A FLOCK of black-necked storks (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) took to the sky, scattering and flying away. They seemed disturbed by the shrill sounds of a Yamaha motorcycle and three other bikes. On the scorching afternoon of Wednesday, August 28, the noise from these vehicles disrupted the silence of the eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp) forests in Wambi village, Okaba District, Merauke, South Papua.

Simon Petrus Balagaize, a former candidate for