Project Nusa Tenggara ’96: a University of East Anglia conservation expedition to Indonesia

Stephen Henson

The Indonesian/British team will survey three proposed protected areas on the islands of West Timor and Roti, Indonesia to determine their conservation significance. The team will compare the relative biodiversity values of environmental domains (vegetation classes) in each area, including their representativeness in terms of 32 target bird species (globally threatened and/or of very limited distribution). This will follow the approach used by the BirdLife Indonesia Maluku project, namely: (i) dividing the islands into environmental domains based on geology, altitude and precipitation; (ii) conducting an ornithological inventory in each domain; (iii) distance sampling (by Variable Circular Plot) of birds in each domain; (iv) providing vegetation profiles of each domain. The team will also assess the value of the surrounding areas for possible inclusion in the reserves and will complete intensive studies on the poorly known target species to ascertain their conservation status, distribution and ecology.

Project update: 22/3/97. This project is postponed until late 1998 (received £2250 of their award).