The rare New Britain Goshawk (Accipiter princeps) has been photographed for the first time in history. The bird of prey is found only on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The last documented scientific record of the bird is from 1969 and is kept at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Tom Vierus, a Fiji-based photographer was on a trip with WWF on the island in March 2024. As local community members led a group through the forest, Vierus took photographs of several bird species. “I wasn’t aware of the significance at the time,” says Vierus. “It was such a great surprise to hear that this photo seems to be the first-ever of this ‘lost species’!”
The sighting and photograph were confirmed by internationally-renowned ornithologists “ While there have been multiple sight-only reports of the bird, the goshawk has not been photographed or recorded in the 55 years since the last specimen was found. Today, the photograph and further details are now available on the websites of Search for Lost Birds and iNaturalist.
A biodiversity hotspot
Papua New Guinea hosts the third-largest intact tropical forest in the world, following the Amazon and Congo basins. It is remarkably diverse in terms of species, landscapes, and ecosystems with more than 5,000 lakes, extensive river systems and wetlands, 5,000 miles of mangrove swamps, lagoons, coral reefs and atolls. The Nakanai Mountains, where the New Britain Goshawk was photographed, are part of a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site and are estimated to be between 10.5-22.5 million years old
Oscar Pileng was born in Pomio in eastern New Britain and is WWF’s officer for the region. After the photo was identified, he spoke with residents in the area, who confirmed that sightings of the bird are rare and usually made in the hinterlands rather than coastal areas. In local languages, the New Britain Goshawk is called ‘keango’ or ‘kulingapa’.”
“I was amazed to hear that this is the first time it has been photographed but am very happy that an official global record now exists, says Pileng. “I hope this means more efforts are made to protect its habitat from the threats of large-scale agriculture, logging, mining and infrastructure development.”
Communities and conservation
The Pomio region is notably home to the Indigenous Mengen and Mamusi peoples, who maintain largely intact traditions and beliefs intrinsically linked to the forests, rivers, and oceans they have called home for millennia. Working closely with these matrilineal clan-based societies, WWF hopes to support local stewardship to safeguard the future of these incredible biodiversity hotspots through community-led conservation.
“There have been very few biodiversity studies in New Britain, and the potential for discovering species new to science is quite high,” says Martha Eimba, Pomio Landscape Manager for WWF-Papua New Guinea. “But it is a race to protect them, with pressures looming large and poverty a reality for many.” WWF collaborates with communities to better understand the threats the region is facing as well as social contexts, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. The goal is to develop a comprehensive program of community-based conservation.
While WWF is actively seeking partners for this important work, the government of Papua New Guinea is in the process of revising its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan ahead of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity meeting of the parties, taking place in Colombia in October 2024.
As for the record photograph, “It is wonderful to see how conservation photography can help safeguard areas by documenting the existing biodiversity and a good reminder of how important visual storytelling is,” says photographer Vierus. “I truly hope this mostly pristine part of the world can remain as intact as possible with the help of the local communities, their already existing conservation initiatives and the support of WWF.”
Indonesia’s environment ministry says it’s open to working with WWF again on conservation programs after terminating their long-running partnership.
A senior government official said the NGO would have to address the concerns cited for the termination, but also agreed that WWF Indonesia should be allowed a wider scope for work should the partnership be revived.
WWF Indonesia has welcomed the possibility of resuming its work, which includes conservation projects on critically endangered species such as Sumatran and Javan rhinos and Sumatran elephants.
The termination of the partnership has already forced WWF Indonesia to lay off a team of elephant rangers and threatens to end funding for ranger patrols for Javan rhinos.
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s environment ministry says it’s willing to revive a partnership with WWF after abruptly terminating its long-running cooperation with the conservation NGO over a perceived social media slight.
But a top ministry official conditioned such a move on WWF’s local office addressing the ministry’s concerns about its work, improving communications, and not trying to score social media points.
“If [WWF Indonesia wants] new MOU, then go ahead,” Wiratno, the environment ministry’s director-general of conservation, told reporters in Jakarta. “[The opportunity] is still open. But I suggest WWF to do self-evaluation on what they’ve done that have raised the ministry’s concerns.”
Wiratno’s statement came after the ministry formally published its decision last month to end its partnership with WWF Indonesia on forest conservation, signed in 1998 and due to expire in 2023. It cited violations by WWF Indonesia of the terms of the agreement, including the NGO’s work on issues beyond those defined in the memorandum of understanding.
Wiratno cited the case of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in western Sumatra, where WWF Indonesia had since 2015 been responsible for a forest restoration project. The project site was one of several areas burned by forest fires in 2015 and again in 2019. The ministry sealed off the concession after the latest burning last September, in what Wiratno called evidence that WWF Indonesia had failed to carry out its task of conserving the area.
“If [they] have an ecosystem restoration area to manage, then they shouldn’t have let it burn,” he said. “Working on the ground [to prevent fires] is very important.”
Wiratno also addressed the aftermath of the burning, which appeared to be the catalyst for the termination of the partnership. He criticized social media posts by two popular actresses who had served as ambassadors for WWF Indonesia and who had notably omitted mentioning the ministry when crediting WWF Indonesia and others for working hard to fight the fires. The ministry had condemned the posts for painting it in a bad light, and Wiratno said WWF Indonesia should focus more on educating the public rather than using celebrities to score points on social media.
“Some of our personnel died [fighting the fires],” he said. “There’s no need to use artists. We’ve gone all out on the ground [to extinguish the fires]. Us working in the field is cooler than just talking on social media.”
Tamed Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) named Rossa in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Gert Polet/WWF Indonesia.
Narrow scope of work
Wiratno said WWF Indonesia also needed to improve its communication with the ministry, after failing to report its activities on a routine basis.
“There should be a yearly evaluation [of WWF Indonesia’s operations],” Wiratno said. “[Meetings] should be held together, including with partners. [The communication is] not intensive enough.”
Another reason cited for the termination of the partnership was that WWF Indonesia had been working on initiatives outside the scope of the original MOU, which focused on forest conservation. Wiratno acknowledged that this scope of work was too restricted, given the number and variety of conservation challenges that have arisen since that original agreement was signed more than 20 years ago.
A new MOU, drafted once WWF Indonesia can address the ministry’s concerns, should allow a wider scope that could potentially include climate change and waste management, Wiratno said.
WWF Indonesia’s acting CEO, Lukas Adhyakso, welcomed the opportunity to restore the partnership with the ministry under a broader brief. He also said it was regrettable that the original MOU was terminated instead of simply revised, given the impact on the various projects that WWF Indonesia administers throughout the country.
“We’re still calculating the impact, but what’s serious is the fact that we have expertise that we contribute [to forest conservation],” he said. “Now we have to stop our conservation [work] in areas that fall under the authority of the environment ministry.”
WWF Indonesia has five decades of experience in forest and wildlife conservation in the country, run through 24 field offices across the archipelago. It’s been involved in describing 400 new species of plants and animals in Borneo; one of its most prominent recent roles has been the capture, for the first time ever, of a wild Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in Borneo for a planned captive-breeding program.
But that program, one of 30 that WWF Indonesia has been forced to withdraw from as a result of the partnership termination, is now in limbo: while WWF Indonesia is prohibited from being involved, the rhino sanctuary continues to depend on its veterinarians and keepers to care for the rhino.
“Some [outside conservationists] have expressed [their concerns] and lamented [the ministry’s decision],” Lukas said. “We have the expertise that they need and we actually also need them. So it goes both ways.”
Sumatran tiger cubs. Bukit Tigapuluh is famous for its diversity of mammals, including Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, Asian tapir, sun bear, siamang, Sumatran surili, Sunda loris, and clouded leopard, among others. Photo courtesy of WWF.
Programs in limbo
Another program that’s at risk is a peatland restoration initiative in Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan province, home to critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). Prior to being designated a national park in 2004, the area was a logging concession. The companies that operated it dug a network of canals to drain the peat soil, drying out the thick ground layer of semi-decomposed vegetation and rendering it highly prone to burning.
WWF Indonesia was tasked with blocking the canals and rewetting the land. Now, however, without the group’s involvement, that project could be compromised “in the blink of an eye,” Lukas said.
“Maybe the [canal blockers] will get stolen, and if the water table is lowered there’ll be great fire risks,” he said. “We’re not saying we’re the only ones [protecting the peat forest], but what we’re contributing is huge.”
WWF Indonesia’s partners on the ground have also raised concerns about how to pay to continue these projects, given the significant amount of funding that the organization has historically contributed. WWF Indonesia spends about 350 billion rupiah ($25.6 million) each year on its conservation activities. Some of that money goes toward monitoring and protecting critically endangered Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) at Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, where the NGO began its conservation work in Indonesia in 1962.
Anggodo, the head of the national park agency, said the park might face financial constraints without funding from WWF Indonesia, which last year paid for 10 months’ worth of ranger patrols in the area.
“There’s a likelihood that [our] operational budget will only be enough for the next two months,” he said as quoted by Tempo magazine. “We’ll have to cover the rest with other partners because WWF [Indonesia] is not here anymore.”
At Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Sumatra, WWF Indonesia has had to lay off 20 rangers tasked with protecting critically endangered Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) from being killed in conflicts with humans.
“I’m sad that I can’t enter the national park anymore because there’s a ban,” said Rusmani, a member of the team.
The termination of the partnership puts greater onus on the Indonesian government to fund and administer the various conservation programs that WWF Indonesia has had to withdraw from.
“Maybe it’s already time for a transition, [for these programs] to be returned to the government,” said Alexander Rusli, chair of the WWF Indonesia board. “Maybe our role is not much needed anymore like at the beginning.”
Banner image: A young Sumatran elephant, one of the many species whose habitats are threatened, in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. Image by Rhett A.Butler/Mongabay.
Mongabay Indonesia reporter Lusia Arumingtyas contributed to this report
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The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has broken the forestry cooperation relationship with WWF Indonesia. As of October 5, 2019, the cooperation made through the MoU on March 13, 1998 has been stopped and is no longer valid. No later than December 2019, physical and administrative activities in the field must stop completely.
WWF Indonesia received a bitter and embarrassing gift from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. This large conservation institution that is an independent part of the WWF International conservation organization network may no longer carry out biodiversity conservation activities in forest areas throughout Indonesia. In fact, the institution with assets of IDR 147 billion with revenues of IDR 341 billion in 2018 has 34 field offices in 17 provinces with 477 employees, plus 100,000 more supporters.
Even more painful, before the issuance of the letter of termination of cooperation number S.1221/Menlhk-Secretary General/Rokln/Kln.0/10/2019 dated October 4, 2019 signed by the Secretary General of the Ministry of LHK Bambang Hendroyono, Minister Siti Nurbaya had also sent radiograms to all governors and the regent/mayor as of September 19, 2019. The radiogram that was passed to President Joko Widodo, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs asked the regional heads not to cooperate with WWF.
Minister Siti in her signed letter wrote, “Local governments are asked to pay attention to the development of WWF’s collaborative activities in the past year.”
Mr Hendroyono when confirmed the letter of termination of cooperation. However, he tried to refuse answered by calling WWF activities still running until December. What will happen next? “Later, depending on how the results of the evaluation,” he replied.
In fact, the termination of cooperation — according to letter S.1221/2019 signed by Mr Hendroyono — has already been mentioned based on the results of the initial evaluation of the UPT (Technical Implementation Unit) and the Ministry of LHK team.
What’s actually happened? From a number of explanations, WWF is considered to be “too far”, for example in making an MoU on the establishment of a Project Management Office (PMO) with the Office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to accelerate the process of Agrarian Reform and Social Forestry (RAPS). Not to mention the case of cooperation with the Papua Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).
Later, when the forest and land fires heats up, the WWF has even been impressed by the “signal”. Through WWF warriors who are also celebrities, such as Luna Maya, WWF is suing the apparatus to extinguish fires in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape, Jambi. In fact, the hotspots uploaded by the celebrities occurred in the PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh (ABT) concession, a forest concession that was managed by the WWF consortium.
On the other hand, WWF Indonesia claimed to be confused with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s decision. “To be sure, we do not know (what causes it) because the information we received is confusing. We hope to meet with the Minister and her staff to get clarification,” said Director of Policy and Advocacy of WWF Indonesia, Aditya Bayunanda, Friday (11/10/2019).
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi) Jambi, Rudiansyah, believes that based on the reference to the letter addressed to the local government, an evaluation must be carried out immediately to find out WWF’s performance in conservation efforts, especially in forest and land fires. For example, the Londerang forest in Tanjung Jabung Timur District, the largest peat land restoration area in Jambi.
“We do not see that the cooperation has a positive effect, for example in the ABT concession where the area is burned every year, and social conflicts with the people there are not carried out properly. This means that absolute accountability is not carried out,” he said, Wednesday (2/10/2019).
In a letter issued by the Minister of Environment and Forestry, it was stated that WWF’s work orientation concerning biodiversity based on Law Number 23 of 2014 Article 360, and conservation matters are the responsibility of the central government. Then the regional head was asked not to sign cooperation with WWF without consulting with the Minister of Environment and Forestry in order to maintain jurisdiction and over claimed the success of the collaboration as it happened.
WWF Indonesia Foundation is the largest shareholder of PT Panda Lestari, which is 4,598 shares valued at IDR 4,598,000,000. PT Panda Lestari is the majority (controlling) shareholder of PT ABT, which burned 20 hectares. The company operates under the Business Permit for the Utilization of Timber Forest Products-Ecosystem Restoration in Natural Forests (IUPHHK-Ecosystem Restoration), and is the only holder of the burned IUPHHK-RE. In addition, WWF Indonesia is involved in social conflict with the community. A police report was filed on September 8, 2019, with alleged acts of violence perpetrated by persons from PT ABT against the community.
Some parties consider, the termination of cooperation carried out by the government, in this case the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, is a defeat of the struggle for forest conservation in Indonesia. The steps taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry may be a sign to NGOs that the government is not reluctant to evaluates their performances. NGOs always imaged itself as a container of public criticism about the sustainability of nature, but in practice, it is not merely about saving forests.
What should be underlined, if NGOs are present as an effort to preserve the environment, a commitment to continue running on the rails in accordance with these ideals and expectations, is a fixed price.
