Work safety for swallow’s nest collectors

Short Summary:

After a severe explosive accident in a remote village in Borneo, it became clear that many Dayak risk their lives harvesting valuable swiftlet nests from dangerous, hard-to-reach caves—facing both unsafe climbing structures and improvised explosive traps meant to deter thieves.

A former Swiss army demolitions expert and caver began training local harvesters in professional single-rope techniques (SRT) and safe caving practices. With proper climbing equipment and training, over 35 caves are now managed safely, with no further accidents or thefts reported since the project’s start.

A simple, low-cost initiative with long-term impact

More Details:

Problem Statement:

I asked the people who had brought the severely injured man into the village what had happened. “He slipped and fell,” they told me. I immediately began providing emergency medical care, attempting to clean and dress his wounds. But it was obvious to me that their story didn’t add up. Both eyes were badly injured, both hands severely mutilated—this could only have been caused by an explosion.

It took some time before I uncovered the truth. In addition to gold panning and collecting agarwood, one of the main and most consistent sources of income for the indigenous Dayak people is managing cave systems where a particular species of swiftlet builds its nests.

These bird nests are highly prized by Chinese buyers, who turn them into various foods and drinks believed to have special health or healing properties. With Chinese medicine, you never quite know what to expect.

So, the Dayak manage these swiftlet-nest caves in the mountains. There were times when these nests fetched up to USD 1,000 per kilogram—an incredibly lucrative trade. Harvesting takes place only once every six weeks, and only about 10% of the nests are collected to avoid disturbing the birds. If harvested too often or too aggressively, the swifts abandon the cave.

Most of these caves are extremely difficult to access. They are vertical shaft caves that require climbing through deep entry shafts. The Dayak build makeshift wooden and bamboo ladders and scaffolds to navigate these caves—slippery, rotting quickly, held together with rusting nails and ropes far past their safe lifespan. Entering these caves is among the most dangerous things one can do.

To make matters worse, thieves sometimes enter these caves, plunder the nests, and jeopardize the livelihoods of many families. To deter them, many cave owners rig the caves with booby traps or landmines. The owners know where the traps are—the thieves do not.

As a former demolition expert in the Swiss Army, I was horrified by the way these traps were constructed. And believe me, dear readers, “horrified” is a pure understatment!

Occasionally, the worst happens: while setting one of these traps, the explosive detonates in the hands—or in front of the face—of the person laying it. That’s exactly what had happened to the man the others had carried into the village.

Solution Approach:

Back in my mid-twenties, when I was slim, running on adrenaline, and weighed about 60 kg—my friends used to call me “The Worm”—I was a caver. Speleology was my passion, and I explored wild caves throughout the Alps using single-rope techniques.

My caving gear had been sitting untouched in a box somewhere in Switzerland for almost 15 years. It quickly became clear: I had to bring that gear to Indonesia.

A few months after the tragic explosion, I began training the Dayak swiftlet nest harvesters to become true “cave specialists.” I taught them how to drill anchors into solid limestone, tie proper knots, and use rappelling devices.

Together, we practiced single-rope techniques (SRT) inside the caves: ascending with rope clamps and safely descending. We acquired static ropes, descenders, harnesses, ascenders, and belay devices.

I helped this group—who manage around 35 caves—equip their caves with anchor points and configure the ropes accordingly. These ropes are installed for just a few hours during each harvesting cycle, and afterwards the anchors and ropes are removed and stored carefully until the next harvest.

For over a dozen years now, this group has been managing their caves safely. The hazardous ladders and explosive traps have been eliminated. And since the thieves have yet to master single-rope techniques or obtain the required gear, there have been no further explosive injuries in the region. To our knowledge, no caves have been looted since.

Project Information:

Project Costs:           maybe thousand euros for travel deep into the heart of Borneo
Project Proposal:           never existed
Project Partners:           Indigenous Dayak swiftlet nest harvesters
Financial Report:           never exited

Project Evaluation:

The local Dayak occasionally order ascenders and descenders when I travel to Switzerland. I buy the equipment there and resell it to them at cost. To this day, they still use the same rope-based techniques to access their caves. As far as I know, there have been no accidents or thefts since the introduction of SRT in Borneo’s vertical shaft caves.

In conclusion: this project can be considered a success