way to re-introduce the bird to Bali.
For the sake of good order, we have documented the trail of somewhat curiously shifting personal views that Mr Tilford has expressed over the period from 2001 which essentially have laid criticism at the door of everyone connected with the Bali Starling in Bali. We attach this should you wish to review for yourself his peculiar, if not totally misguided, pontifications on the subject.
We deeply appreciate and look forward to your continued interest in and support of the Bali Starling in Bali. Our commitment as a Foundation to the Bali Starling remains as clear-sighted and steadfast as from the first day we welcomed the two pairs of birds back to their rightful home.
Tony Tilford was a consultant at Begawan Giri Estate in early 2001, in the Engineering Department, and assisted in the Bali Starling Captive Breeding Program along with Drh Bayu Wirayudha, who had previously worked on a programme to re-introduce Bali birds to Begawan Giri Estate. Bradley and Debbie Gardner, at that time the owners of Begawan Giri Estate, thus imported 4 Bali Starlings in 1999 in order to start the first private breeding programme specifically for the Bali Starling, from the noted UK breeder, Nick Wileman, who states in his webpage update in February 2001, “I am proud to have returned 4 birds back to Bali …”
In 2001, Tony Tilford, while consulting at Begawan Giri Estate, published his newsletter on Nick Wileman’s webpage, and gave his opinions on the state of the Bali Starling breeding program in Taman Nasional Bali Barat, Bali Bird Park and Begawan Giri Foundation.
He commented in his personal newsletter, regarding TNBB that it was a “National Park in name … a preservation of resources until somebody in authority wishes to exploit them for his own commercial gain. This is very evident from the recent logging that has taken place. … The Western edges of the park are being exploited for tourism and the first large hotel is now in operation. Control remains in the hands of the National Parks authority which has not really changed since the Suharto days so little else can be expected.” [Tony Tilford Newsletter 2001, “To all those interested in the survival of the Bali Starling in the wild”,
www.btinternet.com/~wileman/]
In this same newsletter, he gave his view of the Bali Bird Park and suggested that here also there was a “bleak picture with little interest from the management” and that “Questions should be asked on what is happening to the funds that may have been collected on behalf of the Bali Starling Foundation set up by the Bali Bird Park.” [as above 2001] Actually, the Bali Starling Foundation was set up by two owners of the Bali Bird Park, and was not representative of the Bali Bird Park itself.
He was, in this document, however, full of praise for the programme at Begawan Giri Estate, writing that it does not have the “instability seen in other local Bali starling ‘interests’”(his quotation marks) and for providing a “secure base for an alternative breeding/release site.” He comments that “little effort has been given to investigating other potential sites (for release) and (that) the present position should be reconsidered.” [as above, 2001]
He further goes on to say that “any direct involvement (with West Bali National Park) is being avoided as it is politically untenable and there remains a lack of trust. An exchange of birds from there is unlikely as it ties ‘government owned’ birds into Begawan Giri’s independent scheme and so attracts unwanted government control. For those unfamiliar with Indonesian control, this means seemingly never-ending payments of ‘back-handers’ every time officials are involved. It is bad enough every time pullus are ringed for compulsory registration.” [as above, 2001]
Mr Tilford, at that time, saw the programme at Begawan Giri “at a stage where it has developed the strength and position in Bali to expand its activities and become the only viable long-term breeding facility able to join in realistically with the Bali Starling Recovery Programme.” He asked for support in the form of donations of new birds, and suggested that “without doubt, an alternative release site must be found before too long.” [as above, 2001]
Mr Tilford’s association with Begawan Giri was terminated in late 2001, and he had no further involvement in the Bali Starling Captive Breeding Programme at the Estate.
In 2004, Mr Tilford’s newsletter on his personal website made no mention of Begawan Giri Foundation and its programme, but his comments showed that he still felt that the “Indonesian authorities acted slowly to protect the dwindling population and failed to implement the few safeguards that were enacted into law. Not only did poaching continue – fuelled by increasing prices as numbers declined – but a large camp of Maduran coconut plantation workers was allowed to become established in the heart of the remaining breeding area, despite it being within a special protected area inside the West Bali National Park, already a wildlife preserve!” [The Bali Starling – The Photography and Interest of TONY TILFORD,
www.tonytilford.co.uk 2004] The decline in the number of wild Bali Starlings he wrote as being due to “habitat loss, natural disasters, and, above all, trapping for the pet trade.” [as above, 2004]
There is mention of the introduction of new birds from Japanese conservationists, but he says that the survival plan for the captive breeding programme still remains as “words and (that) the continuing survival of the Bali Starling in the wild continues to look bleak.” [as above, 2004]
Mr Tilford suggests on his own webpage that support should now be given to Bali Bird Park, “under the new management of Bali Adventure Tours’[sic] Director, Nick Blackbeard.” [as above, 2004] Incidentally, Mr Blackbeard, who does manage Bali Bird Park, however, is not involved with Bali Adventure Tours, but with Sobek Rafting.
Mr Tilford also calls for donations for The Bali Starling Foundation, with no reference to his prior call for investigation from three years before.
As a suggestion for protection for bird releases, Mr Tilford mentioned the example of the egret colony, which suddenly appeared in Petulu, Bali and who were kept safe by the vigilance of the local community. This was a means of protection that he suggested could be tried with the Bali Starlings.
The co-operation of the local villages and the temples on Nusa Penida, with the system of awig-awig, local adat law under the guidance of Drh Bayu Wirayudha, when he set up a Bird Sanctuary on the island, led, in 2006, to Begawan Giri Foundation moving all its Bali Starlings to Nusa Penida. By the end of that year, BGF had released 37 birds, none of whom were poached, and who were breeding successfully. In April 2007, the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, released a further 12 birds personally. As of the end of May 2007, the released birds have raised 13 offspring, a mark of success of this programme.
This success has now seemingly brought Mr Tilford and his views back into the limelight with his email of 2nd June 2007 to Tony Sumampau, President of Asosiasi Pelestari Curik Bali (Bali Starling Conservation Association). In this email, Mr Tilford, referring to himself as the “dedicated and qualified conservationist”, sees Begawan Giri Foundation as being an “unqualified organisation … introducing CITES Appendix I species into non-native habitat” and of Drh Bayu Wirayudha, who is a board member of APCB, as unqualified “personnel”. He writes of being “persuaded to send two pairs of Bali Starling from the UK studbook to Bradley Gardner of the Begawan Giri Estate in Ubud, Bali” while “Bayu Wirayudha … has failed to give the support to the recovery programme in TNBB as expected.” He has grown “very apprehensive with developments occurring amongst the so-called protagonists of Bali Starling conservation particularly in relation to the release of 45 Bali Starlings … on Nusa Penida.” (At this time, the number of birds released has actually been 49.) He is also of the view that if this “private ‘initiative’ is thought of as ‘successful’ then this poses a “threat to TNBB and any Indonesian Government conservation breeding programme that may be necessary in the future.” Mr Tilford’s support is now for the “well-established recovery programme in TNBB.”
Mr Tilford suggests that Begawan Giri Foundation has not co-operated with the programme at Taman Nasional Bali Barat. There was no formal agreement in place; however, following a request from Bio-diversity Conservation Directorate of Forestry Dept, in August 2003, BGF exchanged four birds with TNBB, specifically in order to strengthen the bloodlines for both programmes. BGF exchanged two young proven pairs and received four males. BGF has also exchanged birds on two different occasions with Bali Bird Park, and once with Bali Zoo Park. A promise has been made by BGF via the Forestry Dept that a number of second-generation birds, hatched in the wild will be donated to TNBB. This would appear to be co-operation.
His email continues on to mention his particular concern for the “species and biodiversity of Nusa Penida”, especially the Black-winged Starling that is “equally as endangered as the Bali Starling” and which shares the “same ecological niche.” He states that Nusa Penida is the “stronghold for the eastern race of Black-winged Starlings”. Actually this statement may be due to the fact that in 1980’s a number of Western sub-species of this bird – not even the Bali species – were released there from a wild catch collection found in the bird market. The range of Black-winged Starling had originally been throughout Java, Bali and into Lombok.
BirdLife International website sees the Black-winged Starling as endangered, but the Bali Starling situation as one step higher, critical. Although Mr Tilford seems to feel that the presence of the Bali Starling on Nusa Penida is a threat to the Black-winged Starling, Bird Life International states that the “precipitous decline in the Black-winged Starling appears to be attributable to one main factor, human exploitation as a cage-bird.” [Red Data Book, threatened birds of Asia,
www.rdb.or.id, 2007] This has seen its numbers in Bali Barat, where it was “three to ten times as common a bird in the park” reduced from between 300 to 1000 to numbers such that the bird may not be seen by a short-term visitor. However the fact that the Black-winged Starling has lived alongside the Bali Starling in TNBB, and has been observed using nest boxes set up for Bali Starlings suggests that both are able to inhabit the same area.
From observations written up on the BirdLife International website, both the Black-winged Starling and the Bali Starling were observed in TNBB roosting together in high trees. However, their feeding habits are different, the Bali Starlings being “arboreal feeders, spending most of their time in trees and shrubs, unlike Black-winged Starlings, which appears mainly to feed on the ground.” [as above, 2007] The Bali Starling mainly chooses to breed in “any suitably large and reasonably secure nest hole” [as above, 2007] in trees, whilst the Black-winged Starling will also breed in tree holes, as well as “inaccessible crevices in rocks, this latter being the preferred type of site on Penida.” [as above, 2007] Again, there is no suggestion that the two birds are unable to co-habit the same space.
Finally, BirdLife International also states that “the island of Penida off the south-east coast of Bali was assessed in 1986 as a potential location on which to establish a reserve population of Bali Starlings, but was found to contain no suitable habitat … and a very high human population.” [as above, 2007]
If the above were seen as the only hindrances to the release of a Bali Starling population on Nusa Penida, then the success of Begawan Giri Foundation’s Bali Starling Captive Breeding and Release Programme on the island does not appear to contradict any legislation or concern any authorities other than Mr Tony Tilford.
