NATIVE SPECIES OF KALIMANTAN’S KEHJE SEWEN FOREST

Kalimantan’s forests, including the Kehje Sewen Forest, are treasure troves filled with an extraordinary array of flora and fauna, including orangutans. Our Post-Release Monitoring (PRM) team has documented a rich biodiversity of birds, primates, reptiles and other species native to East Kalimantan they have encountered while on their orangutan-monitoring assignments.

The dusky munia (Lonchura fuscans) is a small seed-eating bird that can only be found in Kalimantan’s lowland forests. This bird lives in lowland shrubland, forest and grassland habitat . In the Kehje Sewen Forest, this dark grey-feathered bird is easy to find in the small fields where the PRM team has planted vegetables at Camp Lesik.

The yellow-rumped flowerpecker (Proinochilus xanthopygius) is also endemic to Kalimantan. This bird eats small fruits and insects, and resides mainly in lowland forest or tropical montane forest. It is known locally as the ‘chilli bird’, and is often seen by the PRM team during patrols.

Some primates native to East Kalimantan include the white-fronted surili (Presbytis frontata) and the owa kalawat, or Muller’s Bornean gibbon (Hylobates muelleri). Our PRM team occasionally encounter these two species during patrols for released orangutans.

The white-fronted surili is listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s red list, and the Indonesian government also lists it as a protected species. This primate, called ‘puan’ by the local Dayak population, is diurnal, meaning it is active during the day.

The Mullers Bornean gibbon known in Indonesia at owa kalawat, is a frugivore and can be found in both the primary and secondary forests of Kalimantan and is on the IUCN red list as ‘endangered’.

Kalimantan also has other native species including reptiles like the white-fronted water snake (Amphiesma flavifrons). This snake is found in rivers flowing through Kalimantan’s primary and secondary forests, and its head is visible above the water’s surface when it is swimming. Its diet consists of eggs, tadpoles and frogs.

Geographically located along the equator, Indonesia’s biodiversity is abundantly rich. The examples mentioned above comprise only a small fraction of what can be found in the Kehje Sewen Forest, and more broadly this archipelago nation. It is we, human beings, who need to be responsible for protecting and preserving this precious ecosystem – not only to sustain our local natural environment, but all life on Earth.