Climate Change and its Economic Impact on Sustainable Agricultural Production in Malaysia: An aggregate Analysis

Sustainable agricultural production in Malaysia is under climate change’s threat. Several climate-driven factors such as heat waves, irregular and excessive rainfall patterns, storms, and floods are the current worries of many farmers in the country and these factors put together put their livelihood in jeopardy. Future predictions indicated a significant further variability in climatic patterns with irregular rainfall. This study aims to investigate the economic impact of climate change on agricultural production in Malaysia by aggregating all agricultural productions over the 1990 – 2021 period. A time series econometric method called autoregressive and distributed lag (ARDL) method was utilised to achieve the study’s objective. The result of the study revealed that climate change has statistically significant negative impact on agricultural production in Malaysia. This implies that food production through agricultural production in the country is being adversely affected by climate change. As such, climate change mitigating strategies are strongly recommended with strict implementation to ensure sustainable agricultural production. Other recommendations include the practice of agroforestry, planting of climate resilient plants, crop rotation, and the use of soil smart technology. These actions will assist in minimising the adverse effect of climate change on agricultural production and indirectly boost food production

Evaluation on the potential of hot spring as nature tourism attraction in Lojing Highlands, Kelantan, Peninsula Malaysia

Natural hot springs are a common occurrence in Malaysia. These natural hot springs occur when water seeps into the earth and is heated by magma and pressure causes the water to rise again as a heated pool or hot springs. Some locals believe that these natural hot springs have curative effects and can cure skin ailments such as rashes, pimples and fungi infections. Whether this is true or not remains to be scientifically proven, but these places have become a magnet for tourists and those seeking healing. Some of Malaysia's natural hot springs have developed into modern tourists' attractions with shops, rest houses, restaurants and changing rooms built nearby to accommodate visitors who are interested by this natural phenomenon and the best example is the Poring Hot Springs, in Ranau, Sabah. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to briefly highlight the potential of Lojing's hot springs as nature tourism attraction for the state of Kelantan. This paper provides a broad insight into the demand for services and facilities, location and characteristics of Lojing's geothermal and natural mineral water resources, the opportunities available to expand and establish new facilities and an indication of the success of Sabah's developments with the potential to be replicated in Lojing. Based on the content analysis done using Leximancer, it is apparent that Lojing's hot spring requires intervention in terms of strategies that aimed at increasing tourist satisfaction. It is suggested that the theme "leisure" to be concentrated as the pull factor for Lojing hot spring-based tourism

A pilot study for sustainable ecotourism at Gunong Stong State Park, Kelantan using Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) management framework

Ecotourism plays a vital role in tourism industries and has become one of the effective practices towards conservation effort in the natural environment activity. Thus, it is important to know the concept of carrying capacity issues applied to the area pertaining to the visitors’ experiences, to ensure the benefits it brings to the socio-cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability of the area. The objective of this study was to identify the relationship of visitors’ experience and the protection of the natural resources at Gunung Stong State Park (GSSP) using the management framework of Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP). This approach provided a set of management framework in order to manage the sustainable ecotourism in GSSP without abandoning the good manner of visitor experiences. A total of 35 respondents have participated in this pilot study and our result showed that the tourists’ satisfaction towards the GSSP was at moderate level. Therefore, the GSSP was suitable for nature tourism attraction. However, a proper management of the park is required whilst the biodiversity there is still intact. The management of GSSP can be further improved by instilling awareness among visitors in order to sustain the ecotourism activity, and attract more tourists besides improving their experience throughout their visit

Effect of Clean Biomass Energy Use on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in ASEAN Countries: An Empirical Investigation

There is growing effort by Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase renewable energy in their energy mix in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) associated with fossil fuel energy consumption. Biomass energy is one of the renewable energy sources that has the potential to help mitigate carbon dioxide emissions in the ASEAN region considering its abundance and the current rise in its consumption. This study aims to empirically investigate whether the growing consumption of biomass energy contributes to lowering CO2 emissions in the region. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of biomass energy use on CO2 emission in ASEAN region over the 1990–2020 period. To achieve this objective, panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) was employed and the estimated result revealed that biomass energy use marginally decreases CO2 emission in the region. This finding implies that increasing and improving supply of clean biomass energy in the region’s energy mix can help to mitigate CO2 emission by significant portion. Consequently, several policy recommendations were suggested, which include advancing the use of technology to increase and improve biomass energy supply to various sectors of the region’s economy to substitute significant portion of conventional fuel in productive activities

Cyberpreneurship Resistance in Advocating Digital Inclusion Towards Socio-Cultural Sustainability

Cyberpreneurship has been recognized as a key driver for inclusive digital ecosystems worldwide. However, various factors can hinder its effectiveness in promoting digital inclusion and socio-cultural sustainability. This quantitative research aims to examine the factors of cyberpreneurship resistance underpinned by Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT) for advocating digital inclusion towards socio-cultural sustainability. The study seeks to further investigate the functional and psychological barriers that cyberpreneurs encounter in their efforts to foster digital inclusion, ultimately contributing to socio-cultural sustainability. This research utilizes a sample of 384 respondents, including cyberpreneurs, business owners, and business managers involved in various types of business operations. Data was collected through surveys, and statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis were employed to analyze the collected data. These analyses aimed to identify key resistance factors hindering cyberpreneurs' endeavours and understand their impact on digital inclusion and socio-cultural sustainability goals. The findings not only shed light on a deeper understanding of cyberpreneurship resistance in the context of advocating digital inclusion and socio-cultural sustainability but also inspire policymakers, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders to formulate evidence-based strategies for fostering inclusive digital ecosystems and promoting sustainable socio-cultural development

Checklist of fishes at Pergau Lake, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia

A survey was conducted to determine the diversity of fish in Pergau Lake, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia from 2 September to 18 October of 2016. Fish samples were collected at seven random sampling stations around the lake by using setting trap method. The collected samples were preserved in 10% formalin solution and delivered to the laboratory for further identification process. Fourteen species, namely as Hemibagrus nemurus, Hampala macrolepidota, Clarias batrachus, Channa striata, Cyprinus carpio, Poropuntius smedleyi, Pangasius sp., Oreochromis niloticus, Oreochromis mossambicus, Leptobarbus hoevenii, Neolissochilus hexagonolepis, Tor tambroides, Osteochilus hasselti and Neolissochilus soroides, comprising of six families were collected during this study. From this study, family of Cyprinidae was the dominant species in Pergau Lake with exactly 50% of catch percentage, followed by family of Bagridae (29%), Cichlidae (10%), Clariidae (5%), Channidae (3%) and Pangasiidae (3%). This study shows that there is still a diversity of fish species in Pergau Lake, showing that the water and its environmental condition is very good

Visitor Willingness to Pay using Travel Cost Method at Taman Negeri Gunung Stong, Kuala Krai, Kelantan

Forest Park Recreation is a place that offers a vast experience and scenic views to visitors. However, there isn't a proper market transaction for ecosystem services, so it might not be reflected in market transactions. Therefore, it's critical to consider travel and time expenses when determining what individuals value in the absence of a market price. This study aims to estimate the visitor's willingness to pay for forest park recreation using the Travel Cost Method (TCM) at Taman Negeri Gunung Stong, Kuala Krai, Kelantan. A convenience sampling technique is employed in this study. The data was collected from 379 respondents using face-to-face interviews with the visitors who entered the park. The TCM result revealed that the recreational value at TNGS is RM 1,286,531.80 per year, with a mean of the willingness to pay value is RM4.34 per visitor. The regression analysis results indicated that gender, age, income, total travel cost and time access to the site are the variable effects on the willingness to pay and visit people to the forest park. The findings of this study could be an effective instrument for raising the standard of environmental services and enhancing the infrastructure and services in the studied area

Habitat quality assessment in the Royal Belum rainforest, Malaysia using spatial analysis

Royal Belum rainforest contains various flora and fauna species, however, the assessment of habitat quality is still lacking. This study aims to develop the habitat quality zone in the Royal Belum rainforest. The downloaded Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS CI satellite images in the year 2020 from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were processed using supervised classification and exported into vector data in ArcGis 10.8. Land use, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), buffer, and land structure were then analyzed. The result shows that the highest percentage and density of the land use of the Royal Belum rainforest is vegetation. Buffer zone analysis identifies the risky area for habitat in the range of 1km and 5km from the built-up area. The area within the buffer ring should be protected from building and construction to ensure habitat quality in that area can be maintained. This study will give a better understanding of land use and vegetation index assessment for future planning in the Royal Belum rainforest. Therefore, habitat quality assessment is an important tool that can help to identify areas of high-quality habitat that are crucial for the survival and reproduction of target species and to prioritize these areas for conservation and management

Estimate of conservation value for ecotourism resources in Taman Negara Sungai Relau, Pahang, Malaysia

The initial establishment and development of Taman Negara National Park (TNNP) was for protection and conservation of the natural forest and being a function as a sanctuary of its forest eco-systems. Currently, TNNP is well known as an important ecotourism destination in Peninsular Malaysia and one of the entrances is via Taman Negara Sungai Relau, Merapoh (TNSR). The TNSR entrance has attracted more visitors to engage with ecotourism activities offered and concurrently increasing the revenue to the park management. However, most of the charges on visitors for those who want to enjoy the TNSR resources and the entrance permit were never revised since 18 years ago as informed by management of TNSR. Due to this condition, the number of visitors to TNSR increased gradually. An enhancement of visitors will increase the revenue for the park management but at the same time will create a problem to the environment at the park. Thus, the market failure will occurs when users are not paying the full costs of using the natural resources in the national parks. The permit charges should be adequate enough to maintain the maintenance of the park and at the same time to be fair for both the local and foreign tourist. The general objective of this study is to estimate the conservation value for ecotourism resources in TNSR. The specific objectives are to determine the visitor’s perception, satisfaction towards ecotourism resource and services provided in TNSR. The willingness-to-pay estimation had obtained by using dichotomous choice Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). A total of 300 respondents were obtained using face to face interviewed among domestic and international visitors which has conducted in January to February 2012. This study analyzes the data by using descriptive analysis, factor analysis and contingent valuation method (CVM). In overall, the result shows that most of the respondents are satisfied with the ecotourism resources in TNSR. The majority of the visitors also agreed the involvement from various organizations is important to conserve and protect the ecotourism resource for future generations. The factor analysis found that five factors that probably related to visitors’ satisfaction towards the ecotourism resources and regrouped into three separate factors.The conservation value of the ecotourism resources in TNSR was estimated by using single-bounded dichotomous choice method. The logit regression model result indicates that bid, income and education variables were significance and influences the visitors’ willingness to pay for the entrance permit to TNSR. The estimated mean WTP was RM 8.76 per visit. Meanwhile, the expected benefit or the total value of ecotourism resources in TNSR is estimated at approximately RM 31,409.34 with average per year. The finding of the study recommends that the park management should engage the visitors into its conservation endeavor as well as share the benefits with them. The study also reveals that visitors were willing to pay more for entrance permit. Thus, results of this study may assist the TNSR management in establishing an efficient entrance permits to visitors in order to sustain the ecotourism resource value in future

Estimate the conservation value of ecotourism resources in Taman Negara Sungai Relau, Pahang

The purpose of this study is to estimate the conservation value of ecotourism resources among the visitors in Taman Negara Sungai Relau, Pahang. The application of dichotomous choice of Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is used in measuring the willingness to pay (WTP) from the respondents. A total of 300 respondents were obtained which randomly choose during face to face interviewed. The conservation value of the ecotourism resources in TNSR were estimated by using single-bounded dichotomous choice method. The logit regression model result indicates that BID, INCOME and EDU variables were significance and influences the visitors’ willingness to pay for the entrance permit to TNSR. The estimated mean WTP was RM 8.26 per visit. Meanwhile, the expected benefit or total value of conservation of the ecotourism resources in TNSR was RM 148,085.28. The finding of the study recommends that the park management should engage the visitors into its conservation endeavor as well as share the benefits with them. The study reveals that visitors are willing to pay higher than the current (RM1) entrance fees. Thus, results of this study are important in assists the TNSR management in establishing an efficient and realistic entrance permits to visitors for sustainable of the ecotourism resource in future