Yogyakarta, 27 August 2024 – Faculty of Biology Universitas, Gadjah Mada, in collaboration with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), held a Public Lecture with a conservation ecologist from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Australia, namely Prof. Raylene Cooke, and Prof. John White. The lecture was held in Classroom 2, Building B, Faculty of Biology UGM, and was attended by undergraduate and doctoral students from the Faculty of Biology UGM.

“This is a good opportunity for collaboration between the Faculty of Biology UGM and Deakin University, Australia,” said Prof. Budi as Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM in his speech on Tuesday (27/8). Prof. Budi also told the students to take advantage of this opportunity to gain as much knowledge and information as possible.

Tyas Ikhsan Hikmawan, Ph.D. as a lecturer at the Faculty of Biology UGM who acted as moderator on this occasion then introduced the two panelists in a guest lecture. Prof. Raylene Cooke is an ecologist and conservation biologist whose studies focus on predators and their responses to the dynamics of environmental change such as urbanization. Prof. John himself is an ecologist who focuses on species’ responses to disturbances in ecosystems, both natural and human-caused.

The two ecologists from Deakin University Australia presented a presentation entitled “Silent Killers! The impact of rodenticides on native wildlife and human health across the Asia-Pacific. Are rodenticides the modern DDT?”. On this occasion, both of them highlighted the use of pesticides which has increased significantly along with the increase in the world’s human population. This impacts not only the agricultural sector but also species ecosystems such as wildlife and human health.

Quoting the work of Rachel Carson (1962) in her book “Silent Spring”, Prof. John mentioned DDT or dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, a synthetic insecticide which is known as a “wonder chemical” but has major effects on ecology and human health and is currently prohibited for use in most countries in the world. Prof. John highlighted the effects of DDT accumulating up to higher levels of the food chain such as predators showing how DDT does not break down quickly and is concentrated in the fatty tissue of animals. This is considered to be the cause of the decline in the number of predatory birds in the world.

Rodenticide, Prof. John said, it is the next potential silent killer where its use is quite massive, generally in households and the agricultural industry, considering that rats are a pest that threatens food significantly. Unfortunately, rodenticides not only kill mice but also poison the food chain above them, the predators who make mice one of their prey targets. Some of them are the focus of Prof. John and Prof. Raylene is an Eagle to Powerful Owl.

Prof. Raylene in her presentation showed that second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) is often found in various species in the wild. This resulted in the death of many species which showed high SGAR accumulation which poisoned their livers. Through this issue, the two ecologists also invited ARMS or Anticoagulant Rodenticide Monitoring System research collaboration with researchers in the Asia Pacific region. It is hoped that this research will contribute to handling wild animal deaths due to rodenticides and related policy making.

The participants were enthusiastic about attending the lecture and were critical in the subsequent question and answer session. Through this public lecture, it is hoped that it can encourage innovation, especially for the academic community, in contributing to research on sustainable ecosystem preservation (SDG 4 and 15) through collaboration between the UGM Faculty of Biology and Deakin University, especially the School of Life and Environmental Sciences (SDG 17).