JAKARTA — The construction of Indonesia’s new capital city on the island of Borneo may destabilize the current stable population of endangered proboscis monkeys, a study has warned. President Joko Widodo in 2019 declared the establishment of an entirely new capital in East Kalimantan province, moving the seat of government away from the overcrowded and rapidly sinking Jakarta in an effort to spur economic growth beyond the island of Java. But scientists from Indonesia and Czechia say in their recently published study that the development likely threatens the key mangrove ecosystem of Balikpapan Bay where a population of the proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) lives. “The Indonesian government should abide by its public commitments to sustainable development principles and embrace the global importance of this endangered primate and develop Nusantara city with respect for local biodiversity,” they wrote in the paper published in January in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. Balikpapan Bay is home to dense native mangroves where threatened species like proboscis monkeys live. Image by Basten Gokkon/Mongabay. The group of scientists, led by Tri Atmoko, a senior researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), conducted a population census in known habitats of the proboscis monkey to determine the total current population at 3,907 individuals — all living within the development range of the new city, Nusantara. In particular, they estimated 1,449 of the monkeys occur within the core area of Nusantara and would be pushed to the edges of their habitat by the ongoing construction work.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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