Asian Waterbird Census 2018 from 6 to 21 January 2018 provided opportunity for Berbak-Sembilang National Park and Balai KSDA Jambi to held monitoring of migratory birds at Cemara Beach, Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency (Tanjabtim), Jambi Province, from the 15th -17 January 2018. This activity was supported by GEF-UNDP Sumatran Tiger Project.

Cemara Beach is known as one of the migratory water birds stop locations migrating from the north to the south part of the Earth. Pantai Cemara is also a part of Berbak Ramsar Site since 1992, and it was established by the Governor of Jambi as a migratory waterbird protection area through the Jambi Governor’s Decree No.456 of 1996.

This monitoring activity aimed to collect data on the type and number of migratory bird populations in Pantai Cemara and to promote Pantai Cemara as one of the special interest tourist sites for the observation of the Bird Migrant Bird, thereby increasing the economic income of the people around Cemara Beach and Berbak-Sembilang National Park. The promotion is also expected to foster birdwatching initiatives among students and the communities in Jambi Province, and to increase people’s attention and Tanjabtim Government towards the conservation of Cemara Beach.

This activity involved relevant stakeholders consisting of Tourism Department of Tanjabtim Government, Tourism Activity Organizer in Jambi, students and university students of University of Jambi, local and international NGO (Gita Buana, Zoological Society of London and Wetlands International Indonesia Program), and also local community in Pantai Cemara .

In this activity, migratory birdwatching team found 30 species of aquatic birds on Cemara Beach with a total population of 13,357 individuals dominated by Blue-sea Ekor-blorok (Limosa lapponica), Blue-tailed Sea (Limosa limosa) (Charadrius mongolus), Trinil Bedaran (Xenus cinereus), and Kedidi Besar (Calidris tenuirostris).

One of the observed Trinil species is Trinil Lumpur Asia (Limnodromus semipalmatus) with IUCN near threaten status, where its population is estimated to be only 23,000 in the world. Of the 30 species of Water Birds 2 Type is the type of resident, namely Little Egretta (Egretta garzetta) and Cangak Merah (Ardea purpurea).

The team also managed to find migratory orange-water birds (installed in Victoria, Australia), white flags (installed on North Island, New Zealand), and black-and-white flags (installed in Chongming Dao-China).

Cemara Beach area has the potential as a tourist attraction but requires improvement in infrastructure to facilitate access to the location. The existence of migratory birds can be a special attraction for domestic and foreign tourists. Currently to reach the Cemara Beach can be done by land using two-wheeled vehicles or by sea using a speedboat. But it is still difficult because of damaged roads and bridges and high waves in the west wind season (October – April).

Some conditions need to be of concern in Cemara beach are high abrasion and community activities that use motorcycles to take shells on the beach. Both of these can threaten the function of Pantai Cemara as a stopover location for the Bird Migrant Bird.

Recapitulation of Waterbird Monitoring Results in Pantai Cemara 

Contact 

Unit Manajemen Proyek Sumatran Tiger

Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan

Gd. Manggala Wanabakti, Blok 1, Lt.15, Ruang B7 Jl. Gatot Subroto, Senayan, Jakarta, 10270

Telp: +62 21 578 52990

Email: info@sumatrantiger.id