Sarawak : Nibong Palm

Nibong is a palm found quite abundantly in Sarawak.

Its wood is hardy and is used especially in the coastal region in building of houses, plank walks and posts for boats to tie to.

In some longhouses the nibong is used as beams,  floors and even walls.

The nibong is often used by craftsmen to make vases, containers and many other crafts including spoons, forks, photo frames, chairs and bowls.

Fresh hearts of nibong make a good stir fry, soup and also filling for spring rolls. It is not easy to harvest the palm hearts because the nibong is very thorny at its lower trunk. Sometimes loggers would use bulldozers to pull down the nibong palms and they share the palm hearts with the local villagers.

However many food foragers can still harvest some small nibong palms and sell the palm hearts.