Making Sabah a birdwatcher's must
Published on: Friday, August 28, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Birdwatching in Sabah is a lucrative untapped niche that needs to be nurtured and given the necessary boost as it could offer alternative career choice for the locals while at the same time make Sabah as one of the best birdwatching spots in the world.In order to achieve this though, the locals need to appreciate the wide variety of birds that can be found in the wilds and update their knowledge on the different types of birds if they want to become real birdwatching guides."Of course, it would take some time for the birdwatching education to take off.
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Right now, the total birdwatchers or birders, as they call themselves, is quite low and it would take some time for us to actually be able to encourage the people to become birds guides," said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.He said this after closing the Homestay Development course, here, Thursday.For example, he said, the response to the Bird Watching Festival, which is held annually and had been organised for the past five years, is still not at a satisfactory level, mainly due to the attitude of Sabahans and the fact that the locals here have many other options when it comes to picking hobbies and interests."In Europe, because of the diminishing forests, birdwatching had become a fast-growing hobby and it is a future lucrative career choice because more and more people are going back to nature. Considering the fact that there are so many people in the world are into birdwatching, this is a potential that Sabah needs to nurture and consider," he said.
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Masidi said in the United Kingdom alone, its birdwatching society has more than 750,000 members and if only a fraction of them come to Sabah, the business they bring will contribute a lot towards the local economy.A birdwatching guide, he added, could make up to RM425 (US$100) a day in guide fees, on top of the tourists' daily spending including accommodation and meals.
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"A few years ago, the turnover of birdwatching industry in the whole world was almost US$3billion. And Sabah has one of the richest variety of birds, the potential is untapped. So we will continue to organise the Birdwatching Festival with the hope that, over time, people will realise there is big money in the industry," he said.From the latest record 664 resident and migratory species of birds have been spotted in Sabah, with 51 of these species which are endemic to this region. As many as 24 Bornean endemic species are found only in the hill slopes or mountain forests, like the Kinabalu Park and the Crocker Range National Park.Masidi said that majority of birdwatchers who come to Sabah are Europeans, Taiwanese and Japanese and they belong to their respective birdwatching societies.In Sabah, the birdwatchers club in Sandakan is a very active organisation who have their programme to train people to become bird guides."Our attitude must change. At this point of time, we do not see much money in it and that is the reason why people are not into it, or because they have other options."But in Europe, and other parts of the world, especially in more developed countries, birdwatching is a big hobby and there is a lot of money in the business," he said.Meanwhile, Masidi said he had asked the Tourism and Culture Ministry, which is the licensing authority for homestay, to cooperate with local authorities to monitor the problem of abusing the homestay brand by innkeepers.He said he is amazed at how many times people have come up to him and informed him of their newly-opened homestay located in cities."The concept of homestay is clear. It must be in the rural area, villages. It has to have at least 10 participants in the village, then only we can rightly call it a homestay. If it is in the city, of course it is a home, but it does not mean it is a homestay."Call it what it is. A motel. They should not be called a homestay," he said.In his speech, he reminded the over 100 participants that homestay business is more about selling experience than making insane profit."Do not think it is going to make you a millionaire overnight. I am not discouraging you but I would prefer if you could think of it as a way to make side-income for you and your family. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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