OBSCUREFEST
24-25 January 2026
Bogor, Indonesia

Are we biased against most lifeforms on Earth?

Much of the Earth’s species are not warm blooded, and less than familiar. Certain lineages are very old – amphibians and scorpions roamed the land eons before humanity walked upright. Some, like orchids in pristine forests, still elude scientific inquiry. Others bear the crushing weight of our civilization by providing food or helping crops to fruit, like countless fishes and pollinating insects. They do not always garner sympathy from the public, and conservation efforts have echoed that sentiment. A study found that from 14,600 species conservation projects, 83% of funds were given to vertebrates, most of it allotted to mammals and birds (Guénard et al. 2025). Yet the neglected species are often just as threatened as the more popular ones, and despite our inattention many perform vital functions in their ecosystems.

Extinction has not spared Indonesia

In Indonesia alone, over 2,000 species beyond mammals and birds have been assessed by the IUCN as threatened. Barring miracles or missing data, four are Extinct – forever lost to us and generations to come. Unlike the Javan tiger, all four remain little known by the public: a stingray (Urolophus javanicus), a ginger (Etlingera heyneana), a knifefish (Chitala lopis), and a prawn (Macrobrachium leptodactylus). They were endemic to Java, and victims to its unceasing growth.

ObscureFest invites you to celebrate the unseen, obscure living things around us, learning and acknowledging their incredible diversity and why they matter through a series of these events: