After several months of preparation – obtaining permits and local permissions, appointing staff, buying equipment and sorting logistics - we were finally ready to start our mountain surveys to support placement of new protected areas or extensions of existing PAs in the uplands of Java (see previous post). The project, funded by Rainforest Trust, kicked off at Slamet, a large and biologically very important mountain in Central Java. This portion of the fieldwork is also supported by Chester Zoo who have a keen interest in bird species affected by the Asian Songbird Crisis.
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| Into the field (Photos: Gabby Salazar www.gabbysalazar.com) |
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| Fieldwork on Gunung Slamet (Photos: Gabby Salazar www.gabbysalazar.com) |
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| Javan Gibbons were recorded several times around 7-800 m (Photo: Gabby Salazar www.gabbysalazar.com) |
| Above - sonogram of Javan Gibbon caught on one of the recorders; Below - the real thing - audio associated with this record. |
We left the team, having finished Site 1 on Mountain 1. The team has been joined by Bas van Balen and Fajar, a research assistant from Burung with experience camera trapping on Sumatra– they head further up the mountain on a different trail, spending around two weeks camping up as high as 2,200 m. The fieldwork on each mountain will be divided up into sites, each taking around a week to complete. After arriving and making camp, the first day will be spent in two teams positioning the audio recorders and cameras. Detailed habitat data will be gathered at each recorder location – details of tree girths, understorey density and presence/absence of a whole range of habitat features (e.g. bamboo, rattans).
| The first mammal caught on our cameras - the poorly known Sunda stink badger Mydaus javanensis |






























