Borneo’s ‘omen birds’ find a staunch guardian in Indigenous Dayak Iban elders

Deep in the rainforests of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, the piercing calls of birds reverberate to the rhythm of the gushing Utik River that has long nourished wildlife and the lifeways of the Dayak Iban people. For others, the bird calls might not warrant attention, but here, members of the tribe pause to listen for what they believe are the omens and warnings from spirits. In recent decades, songbird populations have declined in the country due to deforestation and the songbird trade. However, in the face of this declining biodiversity, the Dayak Iban of Sungai Utik village continue to care for a Paris-sized swath of rainforest and maintain customary laws to protect what they call their “omen birds.” These include species like the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabarincus), scarlet-rumped trogon (Harpactes duvaucelii) and Diard’s trogon (Harpactes diardii), whose songs reverberate over the treetops of Borneo’s forests. “The culture of listening to omen birds is getting rare now, but we still view the birds as messengers in Sungai Utik,” says Hermanus Husin, 66, a Dayak elder from Sungai Utik. Omen birds are sacred species that bring messages, he says. “To protect these birds, we know that we have to protect their homes: the forests.” For generations, the Iban of Sungai Utik have maintained their stewardship of the land, for which they were recognized with an Equator Prize from the United Nations Development Programme in 2019. The elders have physically defended thousands of hectares of lush Bornean rainforest against illegal logging, oil palm…This article was originally published on Mongabay