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December 2009

The pitta-patter of tiny feet!

Deep in the forest, I woke at 4.30 in the morning to walk to our gibbon survey points under the cover of darkness, itself an exhilarating experience. Arriving at the survey spot, I prepared for a morning of recording calling gibbons. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of bright colour in the first morning light and turned quickly to see what is always a wonderful forest sight: a pitta! In this case, the near-threatened Garnet Pitta. Pittas are elusive, rainbow-coloured birds of the forest floor. They flick over the leaf litter to search for snails and worms. If disturbed, they often hop away rather than flying.

It's called rainforest for a reason

River crossing Despite the long dry season we are experiencing in Sumatra, a few hours of rain can have a dramatic affect on the forest landscape, as I discovered on the research team's latest forest trip.  On one of our first nights, very heavy rain left many of our survey transects impassable the next day, with small streams having risen by up to two metres in some cases. Our eight transects are chosen before the trip and are used to survey mammals, birds and habitat. If we come across an obstruction to our planned route, we must find a quick way around.

 

New film highlights Harapan Rainforest benefits for communities

Working with local communities and collaborating with local partners is key to Harapan Rainforest’s success. A film just released by a project partner, Jambi NGO KKI-WARSI, shows some of the activities that have been going on in villages around Harapan Rainforest over the past 3 years or so. Follow this link to view the film on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFLq-K9pdAE
The complete film is about 15 minutes long, and is split into three parts. The link above is to the first part, and links within YouTube will let you view parts 2 and 3.