Swallow's nest trade brisk during crisis

By M.M.I. Ahyani

LABUAN, West Java (JP): It is sometimes difficult to understand man's attitude toward and taste for food and medicine. Take a swallow's nest, for example. This edible nest, which is made from the saliva of swallows, is widely famed as a medicine of great efficacy. As for the taste of the nest, that, of course, depends on who you are asking.

Indonesia, which is geographically endowed with a lot of coastline and rocky mountainous areas, is an ideal location for swallows to breed.

It is understandable then, that the country supplies 80 percent of the world's demand for swallow nests. Those Indonesians involved in the swallow nest business can at present supply an average of 40 tons of swallow nests a year, while in 1998 this figure was only 30 tons a year.

How much money is generated from the swallow nest business? Swallow nests with a saliva content of 99 percent can fetch Rp 13 million/kilogram, while the nest of a sriti, a bird similar to the swallow, can go for Rp 1.5 million/kg.

It turns out, however, that swallows do not favor only coastal ecosystems. In a number of areas relatively far from the coast, such as Magelang and Klaten, swallows can also be found. Obviously, locations which are home to swallows and their nests can commercially benefit from these birds.

Sobong village, Panimbang subdistrict, Pandeglang, is a case in point. Originally a poor village, Sobong has seen a spurt of development thanks to the presence of swallows.

In this village, houses which are favored by swallows are sold for billions of rupiah. Certainly they are not luxury houses with all the modern conveniences. Frequently they are simple brick houses which look gloomy, stuffy and eerie, and which swallows like to nest in.

Although Sobong is quite remote and its four-km road is in disrepair, it is not completely isolated. And while the village can be difficult to reach, land is still quite expensive here. A square meter of land will cost you Rp 250,000. In a neighboring village, the going price of land is Rp 5,000 per square meter.

According to Ali Balfas, one of the village's most successful swallow nest businessmen, the price of land and houses in Sobong is higher than in other villages because the quality of swallow nests in this village is higher than in other areas.

As Sobong is well-known as a nesting place for swallows, many newcomers, particularly from Cirebon and Gresik, have come to the village to get into the swallow nest business.

These newcomers usually invest hundreds of millions of rupiah to buy a plot of land and build a house on it. They do not even hesitate to lay down a large sum of money for a house which comes with its own swallow nests. "Therefore, it is not surprising to see Sobong swallow nest owners can still smile even now," said Dwiatmo Siswowartono, former director of the Flora and Fauna Reserve Development at the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation. Dwiatmo has conducted numerous research projects on swallows in Indonesia and recently he took part in a discussion on the birds with members of the Wildlife Conservation Forum here.

There are currently some 200 swallow nest businesspeople in Sobong, each of whom usually handles hundreds of swallow nests.

According to Ali, in those houses swallows have chosen to nest in, their nests can be collected once every two to three months. "It usually takes 120 to 150 swallows to produce one kilogram of swallow nests. If swallows find a house they like, it could end up housing thousands of swallows. You could harvest over 10 kilograms of swallow nests with one collection," he said.

The first and foremost problem confronting someone who wishes to break into the business is how to entice these valuable birds to their house.

From the results of research and surveys, said Dwiatmo, there are four conditions which may lure swallows. These four are known as KaCa SuSu (which literally means milk glass in English). It translates to humidity, lighting, temperature and noise.

"Swallow nest owners must really understand these four characteristics so that they can arrange the right humidity, lighting, temperature and noise in their house. Otherwise, the house may be just haunted," he said.

Thanks to numerous research on this subject, swallow nest owners and locals have begun to understand the benefit of conservation and sustainability. To ensure that the swallow nest business will continue, for example, there is a season in which the swallow nest owners intentionally refrain from collecting the nests because they want all the eggs to hatch. "Otherwise, there is fear that the number of swallow nests will decline," Dwiatmo said.

This method differs from the collecting of swallow nests in caves managed by regional governments. Because it is necessary to reach a revenue target, a businessman who usually works on a contract basis, will harvest all available nests. As a result, the population of swallows will dwindle, resulting in a drop in the production of swallow nests.

Ali Balfas said the population of swallows in his village was stable because from the very beginning locals relied on their own experience and experimentation.

Ali also said there was little difficulty in marketing the nests. Even before the nests have been collected, potential buyers have already begun making bids. There are presently 16 swallow nest exporters in Indonesia.

Most of the swallow nests are exported to China because domestically few people can afford this luxury item. So those in the business are able to rake in U.S. dollars.

"That's why none of those in the swallow nest business have been hit by the monetary crisis. They actually make large profits during the monetary crisis," Ali said.