Sharjah24 – Reuters: Indonesian officials and researchers are working to preserve a small pocket of forest on the heavily populated island of Java as the habitat of the Javan gibbon, which they say is endangered by climate change and human encroachment.
Also known as the silvery gibbon, the primate is unique to central and western Java, where it plays a role in regenerating forest vegetation by dispersing seeds.
Local conservation group SwaraOwa is tracking a population of about 400 gibbons living in a 73-kilometre reserve in Petungkriyono Forest in central Java.
Researcher Arif Setiawan said as many as 70 groups are regularly spotted in the forest, compared to about 50 in 2012 but warned that their habitat was under threat.
"The real threat now is the integrity of the forest itself because of the increasing number of human activities," he said.
Conservation International estimates there are around 4,000 Javan gibbons left. They are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
SwaraOwa and the government hold outreach programmes with the local community every month and have installed signage prohibiting hunting and illegal logging in the forest.
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