Protection of the white-nest swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus in the Andaman Islands, India: an assessment S. M ANCHI and R . S ANKARAN Abstract International trade of swiftlet nests has affected wild populations of edible-nest swiftlets throughout their range. The white-nest swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands lost 80% of its popu- lation in the 1990s. Conservation efforts for the species were initiated in 2000, with the active involvement of former nest collectors. To measure the efficacy of protection measures we collected data on the swiftlet, using the nest count method. We monitored annual breeding populations in 28 protected caves on Chalis-ek and one on Interview Island during 2000–2008, and in 168 unprotected caves on Baratang and Interview Islands during February–April 2008. The swiftlet population in protected caves increased by 39%, whereas it declined by 74% in unprotected caves. Nearly 61% of the 152 caves on Baratang Island were aban- doned by the swiftlet during 1997–2008. This study high- lights the importance of extending protection to the unprotected caves on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Keywords Aerodramus fuciphagus, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, cave, edible-nest swiftlet, livelihood generation, nest, participatory conservation, sustainable harvesting Introduction B uilt of saliva, the edible nests of swiftlets have been used in Chinese cuisine and pharmacy since the 16th century (Lau & Melville, 1994; Nguyen et al., 2002). By the early 18th century there was a great demand for these nests, resulting in uncontrolled nest-collection throughout the global range of the species concerned (Lau & Melville, 1994; Gausset, 2004; Hobbs, 2004). Edible-nest swiftlets occur from the western Indian Ocean to southern continental Asia, Indonesia, northern Australia and New Guinea, and on islands of the West and South Pacific. Overharvesting of nests has resulted in a sharp decline in populations of edible-nest swiftlets across their range, including India, leading to local extinction in some cases (Koon & Cranbrook, 2002; Nguyen et al., 2002). The Apodiforms are one of the most difficult groups of birds to identify and there is continuing discussion about the taxonomic status of many species in the group. Here we follow the classification of Brooke (1970), Josep et al. (1999) and Thomassen et al. (2005), who placed the echolocating edible-nest swiftlets in the genus Aerodramus and the non- echolocating glossy swiftlets in the genus Collocalia. Because of the high price fetched for its nest of pure saliva the white-nest swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus (earlier known as Collocalia fuciphaga; Nguyen et al., 2002) has been greatly affected by nest collection and the species is a con- servation priority (Sankaran, 2001). The black-nest swiftlet Aerodramus maximus and the Indian edible-nest swiftlet Aerodramus unicolor, which also use saliva to build their nests but add their preened feathers, are similarly threatened by nest collection (Jagdeep et al., 2002; Koon & Cranbrook, 2002; Nguyen et al., 2002; Sankaran & Manchi, 2008). Although the wild population of A. fuciphagus is de- creasing the decline does not approach the threshold for Vulnerable and the species is therefore categorized as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (BirdLife International, 2012). In addition, semi-domesticated populations are tended by local people, in man-made structures, for harvest of the edible nests. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the north- eastern Indian Ocean are the western limit of the white- nest swiftlet’s range (Koon & Cranbrook, 2002) and the subspecies A. fuciphagus inexpectatus is endemic to these islands. The islands are peaks of a continuous submerged ridge that is the southern extension of the Arakan Yoma mountain range (Saldanha, 1989; Jayaraj & Andrews, 2005) extending to Sumatra in the south. There are 385 known caves on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, of which 291, distributed over the entire archipelago, are inhabited by the white-nest swiftlet, (Sankaran, 1998; Manchi & Sankaran, 2009b). Since the late 17th or early 18th century, Burmese and Thai poachers have exploited the nests from these caves. More recently Karen, Ranchi and Bengali settlers have exploited the nests (Sankaran, 1998, 2001; nest collectors, pers. comms). During the 1980s the intensity of nest collection increased to twice per week during the nesting season, resulting in an 80% decline in the population during the 1990s (Sankaran, 2001). Across its range populations of the white-nest swiftlet have declined because of indiscriminate S. MANCHI (Corresponding author) and R. SANKARAN* Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty P.O., Coimbatore 641 108, India. E-mail ediblenest@gmail.com * Deceased 17 January 2009 Received 16 November 2010. Revision requested 14 January 2011. Accepted 9 March 2011. First published online 4 February 2014. © 2014 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 48(2), 213–217 doi:10.1017/S0030605311000603 https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000603 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 18.206.13.133, on 05 Jun 2020 at 11:25:35, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at