Project Birdwatch

Who We Are

Passionate bird lovers who understand the enormous responsibility of maintaining the natural Indonesian homelands of some of our planet’s most magnificent feathered creatures.

Loving caregivers who understand the responsibility of maintaining the dignity, enriching the lives, and encouraging the natural behaviors of companion parrots who share our homes.

A Few of the Things We’ve Done

Helping to Assess and Protect Endangered Indonesian Cockatoos and Parrots

• Provided major funding to perform a scientific census of the Salmon-crested cockatoos on Seram
• Funded an undercover investigation of the trapping/smuggling of cockatoos and parrots on Seram
• Funded initial phase for veterinary care and rehabilitation of confiscated (smuggled) cockatoos on Seram
• Funding BirdLife Indonesia facility to rehabilitate and re-release confiscated Citron-crested cockatoos and other parrots on Sumba Island

Helping to Provide Sustainable Income and Improve Quality of Life for Local Villages

• Established relations and agreements with local villages to cease trapping of endangered parrots
• Established eco-tour program on Seram and Raja Ampat  (in West Papua)
• Educated villagers as eco-guides and developed local community-village support
• Established sustainable fruit & vegetable gardens on Gam Island in West Papua   
• Established an eco-tourism hut and re-built dilapidated jetty on Gam
• Introduced MoluccaNut program: Harvesting/Shelling/Roasting/Exporting
• Provided visiting physicians & medicines, school chairs, desks, books, and supplies (Gam, Batanta,Seram).

• >New!< Currently building two medical clinics and providing solar-powered generators coupled to water purifiers on  North Seram

Enriching the Lives of Indonesian Companion Parrots *  Information and Education

• Actively support companion parrot rescue & rehabilitation (TARA / Mollywood)

• Published articles about wild parrots & cockatoos, with newly-discovered information 
• Speak to: Conservation Groups /Parrot Welfare Organizations / Science & Research Community
• Developed a membership program to increase awareness & commitment
• Released DVD: ‘Parrots & People of Wild Indonesia’ – Also available to Schools & Libraries  
• Web articles, research data and photographs available

Exciting New Programs

• “Trappers-to-Wardens”:  Pay ex-trappers to protect nests and carry out ecological observations
• Kembali Bebas (“Return to Freedom”): Currently coordinating & seeking further funding to build a Rehabilitation, Release & Education Center on North Seram Island
• Scientific studies of Communicable Diseases in Indonesian Cockatoos: Surprisingly, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (as well as other communicable diseases) have apparently never been  looked for in wild Indonesian parrots, unlike Australia or the Philippines

As Members, you will be included in the adventure as our Programs progress!

We’ll keep you up-to-date with frequent ‘Notes From the Field’,  as well as opportunities for on-line ‘live-chat’ with special guests who are involved in implementing and overseeing these Programs.

It is your membership that makes this all possible, and we thank you for being part of our Project Bird Watch/Indonesian Parrot Project Team!