VOA科学技术2023--Indonesian Bird Could Face New Threat from Capital City Development

Indonesian Bird Could Face New Threat from Capital City Development

An endangered bird in Indonesia could face new threats from development linked to the country's new capital city.

The bird is the maleo, a tall animal with black feathers and a pink chest. It is native to Indonesia's Sulawesi island and a few neighboring ones.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers the maleo to be "critically endangered." The environmental group's Red List identifies wildlife across the world currently¹ facing threats. The IUCN estimates only 8,000 to 14,000 adult maleos remain in the wild.

West Sulawesi has been set up as a "support" area for building activities. The Indonesian government plans to move the nation's capital from Jakarta to a new city on Borneo island. West Sulawesi and Borneo are separated by an ocean passageway called the Makassar Strait and are just a six-hour boat trip apart.

Support work will take place in areas around West Sulawesi's capital, Mamuju. The development is expected to include the building of new roads and seaports² to be used to transport materials to the new capital, named Nusantara, on Borneo.

Activities include tree clearing, digging, and removing stones. The process already has changed the forest environment on West Sulawesi and is harming maleo nesting areas near the beach.

These latest changes follow others to the birds' general environment, or habitat, linked to human activities in the area. These changes have made the trip for maleos to lay their eggs increasingly more difficult.

The maleo is considered "critically endangered because the next step is extinction," said biologist Marcy Summers. She directs the Alliance⁴ for Tompotika Conservation, a non-governmental organization working to support maleo conservation in the area. Summers noted⁵ that maleo populations had decreased by more than 80 percent since 1980.

Experts do not know how many maleos still live around Mamuju or across West Sulawesi island. The West Sulawesi Forestry⁶ Agency was only able to record the presence of nesting grounds in 23 villages based on reports from locals in the area. But of those, only 18 are considered active nesting areas.

"As far as I know, maleo birds are in decline⁷," said Andi Aco Takdir, chief of the West Sulawesi Forestry Agency. He pointed⁸ to several reasons for the decline, including destruction of beach areas, and expanding human development activities.

Takdir said the government has been warning people in the area to stop establishing palm oil operations and to halt all other development around maleo nesting grounds.

Officials said the government is committed to keeping the birds even with massive⁹ development to support the new capital city.

Another problem has been thieves, also called poachers. The Associated Press reports that poachers steal maleo eggs from the sand where their parents have hidden them.

Poachers sell the eggs for about $1 to people as food. The eggs are a traditional gift for many people in Mamuju and other parts of Sulawesi.

Muhammad Idris is a local official in West Sulawesi. He told the AP that government officials there are prepared to take steps to protect the maleos even with the new capital development.

Idris said, "Nature conservation must be used as an achievement and (projects) must not be built leaving behind problems."

Words in This Story

nest – v. a home built by birds for their eggs and by some other creatures to live in

extinct³ – adj. no longer existing on Earth

conservation – n. an organized effort that aims to protect animals, and natural resources

decline – v. to go down in amount, importance, quality, etc.

achievement – n. something good that you achieve: to succeed in doing something good, usually by working hard

1 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

2 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

3 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。

4 alliance   

n.同盟，同盟国，结盟，联姻

参考例句：

• China will not enter into alliance with any big power.中国不同任何大国结盟。
• The new alliance was very much in evidence.新的联盟上星期很引人注目。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

7 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。