KUCHING: The Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts is looking into organising a bird watching festival in Buntal to promote the state’s tourism in line with its five pillars – culture, adventure, nature, food, and festival (CANFF).
The ministry’s permanent secretary Datuk Hii Chang Kee said that in 2019, his ministry had supported a similar programme called Asian Bird Fair.
“Since Buntal is the meeting point of all migratory birds, it is a good idea to continue the bird fair in conjunction with the bird watching festival.
“The ministry always has grants for such events. Therefore, I cal on the Malaysian Nature Society to propose events that are in line with CANFF.
“From thereon, we can jointly collaborate on how to organise it,” he said during the launching of the Special Edition Malaysian Naturalist Magazine at Baitulmakmur Building II today.
Hii pointed out that the special edition of the magazine would take the reader on short jaunts into known and unknown corners of the state.
“The most fascinating part to me from this magazine is the part on migratory birds.
“Batrisya Teepol (one of the writers) has written stories about the iconic shorebirds and their link to the land and the sea.
“More shorebirds are migratory and for some species, Sarawak can be the final stop in their journey, but for others it is a refuelling stop – like in the races,” he said.
He was also given insights by Batrisya through a presentation on endangered shorebirds found in Bako Buntal Bay.
Batrisyia said that Bako-Buntal Bay, which has been nominated as Malaysia’s first Flyway site (EAAF112) under the East-Asian Australasia Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), is a migration point for endangered shorebird species in the world.
Every year, she said, the migratory birds will fly from all parts of the world and will fly directly to their destination.
Among the species of these migratory birds that often stop at Bako-Buntal Bay are the shorebirds like the Great Knot, Nordmann’s Greenshank, Far Eastern Curlew and Chinese Egret.
Following this, Hii said that with Sarawak’s theme of ‘Sarawak More to Discover’, the magazine will open doors and windows to what readers could venture into the real world.
“With that, I would like to congratulate the Malaysian Nature Society for the launching of the Special Edition Malaysia Naturalist – Sarawak’s Biodiversity at a Glimpse,” he said.
