(MY) lucrative bird's nest industry

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The New Straits Times 14th August 2005

 

Pledge to protect Belum

Mimi Syed Yusof

 

GRIK, PERAK, Sun.

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Logging that has been allowed in the Belum Valley forest reserve will cease

in a few years.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazal said the harvesting of timber

would stop as soon as the State Government embarked on forest plantations on

a commercial scale and when eco-tourism in the area was firmly established.

 

He said eco-tourism in the Belum Valley had yet to gain a foothold in a

manner that could benefit Hulu Perak locals.

 

" There will come a time when logging is absolutely prohibited there.

 

" It will only be allowed in forest plantations belonging to the State

Government, which will be privately managed, " he said after the opening of

the Perak Tropical Rainforest Tourism Symposium by the Raja Puan Muda of

Perak, Raja Datuk Seri Nor Mahani Raja Shahar Shah, at the Banding Island

Resort near here.

 

The three-day symposium, which began yesterday, is a platform to expose the

potential of Royal Belum as an eco-tourism destination and as a place to

conduct scientific study and biodiversity research of the ecosystem and how

best to manage the flora and fauna.

 

Tajol Rosli said some 200,000ha fringing the forest reserves in the Belum

Valley along the East-West Highway between Grik and Jeli in Kelantan

belonged to the Perak Government and it was in this area that forest

plantations would take root.

 

He said several companies had voiced interest in the idea but the State

Government was still vetting them.

 

" Once this forest plantation idea kicks off, logging at Belum Valley will

ease off slowly, stage by stage.

 

" Then the State Government will also propose a stop to commercial harvesting

of forest produce, fishing and hunting in the forest reserves.

 

" All this will take time, but it will happen, " he said.

 

Besides the forest plantations, Tajol Rosli said the State would also look

into other alternatives to boost economic growth in the Hulu Perak district,

such as reviving mining activities in Klian Intan.

 

Meanwhile, to further boost eco-tourism in Hulu Perak, the airstrip here

will be extended by another 500 metres from the present 300 metres to enable

larger aircraft to land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Straits Times – 14th Aug 2005

 

Bird’s nest fuels property boom

Shahrul Hafeez

 

SITIAWAN, PERAK, Sun.

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Windows and doorways are bricked up, old-fashioned ventilation holes are

plugged with cement.

Every other building on the main street here appears to be abandoned: It’s

hard to believe but these are the signs of a property boom.

 

The lucrative bird’s nest industry is fuelling the demand for shophouses and

other buildings waiting to be converted into bird houses for swifts.

 

The family of businessman Frankie Loi, 30, owns more than 20 such

shophouses, most of which are here.

 

Five years ago, each building would have fetched about RM200,000.

 

Now, each commands anything between RM700,000 and RM800,000.

 

But only about a third of these bird " hotels " are occupied. Of Loi’s 20

shophouses, only three yield what is considered a good harvest, of at least

two kilos of nests each, every three months.

 

The nests of migrating swifts are considered a great delicacy by the

Chinese, and top grades fetch thousands of US dollars a kilogramme overseas.

Here, good quality, clean bird’s nests fetch about RM1,000 a kilo.

 

A spokesman for the Manjung Municipal Council (MPM) said there are about 600

shophouses in Sitiawan and Kampung Koh about 3km from here, which have been

converted into bird houses.

 

But there is a downside. As an industry, swift-rearing and nest harvesting

is unregulated, and many of these renovated shophouses may turn out to be

illegal should the authorities come up with new guidelines.

 

For now, the authorities are only applying building by-laws. Most of the

bird hotels are in a regulatory " limbo " and listed as KIV (keep-in-view),

said a council spokesman.

 

Sitiawan is along a common swift migration route and has perhaps the most

active industry.

 

The spillover has boosted property prices across the Manjung district.

 

The boom is almost unprecedented, said a property consultant, who is based

in Sri Manjung, about 10km from here.

 

But he’s worried about the speculative fever, which may turn the boom into a

bubble.

 

" The high prices are not reflective of actual returns. Not all of the bird

houses are productive. Those producing good harvests mask this fact, " he

said.

 

Getting swifts’ taste for homes is a tricky and expensive business.

 

Loi spent RM80,000 to put up wooden beams across ceilings and live

electrical wires as a security measure against predatory birds.

 

" Luck plays a big role. We try all sorts of things to attract the birds.

 

" Not all of them work. The birds decide where they want to nest. "

 

State local government committee chairman Datuk Chang Ko Youn pooh-poohed

the worry over the speculative froth.

 

He said the spin-offs had brought tremendous benefits to local contractors,

workers and property developers.

 

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