WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN SANTUBONG NATIONAL PARK

Gunung Santubong National Park (GSNP) is one of the attractions in Sarawak that needs attention forconservation. A contingent valuation method of survey was conducted to estimate the conservation value ofGSNP and to elicit the willingness to pay among respondents. Through the random survey, the estimatedmean of willingness to pay for conservation fee per respondent was RM8.41. With the number of visitors of24066 in year 2016, it is estimated that there is an additional RM 202,395.06 that could be used for theimprovement in environmental conservation. This study shows that contingent valuation method is a usefultool to guide decision makers in policy purposes of natural resources management of protected area indeveloping countries

The Impact of Marine Park Gazettement to Local Community Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Redang and Tioman Islands

In order to protect and conserve the threatened and endangered marine life, the government has gazetted a total of 40 islands as marine parks. With the gazettement, all activities that disrupt the stability of marine’s eco-system are prohibited. These prohibited activities include fishing, the locals’ main source of income. Thus, what about the locals’ livelihoods post- gazettement? This research is to analyze the livelihood sustainability of the locals at the Pulau Tioman Marine Park (TIMP) and Pulau Redang Marine Park (PRMP). The analysis on livelihood sustainability is based on the locals’ perceptions after the islands’ gazettement as marine parks. The five standard of living/living standard indicators which are human, physical, natural/environment, social, finance as well as threats/uncertainties towards socio-economic changes will be analysed in this research. The research results show that in general, the RIMP and TIMP’s communities’ livelihoods are satisfactory in terms of human, physical and social assets; but are still lacking in terms of the financial and natural/environment assets. The education element also needs to be addressed as there are still school dropouts among these islands’ communities’ children. Nonetheless, the locals are still safe from socio-economic threats/uncertainties and disease outbreaks/disasters. In comparing the RIMP and TIMP, it is found that the TIMP’s community has better sustainable livelihood than that of the RIMP’s locals

The Impact of Marine Park Gazettement to Local Community Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Redang and Tioman Islands

In order to protect and conserve the threatened and endangered marine life, the government has gazetted a total of 40 islands as marine parks. With the gazettement, all activities that disrupt the stability of marine’s eco-system are prohibited. These prohibited activities include fishing, the locals’ main source of income. Thus, what about the locals’ livelihoods post- gazettement? This research is to analyze the livelihood sustainability of the locals at the Pulau Tioman Marine Park (TIMP) and Pulau Redang Marine Park (PRMP). The analysis on livelihood sustainability is based on the locals’ perceptions after the islands’ gazettement as marine parks. The five standard of living/living standard indicators which are human, physical, natural/environment, social, finance as well as threats/uncertainties towards socio-economic changes will be analysed in this research. The research results show that in general, the RIMP and TIMP’s communities’ livelihoods are satisfactory in terms of human, physical and social assets; but are still lacking in terms of the financial and natural/environment assets. The education element also needs to be addressed as there are still school dropouts among these islands’ communities’ children. Nonetheless, the locals are still safe from socio-economic threats/uncertainties and disease outbreaks/disasters. In comparing the RIMP and TIMP, it is found that the TIMP’s community has better sustainable livelihood than that of the RIMP’s locals

Be-Ce Education Games: An Interactive Game-Based Learning for Construction Economics Courses in Built Environment

The chasm between modern science and the mundane reality of contemporary education requires a creative rethinking if inequalities and disparities are to be addressed meaningfully. To this end, game-based learning is often touted as having the uncanny ability in providing learners with a fun and interactive learning experience in which learning objectives are tenaciously respected, cultural similarities boldly embraced, and individual differences joyfully celebrated. Hence, by recognizing the palpable gap, it is vital to investigate the efficacy of game-based learning for two Construction Economics courses in Built Environment. The main objective of this project is to measure the impact of game-based learning on the students’ performance in higher education. Hence, to achieve this objective,questions and rubrics were designed and prepared by following the course learning units. This project also required the participants to engage in a snake and ladder board game, to construct a creative model using Lego bricks, and finally to make a video presentation in a fun and interactive approach. Besides, outdoor activities were conducted with the intention to enhance the students’ experience through a distinctive learning environment. Online tools, such as the ever-popular Padlet application, was deployed to garner students' feedbacks and reflections on this project. The data were subsequently analyzed to evaluate the students’ level of understanding as well as to identify difficulties faced by students while learning the subject matter. Findings revealed that the majority of students understand the topics from their reflections and feedback. Consequently, results indicated that all students achieve the required Course Learning Outcome (CLOs) in the final examination. Notably, the CLOs achievement and students’ feedback provided substantial evidence to suggest that game-based learning provides a fun and playful learning experience, which ultimately enhances the students' performance in higher education

A time series analysis of the relationship between total area planted, palm oil price and production of Malaysian palm oil

Malaysia is a very well-known country in the oils and fats sector especially palm oil because it is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the commodity. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between total area planted and palm oil price with production of palm oil in terms of magnitude and direction using the time series analysis method. Johansen cointegration technique, error correction model and Granger causality tests were used to estimate those relationships. The findings showed that the total area planted and palm oil price have negative relationship towards production of Malaysian palm oil. On the other hand, there is no causality relationship between total area planted and production of Malaysian palm oil in the short run. However, there is a unidirectional causality relationship between palm oil price and production of palm oil in Malaysia. For future recommendation, it is suggested that other researchers will supplement this research by integrating other factors that might affect the production of palm oil such as climate change and geographical area

WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN SANTUBONG NATIONAL PARK

Gunung Santubong National Park (GSNP) is one of the attractions in Sarawak that needs attention forconservation. A contingent valuation method of survey was conducted to estimate the conservation value ofGSNP and to elicit the willingness to pay among respondents. Through the random survey, the estimatedmean of willingness to pay for conservation fee per respondent was RM8.41. With the number of visitors of24066 in year 2016, it is estimated that there is an additional RM 202,395.06 that could be used for theimprovement in environmental conservation. This study shows that contingent valuation method is a usefultool to guide decision makers in policy purposes of natural resources management of protected area indeveloping countries