Project Bird Watch / Indonesian Parrot Project

Issue 19: Indonesian Dreamin' Becomes a Reality - Part 1, Conservation of the Nominate Race of Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea sulphurea

Issue 8:
Api Lima

Issue 7:
Three Parrot Rescue Operations in 7 Months, Giant Steps for PBW

Issue 6:
Imperiled Cockatoos and Parrots of Indonesia

Issue 5:
The 10 Most Wanted List

Issue 4:
Eclectic Eclectus

Issue 3:
The Vulnerability of Cockatoos to Extinction: How do we assess it?

Issue 2:
Seacology Awards Grant to PBW

Issue 1:
Introducing the Challenges We Face

Notes from the Field: Issue 2

Project Bird Watch Receives Seacology Grant For Medical Clinics, Education In Indonesia

9/2004

Local Villages to Create 350 Acre Heritage Zone
to Protect Parrot-Rich Indonesian Rainforest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Bonnie Zimmermann

(707) 965-3480 bonniez@direcway.com

Project Bird Watch / Indonesian Parrot Project

POPE VALLEY, CA – September, 2004: The Board of Directors of Project Bird Watch (Dr. Stewart Metz, President; Bonnie Zimmermann, Vice President; Barbara Bailey, Secretary; and Emily Heenan, John Spence and Diana Holloway, Members at Large) are pleased to announce the receipt of a $23,954 grant from Seacology (www.seacology.org).

Contingent upon the stability of political and social conditions in the district of Maluku, Indonesia, following a Presidential run-off election in September, 2004, the funding will be used by Project Bird Watch to carry out a 5-point Medical Initiative in the Muslim town of Sawai and the Christian town of Masihulan, both on the North shore of the island of Seram, in Eastern Indonesia. In an effort to improve hygiene, enhance the delivery of health care and lessen the mortality rate of local children, plans for each village include:

building an improved medical clinic
providing a solar-powered power system coupled to a Solar One water purification system
providing refrigerators to prevent deterioration of medicines in the harsh tropical climate
sending Nurse Practitioners to Bali for advanced medical training
writing and distributing a booklet on basic hygienic and sanitary practices, for both children and adults, to be taught by the schools' Headmasters

In return, in early October the King of the District, in conjunction with the Kepala Desa (Heads of the respective villages) and a council representing the villagers, will sign a binding contract to establish and maintain a "no-take" Heritage Site zone covering nearly 350 acres of pristine forest. As part of the agreement, the King, Kepala Desa, Council, and Villagers will formally recognize the need to protect and preserve the special flora and fauna of Seram, with a focus on saving the Seram cockatoo. As a result, this preserve is to remain free of logging, hunting, trapping or other human encroachment for at least the next 50 years.

Seacology is the world's premier nonprofit, nongovernmental organization with the sole and unique purpose of preserving the environments and cultures of islands throughout the globe. Their programs are successful because they are locally managed. Seacology's motto is, "Saving the world....one island village at a time."

The Indonesian Parrot Project / Project Bird Watch is an all-volunteer group of bird lovers, who have formed a nonprofit corporation, working toward four main goals:

helping to conserve endangered Indonesian cockatoos and parrots,
helping to provide sustainable income for local villages,
serving as a source of information and education, and
improving the welfare of parrots in captivity.

Plans are for the Seacology Project to begin on November 1, 2004, and be completed within one year.

For media inquiries or other information on Project Bird Watch, contact Bonnie Zimmermann at (707) 965-3480 or bzimmerbird@gmail.com

We are an all volunteer 501(c)3 California nonprofit tax-exempt organzation.
All content copyrighted 2002-2007 Project Bird Watch / Indonesian Parrot Project