News
(Actual) publications 2006 Bird's nest
| 13-07-2006: | "Spot Light - In a fluff over bird's nest building" |
| 19-06-2006: | "Nest delicacy birds successfully incubated" |
| 02-02-2006: | "Swiftlet farmers worry over fee" |
| 13-01-2006: | "Bird's nest harvest in the Baram" |
Spot Light - In a fluff over bird's nest building
Chok Suat Ling and Himanshu Bhatt
2006/07/13 - The lucrative bird's nest business has come under fire from people who claim it is a health hazard and a threat to heritage. But entrepreneurs say the industry is misunderstood and should be allowed to develop, write CHOK SUAT LING and HIMANSHU BHATT.
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Swiftlets resting on electrical cables are a common sight in urban areas |
MANY owners of "swiftlet hotels" in the country are laughing all the way to the bank. But others are less amused.
Over the last few years, getting swiftlets to roost in converted buildings has become big business as entrepreneurs cash in on the strong demand for bird's nest, mainly from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
The nests, made from the saliva of Aerodamus fuciphagus, are said to be excellent for the complexion and in promoting respiratory and gastric health.
The swiftlet uses its spit to string together small gauze-like nests which are the main ingredient of bird's nest soup, a Chinese delicacy.
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The question is whether we want a town or neighbourhood filled with people, or one which is potentially a ghost town filled with birds
cardosa |
The "bird-houses" started flourishing in the 1990s. There are now an estimated 30,000 such "swiftlet hotels" in the country, although not all have been successful in attracting the birds.
With the retail price of bird's nest ranging from RM4,000 to RM5,000 a kilo, depending on its quality, it is no wonder that entrepreneurs are willing to spend tens of thousands of ringgit to convert old, sometimes abandoned, buildings, into homes for swiftlets.
The buildings are fitted with humidifiers and stereo systems that play recorded bird-calls to lure the birds, which normally roost in isolated caves.
Badan Warisan Malaysia believes that while the economic arguments for a bird's nest industry may be strong, the need to protect heritage architecture and ensure a healthy environment is stronger.
Its executive director, Elizabeth Cardosa, says converting a heritage building into a "bird-house" is not only inappropriate but has many other deleterious effects.
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Swiftlets roosting in a bird-house in Seremban. (Above) The supposedly healthy delicacy |
Special conditions have to be created to encourage swiftlets to nest in these old houses, such as boarding up windows and doors to keep out sunlight, with small openings high up on the walls for the birds to get in and out.
"In a closed environment, moisture accumulates and accelerates the decay of plaster, brick walls and timber ceilings," Cardosa says.
"The rotting wood invites termite infestation. Bird droppings also hasten the destruction of building materials and the interior ornamentation and beautiful embellishments of heritage buildings."
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Owners of bird-houses ensures the cleanliness of their properties as it will give them high-quality nests. |
She says neighbouring houses would also be affected by droppings and the noise of recorded bird-calls.
"Eventually, residents will sell or rent their houses in the core heritage zones of Malacca and Penang. This will have a devastating effect on the development of cultural tourism."
Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) enforcement director Misliah Bashir says the department issues licences to "swiftlet hotel" owners to harvest the nests, "but owners must first get a licence for the premises from the local authority".
Guidelines have been issued in the past two years to ensure that local authorities have a consistent policy for the industry.
The guidelines, among others, specify that bird-houses cannot be built in residential or business areas and should be at least 100 metres from human habitats. But Misliah admits enforcement is not easy as the premises are sometimes locked up when officers arrive.
She says the chances of swiftlets contracting bird flu is minimal, allaying one immediate public concern.
"They are non-migratory and do not share flying or roosting space with other birds. Swiftlets also do not have the same food and water sources as other birds."
Malaysian bird's nest Merchants Association president Lim Theam Siew notes that several sets of guidelines have been formulated by government agencies - the Housing and Local Government Ministry, Perhilitan, and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry. But Lim say they cannot effectively regulate the industry.
"They do not understand the industry," he says. "Some of the guidelines are not practical and would make it impossible for us to conduct our business.
"For instance, one of the requirements for a 'bird-house' is a fire escape. But why is that necessary when the only occupants are birds?"
In a tour of a converted shoplot in Seremban recently, Lim pointed out several bird's nest jutting out like half-moon balconies from thin wooden planks attached to the ceiling.
Lim says owners of these "birdhouses" ensure the cleanliness of their properties as this will give them high-quality nests.
He says the association, which has a well-established membership, should be allowed to regulate the industry.
"We have the experience and can educate operators on the proper way to set up and maintain 'bird-houses'. We teach them how to keep their premises clean and to ensure the nests are collected only when the chicks leave.
"The association has also organised seminars with participants from Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar.
"The Government can help us by doing research. Universities can formulate courses on bird's nests. We should not be talking about licensing and regulations, but how we can create awareness."
Cardosa says Badan Warisan does not wish to "bring the industry down".
"If it is a viable industry, they should receive the support of the Government. Our concerns relate to the conversion of heritage properties into bird-houses."
She notes that in Thailand and Indonesia, "bird-houses" are constructed in padi fields and near coastal areas, which do not place pressure on the cultural and heritage environment.
"At the end of the day, the question is whether we want a town or neighbourhood filled with people, or one which is potentially a ghost town filled with birds," she says.
Penang making noise over incessant din
GEORGE TOWN: Amid the din of busy Chulia Street, one can hear the cries of swiftlets as they fly around the roof of an old shophouse with its windows and doors tightly shut.But the urban bird's nests harvesting business that has boomed in George Town is coming under pressure from the Government.
On Dec 31 last year, the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) imposed stringent regulations for all bird's nest operators to apply for licences.
Most have applied, but many are unable to comply with the conditions, says Komtar assemblyman Lim Gim Soon.
One of these conditions is to keep the noise down. Sounds made by tweeter speakers to attract the swiftlets must be less than two decibels. This volume is not enough to draw as many birds as breeders would like.
Many are also unable to change their land-use status from residential to commercial. Most of the 200 breeders on Penang island are in the city and are operating in heritage buildings even though the MPPP forbids bird's nests in places gazetted as heritage structures or zones.
Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim's family bought a terrace shophouse on the Armenian Street heritage enclave a few years ago when they kept getting calls from strangers wanting to rent the premises to be used as "swiftlet hotels".
Although they declined, some of their neighbours did not.
"The nests are all inside the buildings behind the casement windows," Idaura said. "They've shut them out from the outside world with planks.
"But you can hear them all the time. It's such a nuisance."
There is also the almost incessant noise of the electronic tweeters that are left on throughout the day to attract the birds.
Idaura is also concerned that over time bird droppings will mar the beautiful façade of the heritage buildings.
The Penang Heritage Trust has been receiving complaints from people living in the inner city, said its chairman Dr Choong Sim Poey.
"People buying houses in heritage areas are caught by surprise when they find there are bird breeders in the neighbourhood."
FROM: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Thursday/National/20060713081111/Article/local1_html
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Nest delicacy birds successfully incubated
2006/06/19 - An indoor Salangane or edible-nest swiftlet raising pilot has shown promise recently in south-central Vietnam where local residents earned their living from selling the lucrative nests as an edible delicacy.
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Young edible-nest swiftlets |
The Khanh Hoa Salagane Nest Company has successfully incubated and raised indoor Salangane whose nests serve as a valuable dish in many Asian countries.
The pilot exhibited a hatch rate of 78.41 percent, with swiftlet's nest prices at VND20-30 million (US$1,300-1,900) per kilogram depending on products in the domestic market.
Being aware of economic potentials from breading Salangane, the company has conducted research on reproductive process of such precious bird to adopt a complete indoor raising circle.
Le Huu Hoang, the company's director, said it targeted to produce an indoor breading process that generated in the highest effect but less cost.
He added that the company's staff defined parameters such as temperature, humidity and sought measures to stabilize such factors that played a vital role in the in the artificial incubation process.
With the research results and lessons from unsuccessful trails using overseas-imported incubators, the company has now designed and manufactured incubators suitable for the Vietnamese environment.
Additionally, the company's staff also set up a standard nutrition regime and supporting techniques for raising the birds.
The company has developed three breeding houses in other localities in the Khanh Hoa province besides on in the Nha Trang city and offered consultative services to raisers in Phu Yen, Tien Giang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau.
The special swiftlets (Aerodramus fuciphagus) are found populated in Salangane Island in the Nha Trang city.
The locals harvest the bird nest (considered a delicacy) to be used in soups. These nests are processed and exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The birds build their nest high on the walls of the cave on the islands. To access the nests, harvesters must climb on ladders fashioned from bamboo.
The bird nest comes in two types, white and red nests.
The nest is made out of the bird's saliva. Usually, a typical bird creates one nest a year during springtime using both parents saliva.
FROM: http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=16776
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Swiftlet farmers worry over fee
2006/02/02 - KUANTAN: The proposed licensing regulations for swiftlet nest farming in Pahang has got farmers here worried that local governments will impose a licensing fee for such work.
This was the main concern voiced by the three swiftlet nest farmers associations in Pahang when they met with the state Environment and Local Government exco member Datuk Hoh Khai Mun.
At this first meeting between representatives of the associations, Health Department, Wildlife and Veterinary Services Department and officers of the various district offices, Hoh explained the rationale behind the licensing exercise.
"This industry is a potential revenue earner, and from our survey, we have found that nests farmed in Malaysia are of superior quality and there is a need to regulate the industry to ensure constant supply," he told reporters after chairing the two-hour meeting here.
Hoh said the licensing-fee issue was on the drawing board and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government was assisting the state in calculating the fee.
Nine states have already implemented licensing regulations on the industry.
FROM: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/2/southneast/13138913&sec=southneast
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Birds nest harvest in the Baram
2006-01-13 - For several hundred years, ancient bird's nests caves in the middle Baram region have provided sustenance for a handful of aristocratic Kayan families.
I have heard about bird's nests and even visited the Niah caves, but not the caves of the Middle Baram reputed to be where the most expensive edible bird's nests are found.
George's daughters entering one of the Tuking caves. |
As such, it was exciting to be the guest of George Jalong Nawan to visit his family caves at Tuking in the Sungei Kejin area - about eight hours by boat up the Baram River.
The caves once belonged to his famous ancestor, Penghulu Lalang Batang of Long Laput, who was called the "dollar princess" by Sir Malcolm Macdonald, the Commissioner General of South-East Asia in his book Borneo People. She was reputed to be one (if not the only) of the wealthiest people in the Baram during pre-war days. She was so famous that even the third Rajah Vyner Brooke visited her longhouse in 1940. Others such as Macdonald and Sarawak Governor Arden-Clarke followed suit after the war. "The cave was passed down the family line to my grandmother Tijan, who was the daughter of Penghulu Lalang, then down to my mother Penghulu Bungan Arong," said George. In fact, George and several other families from Long Laput as well as neighbouring Sungei Dua (his mother's new longhouse) have inherited several caves. |
A personal friend of George, Dr Lim Chan Koon, who visited the Tuking caves in 1996 with the Earl of Cranbrooke (the first person to study swiflets) said the caves were among the best-conserved bird's nests caves in the middle Baram.
He said the white-nest swiftlet population was at an all-time low when he and Lord Cranbrooke conducted research on the caves.
Giving me a quick lesson on the business of swiftlets and bird's nests, he said the middle Baram was famous for white nests - the most expensive of the bird's nests - with seven large caves and between 30 and 50 small ones.
"There are four types of swiftlets in Sarawak - white nest, black nest, mossy nest and glossy. All except the mossy bird's nests can be harvested," said Dr Lim, who wrote the book Swiflets of Borneo: Builders of Edible Nests (2002).
Harvests are carried out by expert climbers and a dozen or so labourers.
George and a friend going into the cave in Sungai Kejin. |
"In middle Baram, the Orang Ulu communities still practice close kinship during harvesting when the aristocrats (maren) involved the commoners (panyin) from the longhouse," added Dr Lim.
At Tuking, the caves come under the charge of Geng Apui, 60, who has taken care of the family business for 40 years. "It can be dangerous scaling the caves alone because accidents do happen. Several years ago, a poacher fell to his death in one of the caves," said Geng. |
"There are also creatures like centipedes and scorpions in the dark. They won't kill you, but a little sting is good enough to bring tears to your eyes," he teased while taking us on a tour of the cave complex.
When we arrived in mid-December, Geng and his crew had already harvested the caves - possibly their last harvest before allowing the birds time to breed. They breed thrice a year and produce six fledglings of which only half survive.0
The collectors harvest the caves about five times a year, allowing the birds to breed between the months of February and July.
Because of this, the bird population at Tuking increased from about 2,000 in the mid-1990s to almost 5,000. The middle Baram population itself has increased from 60,000 in 1997 to 100,000.
A 1957 picture of a Penan guarding a bird's nest cave in Baram. |
"Natural nests are in big demand and this is why the white nests fetch a very good price. It can be anything between RM6,000 and RM10,000 a kilo (RM6,000 being the price for freshly collected nests and RM10,000 the retail price for processed nests)," said Dr Lim, who was happy that sustainable harvesting had resulted in good harvests.
This is a far cry from prices of yesteryears - $14 per kilo in 1884, $25 per kilo in 1939, $71 per kilo in the 1960s and RM400 per kilo in the 1980s. Dr Lim, who is attached to Sarawak Forestry Corporation (his PhD thesis was on sustainable harvesting of white nests in the Baram), said the latest worry was that some owners had given up their caves, which have been turned into quarries. "The bird population has increased by leaps and bounds, and if they are patient, the birds will reoccupy the abandoned caves. So, don't give up caves for short term profit." As to the future of the business and the swiftlet population, Dr Lim said the number of birds had increased over the years. "What we would like people to do is to venture into modernising the bird's nest industry by building special concrete structures to house the birds. The initial cost is high, but in the long run, the people will get more for money for their efforts and the bird population will increase," he said. |
"At one artificial bird's nest complex in Medan, they produce as much as several thousand kilos per harvest. The potential is so great that people are building artificial nests (swiflet houses) even in towns," he added.
Recently, the Federal Government approved and acknowledged that farming of bird's nests could be turned into a major industry, added Dr Lim.
"There is a lot to gain from it from conservation to benefits for the local community.
George himself hopes his family business will expand, and if the finances permit, he too will try to invest in artificial caves.
"Right now, we are happy with whatever little we can collect from the old caves. But who knows, we may try something new. After all, the times are changing."
FROM: http://thestar.com.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/2006/1/13/southneast/13050365.asp&sec=southneast
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