Dr.Kees Heij and the ecological / environmental protection in Indonesia

At the end of 1995 the Marinus Plantema Foundation received a request for financial support from Mr. Kees Heij for a research project concerning the biology and ecological living conditions of the Moluccan megapode ( Eulipoa Wallacei ), a fowl-type of bird, which lives in the tropical rainforests of the Moluccan Islands. Mr. Heij is a Dutch biologist, who obtained his doctors’ degree by writing a thesis on the sparrow – a bird a lot less exotic than the megapode!!!

From earlier research conducted by Dr. Heij it had become clear that there was a real danger for extinction of the megapode, but that there were still some species left around the island of Haruku, not far from Ambon. This new research project of Dr. Heij concentrated on getting to know more about the biological living conditions of the megapode and on saving this bird from extinction. The local population followed this project with some suspicion, as the eggs of the megapode serve as a source of food and thus as a source of income for them. For this project Dr. Heij could count on the cooperation of the Academy of Sciences in Jakarta and the universities of Bogor, Ambon and Menado.Together with various other institutions the Marinus Plantema Foundation granted Dr. Heij a subsidy to enable him to start the project.
During his research activities on Haruku Mr. Heij collected a lot of data on the number of eggs present and the number of actual births of the species. In addition he measured the temperature at four different levels/layers in the nesting fields and took care of the reintroduction of the Moluccan megapode in other suitable places by relocating the eggs. He also made a start with teaching the local population how to protect this species.
 
In the context of a follow-up research project some years later the Foundation granted Dr. Heij another subsidy. Shortly after the start of this project ( around mid-1999 ) severe riots broke out  between Muslims and Christians on the Moluccan Islands and the project had to be stopped temporarily. Dr. Heij was forced to move his activities to Irian Jaya. It was in Irian Jaya, on the island of Waigeo,  that in 2001 an expedition under his guidance rediscovered the since 1938 alledgedly extinct Bruins bush fowl.
 
During one of his subsequent trips to Irian Yaja Dr. Heij was approached by his Indonesian colleague Kris Tindige with the request to study the feasibility of financing the construction of a longboat. The purpose of the boat ( capacity 8 people ) was to make use of it for the ecological education of the local population on the Raya Ampat islands, of which Waigeo forms part. In addition the boat could be used to show eco-tourists around and would at the same time provide 2 families with a guaranteed source of income. The Marinus Plantema Foundation took care of Dr. Heij’s traveling and accommodation costs, whereas another foundation was prepared to finance the cost of the longboat.
 
Since then Dr. Heij got involved in another ecological project, this time in North Sulawesi, but in the course of 2005 he went back - with yet again financial support of the Marinus Plantema Foundation - to the island of Haruku, where the political situation had in the meantime calmed down. On that occasion he noticed to his great satisfaction that a rather large population of megapodes had taken possession of the nesting grounds.
 
It would therefore appear that the efforts of Dr. Heij on this and other eco-protection projects have certainly not been in vain and in fact have been a great success!!!!