Restoring forest can help birds return, but it does not automatically restore the original bird community. Studies in Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo found increases in bird abundance or richness alongside species that lagged, fire setbacks, and continuing pressures such as trapping. The difference matters: more birds or more species is not necessarily the same as a recovered rainforest ecosystem.
What did the Sumatra restoration study find?
A decade of bird surveys at a flagship forest-restoration site in Sumatra found signs of recovery as the forest regenerated, but recovery was uneven. The study’s authors reported significant abundance increases for 43.8% of species, while 14% recovered more slowly than predicted from forest regeneration. They also found that the share of species associated with very remote forests rose from 5.4% to 16.2% over the study period. These results point to a gap between vegetation regrowth and the return of all bird species; they describe this site and period, not every restoration project. Sumatra avifauna recovery study (2023)
The study also found evidence that trapping pressure intensified. Regrowing trees do not by themselves stop the capture and trade of wild birds, so restoring habitat alone cannot address that pressure. The findings do not establish trapping as the explanation for every species’ delayed recovery.
Can planting trees bring rainforest birds back?
It can support recovery, but the outcome depends on what is measured and what surrounds the restored site. In two community reforestation sites in and around Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, bird richness increased. At Laman Satong, researchers recorded 36 species in 2011 and 70 in 2016. A 2013 wildfire sharply interrupted that growth; after renewed planting and stronger fire prevention, richness rebounded above the pre-fire 2012 peak. The study concluded, “Absence of fire was thus the most important factor in recovery.” That conclusion applies to the two sites studied, not necessarily to every project. Helms and colleagues, 2018
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Those sites were small, protected, and near primary forest, where birds could disperse into the regenerating habitat. They held fewer species than expected in intact primary rainforest and only two Borneo endemics. So a rising species count is encouraging, but it does not prove that restored forest has become equivalent to intact rainforest.
Why can bird numbers look stable while forest birds decline?
A total species count can hide changes in which birds are present. Around Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi, standardized counts at 15 points in natural forest, secondary forest, agroforest, and open land found nearly unchanged overall richness between 2001/2002 and 2008. Yet mostly endemic forest species declined in abundance at 72.0% of species and were detected at fewer census points for 56.0% of species. Widespread open-land birds increased, offsetting some of that loss in the overall count. Waltert and colleagues, 2009
For this reason, a useful assessment separates total richness or abundance from the fortunes of forest-dependent and endemic species. A site can record a similar number of species while becoming less representative of its original forest community.
How do landscape and land use affect recovery?
Restoration does not happen in isolation. In a broader comparative study of rainforest restoration sites outside Indonesia, rainforest-dependent birds occupied restored habitat less often where nearby remnant rainforest cover was lower. Species traits also helped predict occupancy. This supports the importance of nearby habitat and species-specific dispersal or habitat needs, though it is not direct evidence from an Indonesian site. Spatial context and species traits study, 2015
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In Jambi, a comparison of lowland rainforest, jungle rubber, rubber and oil-palm plantations, and homegardens recorded 71 bird species across 24 families. Jungle rubber held 14 forest species, more than the six recorded across the two monoculture plantation types combined. Structurally diverse land use can retain some forest-bird value, but the study does not show that agroforestry can replace intact rainforest. Teuscher and colleagues, 2016
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should count as bird recovery?
There is no single number that captures whether a restored forest has recovered. Read a project’s results in context:
- Richness versus composition: How many species are present, and are forest-dependent or endemic birds among them?
- Regrowth versus remnant forest: Are restored sites being compared with intact forest, or only with their earlier condition?
- Connected versus isolated habitat: Can birds disperse from nearby remnant forest?
- Threats addressed versus ongoing: Are fire, trapping, and other pressures being controlled as well as trees being restored?
- Trend and timing: Did a disturbance such as wildfire interrupt recovery, and what happened afterward?
The Indonesian studies show both why restoration matters and why it is not a complete answer by itself: birds can return as forests regenerate, while fire, trapping, landscape isolation, and changing species composition constrain how complete that return is.
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