The Star, Malaysia : Four-month ban on nest collection

Wednesday, January 08, 2003

Four-month ban on nest collection

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: The Sarawak Forestry Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Department have imposed a four-month ban on the harvesting and collection of edible bird's nest in the prehistoric Niah caves.

The ban, effective Jan 1, is a precautionary measure to prevent over-exploitation and to ensure swifts that produce the nests can multiply successfully over the next few months.

Officer-in-charge of Niah National Park Dr Lim Chan Koon said the ban might be extended if there was a need.

“Since Jan 1 this year, we have frozen all licences for harvesting and collection of bird's nest in Niah.

“No permit will be granted for such activities until the end of April. We may extend the ban if it is deemed necessary.

“We want to make sure the baby birds born during the next few months have a chance to mature and fly off before their nests are harvested,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Dr Lim said the temporary ban was part of a new approach taken to ensure that the bird's nest collection industry did not disrupt or interfere with the natural reproductive cycle of the swifts.

Previously, the nests were collected on an ad hoc basis but such activities were now regulated under strict conditions laid down by the department, he said.

The local native folk in the national park, he added, had been informed of the freeze.

“They seem supportive of the move and they understand that what we are doing is for the good of the ecosystem and also for the good of the industry,” he said.

Dr Lim said the authorities would, however, allow those with stocks of nests collected last year to process and sell them off.

Located some 120km south of here, the national park was home to a 40,000-year-old prehistoric tribe, one of the oldest human civilisations in South-East Asia.

Human remains of the tribe, as well as some ancient cave paintings, are being preserved inside the cave by the authorities.

The bird's nest industry in Niah is a lucrative business. The processed nests of the Golden Swift can fetch a market price of RM5,000 per kilo.