Beijing (ANTARA News) - A group of Chinese journalists will visit a number of tourist sites in Indonesia in March and April to give a clear picture of the Indonesian tourism industry to Chinese tourists, an official said.
“The Chinese journalists` planned visit has been approved by the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism,” Rosmalawati Chalid, head of the social and cultural unit at the Indonesian embassy in Beijing, said on Saturday.
Rosmalawati`s statement came as the embassy is to conduct tourism promotion campaigns in China. Through the campaigns, the embassy in cooperation with the ministry will among others invite a number of Chinese journalists to visit Indonesia.
She said Shantung TV journalists would visit tourist sites in Lombok Island later this month and CCTV journalists would visit Komodo Island at the end of April.
The visits would hopefully help promote the Indonesian tourism industry among Chinese tourists, she said. (*)
Source: ANTARA News
March 17th, 2008
Two field scientists from the University of Indonesia have found a new bird species, Zosterops Somadikartai or Togian white-eye, in the Togian Islands, Gulf of Tomini, Central Sulawesi province, local press reported Saturday.
The newly discovered bird is small with green plumage and a red beak. It is very active and moves in small flocks.
However, unlike its closest relatives — and despite its name –the bird’s eyes are circled by a band of red feathers, not white. Its beak is a more intense red than that of its relatives.
The species is being introduced for the first time this month in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 12 years after Indrawan and Sunarto first spotted the bird, reported English daily The JakartaPost.
The two scientists collaborated with well-known taxonomist Pamela Rasmussen of Michigan State University, who specializes in Asian birds, to conduct final research into the new species.
Based on the criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the newly discovered bird is believed to be endangered because it is found only in a few small islands in Central Sulawesi.
The species is named after Prof. Somadikarta, Indonesia’s leading taxonomist, who was recently appointed the honorary president of the International Ornithological Congress XXV in Brazil in 2010.
“I’m happy they put my name on it because it is an endangered species,” Somadikarta said.
This finding has also established the Togian Islands as an endemic bird area. According to conservation organization BirdLife International, a region can be established as an endemic bird areaif more than two bird species that do not exist in other regions are found there.
Indrawan and his team previously found a new owl species, Ninoxburhani or Togian hawk-owl, in forests in the Togian Islands. The owl was named after a local farmer, Burhan, in appreciation of the local people’s kindness.
Source:Xinhua
March 17th, 2008