Habitat suitability of Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) in Berau Delta, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

The proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) is an endemic species to Borneos’ island and is largely confined to mangrove, riverine, and swamp forest. Most of their habitat is outside the conservation due to degraded and habitat converted. Habitat loss is a significant threat to a decreased in the monkey's population. Berau Delta is an unprotected habitat of proboscis monkey, lacking in attention and experiencing a lot of disturbances. This study was conducted on April – August 2019; with aims of the study is to determine Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) for identifying proboscis monkey habitat suitability in Delta Berau, East Kalimantan. The MaxEnt algorithm was used to produce a habitat suitability map based on this species’ occurrence records and environmental predictors. We built the models using 208 points of proboscis monkey presence and 12 environment variables within the study area. Model performance was assessed by examining the area under the curve. The variables most influencing the habitat suitability model were the riverine habitat (60.9%), distance from the pond (16.0%), and distance from the coastline (5.2%). The proboscis monkey suitable habitat is only 9.32% (8,726.58 ha) from 93,631.41 ha total area. The appropriate habitat areas are Sapinang Island, Bungkung Island, Sambuayan Island, Saodang Kecil Island, Besing Island, Lati River, Bebanir Lama, Batu-Batu, and Semanting Bay. We provide some suggestions for the proboscis monkey conservation, which are local protection of uninhabited islands, participatory ecotourism management, and company involvement in protection and management efforts.