IWMC.org - 2nd Symposium - Terrestrial Resources

The 'White Gold' of the Sea: A Case Study of Sustainable Harvesting of Swiftlet Nest in Coastal Viet Nam Nicole Casellini (biography) Environmental Economics, IUCN Hanoi, Viet Nam

The sustainable exploitation of wild natural resources, such as the nest from the edible-nest swiftlets (Collocalia fuciphaga germani, Windash, 1968), has been achieved in Viet Nam without external aid or expertise. Edible-nest swiftlet nests have been harvested for centuries in coastal countries of South and South East Asia and are considered by the Chinese to be a delicacy with medical healing properties. The Khanh Hoa Salanganeses Nest Company, a State owned company from South Central Viet Nam provides a good example of concurrent high profit and conservation of wildlife. The results of the last two and a half years support the fact that the new management practices of the Company are adequate to achieve sustain-able management of the resource. Nest production has increased by 3% per annum in some caves where nests are harvested and quality of life for the birds is generally improved. However, Vietnamese economic data needs to be cautiously handled, and at least five years will be necessary to scientifically prove the validity of these management results.

Edible-swiftlet nest harvesting is an important source of sustainable revenue for Viet Nam, as the Khanh Hoa Salanganeses Nest Company's turnover reaches more than US$ 2.4 million per year. The high level of nest prices per kg. (prices for white coloured nests range from US$ 2,500 on the Vietnamese market up to US$ 4,000 on the Hong Kong market), generates high incomes which is reinvested in the infrastructure of Khanh Hoa Province, with 10% being reallocated to the equipment of the Company and management research. Even though Vietnamese production of the nest represents a small share in the global nest market, Vietnamese nests are generally recognized as being of the finest quality.

In its efforts to achieve optimum sustainable production and improve the quality of nests collected, the Company implemented biological research and innovative human resource management. It is the combination of these two factors that is the foundation for sustainable management.

The science department of the Company conducted extensive scientific research on swiftlets to determine the bird's dietary habit, abundance of food, relationship between food and climate and impacts on size or quality of nests, and assess natural impacts such as general climate, cave micro-climate, and predators. In order to improve the quality of nests produced, experimental harvesting practices were implemented at one site. It was essential to gather a baseline of scientific data and develop replicable monitoring and research methodologies for each swiftlet colony being exploited. In particular the time of nesting periods or seasons and corresponding breeding success contributed to determine the optimal period of nest collection, in order to avoid natural damage, breeding disturbance and maximize conservation management and population renewal. Natural resource exploitation necessitates human and financial management in addition to biological management. The establishment of long term land leases for the caves inhabited by swiftlets has contributed to effective sustainable management, in promoting the continuity of expertise regarding the management of the birds and their life cycle.

IWMC World Conservation Trust