A recent study carried out by Monitor Conservation Research Society which is a research-partner of the Silent Forest Group shows that Indonesia’s large-scale bird trade spans beyond the country’s main islands and highlights the illegality of most of the observed trade.
Carried out in the city of Mataram, on the island of Lombok in West
Nusa Tenggara, the study found more than 10,000 birds of 108 species across only five bird-market visits and express particular concern over the high numbers of Lemon-bellied White-eyes (Zosterops chloris) observed.
Of the 10,000 recorded birds, 378 were fully protected under Indonesia’s wildlife laws. Another 8,208 birds were found to be traded in violation of set harvest quotas and without permits. The fact that more than eighty percent of the recorded birds were traded in violation of Indonesia’s existing wildlife laws is highly worrying.
Find more information about the study here and access the paper which was published in the Indonesian Journal of Applied Environmental Studies here