Malaysian volunteer joins seabird conservation mission in Ningbo

[Video/Ningbo Evening News]

A Malaysian conservation volunteer has returned to China's eastern coast to take part in a two-month field mission protecting the critically endangered Chinese crested tern, a species that has become a symbol of cross-border cooperation in wildlife preservation.

Lim Ying Hien, a member of the Malaysian Nature Society, is now based on the Jiushan Archipelago in Xiangshan county, Ningbo, where he works alongside Chinese researchers and volunteers monitoring breeding activity of the rare seabird, often dubbed to as the “"the bird of legend" due to its extreme rarity.

Lim's destiny became intertwined with the species in 2025, when he rushed to Malaysia's Bako-Buntal Bay after a rare sighting was confirmed there for the first time in a century. He later documented the bird in the wild, describing the experience as a historic moment in his conservation work.

Last July, he joined an exchange program in Ningbo, where he observed large flocks of seabirds and learned about long-term conservation efforts that have helped hatch more than 200 chicks, accounting for the majority of the global population. He later expressed interest in becoming a long-stay island volunteer.

That wish materialized in 2026 when he returned for an official residency mission. He joined teams from China's Zhejiang Museum of Natural History and local conservation authorities to begin fieldwork on the islands.

Now stationed on Zhongtiedun Islet, Lim assists with habitat preparation, monitoring equipment and behavioral observation of the birds. He also noted that one of the tagged birds he encountered in Malaysia matched a bird banded in China, highlighting how migratory species link ecosystems across thousands of kilometers.

He described the experience as a milestone in his birdwatching career and said he hopes to bring conservation practices he learned in China back to Malaysia to support similar initiatives there.