Perceptions of forested watershed protection initiatives in highland tourism area: the case of Cameron Highlands

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is applied in the context of forested watershed protection initiatives in highland tourism area of Cameron Highlands. Public’ perceptions on protection initiatives, i.e the management of fertilisers and pesticides in agricultural activity, voluntarily engagement in combating forest encroachment, and participating in conservation campaign are investigated using the face-to-face interview with respondents from five regions in Cameron Highlands (n = 143). The protection initiatives for forested watershed are predicted from the basis of (i) attitude, (ii) subjective norm, and (iii) perceived behavioural control. The effects of demographic characteristics and publics’ perception on protection encroached forested watershed area are also analysed. TPB comprises of measurement for the direct effects, where the subjective norms is found to have significant explanatory factor when analysed using Pearson correlation models. Other measurements including, the attitude and control factors have smaller but mutually equal effects on the respondents’ intention to protect the forested watershed area after being encroached from intensive agriculture and other farming activities. Considering both direct and indirect effects via attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, the influence of government is perceived stronger in encouraging public to be involved in sustainable agriculture –oriented programme, in order to protect forested watershed in Cameron Highlands. Meanwhile, the engagement in awareness campaign regarding the management of fertilisers and pesticides in agricultural activity is also perceived important though seen as the only minor part of the initiatives. The findings show that the policy makers should implemented the protection initiatives based on the publics’ attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. This is especially vital to conserve and protect the aesthetic of Cameron Highlands as a favourable highland tourism destination

The Socio-Economic Performance of the Penan Community at Murum Resettlement Site, Belaga, Sarawak

Murum Resettlement Site (MRS) is one of the government’s programmemes aimed at ensuring a better future for communities impacted by Sarawak’s dam developments. The Penan was the largest community being relocated to MRS in 2013 before the construction of Murum Dam. This relocation programmeme has resulted in various impacts and reactions from those involved. The objective of this study was to examine the socio-economic performance of the Penan community after relocating to MRS. The study was conducted in December 2020 using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data were collected using questionnaires, in-depth interviews and site observations. A total of 269 head of households and six key informants were interviewed. SPSS software was used to analyze the data collected. Out of 24 aspects that were evaluated, a total of 11 socio-economic aspects were found to have improved well. These aspects were home ownership, household income, property ownership, job opportunities, level of skill and knowledge, educational facilities, electricity supply, road accessibility, communication facilities, religious building and sports/recreation facilities. Two aspects that remained good both before and after transferring to MRS were security and neighborhood relations. The four aspects that were getting worse were land ownership, access to forest resources, clean water source and air quality. The aspects that remained bad either before or after being relocation were saving, investment, level of education, transportation facilities, health facilities, business facilities and organized participation. Overall, the data showed that the families’ economic and social conditions had improved after they moved to the resettlement area. However, the study concluded that there is still room for improvement in terms of fundamental services, such as supplying every household with multiple clean water sources, more accessible healthcare services and better road conditions. Better road access comes with increased business and social activity, which in turn makes it easier for the Penans to find jobs and help to lift them out of poverty

History and perspectives of induction technology for agarwood production from cultivated Aquilaria in Asia: a review

Agarwood, the resinous product of Aquilaria spp. (Thymelaeaceae), is highly valued for medicinal and fragrant purposes. Unsustainable forest harvesting contributes to the declining population in the wild, threatening their existence. As a protection effort, cultivation occurred in range countries, mainly in Asia, effectively establishing mass plantations. The success of domesticating Aquilaria relies heavily on technological advancement in agarwood induction, without which the entire thriving industry will collapse. In this paper, we describe efforts since 1929 and current progress and variation in induction as practiced in Asia. The methods include traditional practices and artificial induction via inoculum and chemical inducer, experimented and patented or otherwise. Artificial induction methods are being developed to intensify agarwood production in terms of yield and quality. While traditional methods are commonly applied by rural planters, artificial methods with the use of specific agents/chemicals are seen as more appealing for inducing agarwood, and have a higher demand from entrepreneurs and plantation owners. Several issues related to induction technology faced by stakeholders in agarwood cultivation are presented, such as safety levels, cost, yields, and quality. We conclude by highlighting remaining challenges in induction methods and their associated technologies

The strength of social capital of three local communities at Gunung Pueh National Park, Lundu, Sarawak

Social capital is an important concept in identifying the connection and relationship of the community, which has three dimensions: bonding, bridging and linking social capital. Since nowadays the issues related to trust, criminal and relationship has been a serious problem in our community, hence the measurement to determine the strength of social capital dimension has been conducted. The initial process has been explored to identify the suitable social capital indicators. The result is then used to construct into an instrument comprising six indicators based on survey items and past studies namely participation in local community, proactive in social context, neighborhood connection, diversity and tolerance, feeling trust and safety and family and friends connection. This is a quantitative study involving 390 respondents with the self-administered questionnaire distributed in three communities at Gunung Pueh National Park which are Kampung Biawak, Kampung Sebako and Kampung Pueh. The result revealed that bonding social capital is strongly hold the communities followed by linking and bridging social capital. At the other hand, the result showed Kampung Pueh has the strongest overall social capital followed by Kampung Sebako and Kampung Biawak

Motivational factors of women to become social entrepreneurs in Lundu district, Sarawak

Social entrepreneurship has become the attention of the scholars and practitioners for years in various countries as it is a tool which plays important roles in developing individuals, societies, and communities socially and economically. However, it is essential to study the motivations of the social entrepreneurs as it is yet to be theorised. Therefore, this study is to determine what motivates the women to become social entrepreneurs. A set of designed questionnaires with dual languages was used for the data collection. Motivational factors were measured on respondents’ agreement by using five-point Likert Scale. This study was targeted at women social entrepreneurs in Lundu District, Sarawak. The data collected was analysed by using the IBM SPSS. Through the samples of 150 women social entrepreneurs, the findings show that “Financial Independence” is the motivational factor that motivates women the most, which followed by “Contribution to Society” and “Need for Affiliation”. On the other hand, “Role Models Influence” is the least motivational factor for the women to join the ventures in social entrepreneurship. In a nutshell, this study provides the picture on what motivates the social entrepreneurs which can then be the reference for management to design strategies to attract more people to join social entrepreneurship as well as the reference for future related studies

The role of respondents’ comfort for variance in choice: an application of the scaling approach on scuba diving characteristics

Preference elicitation among outdoor recreational users is subject to measurement errors that depend, in part, on survey planning. This study uses data from a choice experiment survey on recreational SCUBA diving to investigate whether self-reported information on respondents’ comfort when they complete surveys correlates with the error variance in stated choice models of their responses. Comfort-related variables are included in the scale functions of the scaled multinomial logit models. The hypothesis was that higher comfort reduces error variance in answers, as revealed by a higher scale parameter and vice versa. Information on, e.g., sleep and time since eating (higher comfort) correlated with scale heterogeneity, and produced lower error variance when controlled for in the model. That respondents’ comfort may influence choice behavior suggests that knowledge of the respondents’ activity patterns could be used to plan the timing of interviews to decrease error variance in choices and, hence, generate better information

Examining the Relationship between Visitors Wildlife Value Orientation and Risk Perceptions: A study of the Borneo Pygmy Elephant in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Recently, there has been a growing interest in studying human-elephant conflicts; however, in the case of the Borneo Pygmy elephant, which has only been found in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo has not been thoroughly investigated. Recent studies shows the number of elephants killed as a result of human conflict is on the rise. This study intends to examine the relationship between visitor Wildlife Value orientation (domination and mutualism) towards Borneo Pygmy elephant risk perceptions. 401 survey data was collected from on-site visitors, and PLS-SEM analyses revealed that domination has a significant relationship with risk perception of Borneo Pygmy elephants. Mutualism, on the other hand, does not appear to be related to risk perceptions, according to the study. The findings are beneficial to policymakers in developing programmes that encourage visitors to view the endangered Borneo pygmy elephants in a more positive light, to reducing human-elephant conflicts

Knowledge and behaviour regarding adverse effects of traditional biomass cookstove usage among rural households in desert frontline states of Northern Nigeria

Background: The adverse effects of traditional biomass cookstove (TBC) can be reduced by switching to cleaner cookstoves, improving cooking environment or changing cooking behaviour. Improved knowledge and behaviour regarding adverse effects of traditional biomass cookstove play a significant role in the success of any of the initiatives. This study evaluates the knowledge and behaviour regarding the adverse effects of TBC among rural households in selected desert frontline states of Nigeria.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among rural households in selected communities in desert frontline states of Northern Nigeria between October, 2016 and January, 2017.The study administered pretested structured questionnaire to 392 households via house-to-house survey. The households were selected based on multistage sampling technique.Result: The findings revealed that majority of the households possess good knowledge regarding health and environmental effects (76.0%), hazards and injuries (94.1%) and drudgery and financial burden (91.8%) arising from TBC. Majority of them practice good behaviour to minimise these adverse effects (92.9%). It includes enclosing flames, use of dry fuel, and keeping children away while cooking. Taking precautions such as storing fuelwood far from the main building, ensuring there are ventilations for indoor kitchens and locating kitchens separately from main buildings are also considered in reducing adverse effects of TBC. Findings on households’ knowledge showed a significant association with behaviour towards adverse effects of TBC.Conclusion: It indicates that households have knowledge and approaches to reduce adverse effects of TBC. The study concluded that the households’ knowledge and behaviour signalling their efforts to reducing adverse effects of TBC. Thus, both are considered as the first step in facilitating cookstove improvement programmes. This information is an integral when designing and implementing sustainable intervention strategies for cookstove improvement, particularly in rural households of developing countries

Public perceptions on the importance of ecosystem services from vulnerable forest: a case study of Ampang Forest Reserve, Selangor, Malaysia

Forest reserve degazettement affects the sustainability of forests by altering their ecological functions, hence threatening human livelihoods. This study examines a recently degazetted forest, using a survey of 120 local respondents living near the Ampang Forest Reserve (AFR) in Selangor, Malaysia. A simple random sampling technique was implemented to reduce sampling bias, and descriptive and correlation statistics were used in the analysis. The study aimed a) to examine the public perceived importance of forest ecosystem services from the AFR, b) to determine public awareness of a range of environmental threat levels towards the AFR's ecosystem services, and c) to assess public agreement on conservation measures that could increase protection and ensure the sustainability of ecosystem services from the remaining area of the AFR. The results revealed that all ecosystem services were perceived as important, and the public was mostly aware of environmental threats. At the same time, conservation measures should be implemented to protect and ensure the sustainability of ecosystem services from the AFR. This study provides insights into public perceptions of the importance of forest ecosystem services derived from vulnerable forest reserves. This indicates the relevance and need for better protection in high-risk forest areas, as local livelihood depends on its significant ecological roles