Nusa Penida, and neighbouring Lembongan and Ceningan islands, are a bird sanctuary.[3] The islands communities have used traditional Balinese village regulations to create the sanctuary. The idea of a sanctuary came from the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF).[4]
In 2006 all 35 villages (now 41 villages) agreed to make bird protection part of their traditional regulations (“awig-awig”). Since then, the FNPF has rehabilitated and released various Indonesian birds, most notably the critically endangered Bali starling which is endemic to Bali but whose numbers in the wild had declined to less than 10 in 2005. After a two-year program by FNPF in which 64 cage bred birds were rehabilitated and released onto Nusa Penida, their number had increased to over 100 in 2009. Other released birds include the Java sparrow, Mitchell's lorikeet and sulphur crested cockatoo.
