Potential of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor as a Wildlife Reserve

In the rapidly developed Klang Valley, Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve has served as a last bastion for the conservation of the indigenous fauna and flora. Its strategic location has attracted many threats particularly from land developers and industries. Security of this piece of pristine land is at stake, which needs to be protected by specific legislation. This paper addresses the conservation needs of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, in particular the preservation of the decreasing wildlife populations within this reserve by meaningful legislative provisions. The protection alternatives for this forest include its designation as a forest reserve for wildlife under the State Selangor Forest Department or as wildlife reserve/sanctuary under the Wildlife and National Parks Department

Recreational Opportunities For Public Use in Ayer Hitam Forest: Setting the Stage and Park Management Approach

This paper discusses the concept of forest park for public recreational use and educational resource to be provided by Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve in Puchong, Selangor. This reserve has served as a teaching and research site but must be ready to allow people to set foot in. The recreation opportunity to be provided must be able to accommodate recreational needs that prioritised rewarding experience and educational-based recreation opportunity within the natural setting. Any recreational access and utilisation must involve low impact use and its development has to be based on the ecological limitation of the forest reserve. For a benefiting use of the area for recreation and its stewardship, the forest requires the practise of park recreation management and an integrated institutional arrangement. These include provision of recreational opportunities to the public albeit protection of the resources. In conclusion it is recommended that Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve be classified and gazetted as an open forest reserve

Community-based ecotourism: a new proposition for sustainable development and environmental conservation in Malaysia

Community-based ecotourism is one of the most dynamic sectors of Malaysian tourism industry. The destination involved remote traditional communities where national parks, game reserves and other protected areas served as the background setting for such activities. Its principle is focused upon the benefits of tourism attained by local population and the environment while minimizing negative impacts. By empowering the locals with own governance and management partnerships within the area, community based ecotourism may reduce economic leakages, minimize negative impacts and concentrate the benefits locally. This study will discussed the key management issues of community-based tourism: government supports, sustainable use of local resources, participation of stakeholders, fair benefits sharing, strengthening of local institutions, linkages with regional and national levels and training. African and Asian experiences in these areas are highlighted

Identification of criteria and indicators for hazardous trees in Recreation Forest of Selangor, Malaysia.

Recreation forest is a popular setting for outdoor recreation in Selangor, Malaysia. In the recreation forest, hazardous trees in this setting can be associated with risks in which the manager of the forest needs to give serious attention. A study was conducted to identify the criteria and indicators in evaluating hazardous trees in these forests. Delphi technique was used to gather a consensus on the characteristics related to criteria and indicators of hazardous trees. This technique allows the respondents some flexibility while selecting appropriate criteria and indicators involving three rounds of interviews with respondents. The respondents are staff of the State Forestry Department of Selangor who are experts in recreational forest landscape. The final outcome of the Delphi process was the identification of 17 criteria and 51 indicators in evaluating trees in recreational forest. From the findings of this study, the State Forestry Department of Selangor can use the identified criteria and indicators as guidelines in their hazardous tree management. This would help managers in making correct decision on hazardous tree problems and increase public awareness on the existence of those trees in their surroundings

Development of the criteria and indicators of Malaysian garden city: a Delphi consensus

It is the aspiration of the Malaysian Government to transform the country into a garden nation by 2020. It is envisaged that in the near future the image of garden nation will be materialized when all cities in the country also portray the garden image in their design and visual. There are no criteria and indicators previously used in developing these garden cities. A study was conducted to develop a reliable set of criteria and indicators for an ideal, garden city for Malaysia. Delphi method was used in this study to solicit the opinion from 30 experts through a series of questionnaire. As a result, this study was able to generate and identifying 8 criteria and 42 indicators for an ideal Malaysian’ garden city. The criteria and indicators identified could be used by the Malaysian agencies and local authorities in assessing and monitoring the development of garden cities in the countr

Preliminary inventory of non-wood resources in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor

An inventory on non-wood taxa in Compartment 12 of the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve recorded four species of bamboo and seven species of palms. The bamboo species are Bambusa vulgaris, Gigantochloa scortechinii, Schizostachyum zollingeri and Bambusa heterostachya. The palms species are Eugeissonia tristis, Oncospenna horridum, Oncospenna tigillarium, Arenga obtusifolia, Livistona rotundifolia, Licuala glabra and Salacca 1.lllacca. This forest is considerably rich in palms but poor with bamboos

Automated hazard rating assessment of roadside trees using MUTIS ver 1.0

Streptococcosis in cultured fishes has been reported to cause severe economic losses to the aquaculture industry worldwide. Lancefield group B Streptococcus agalactiae has been recognised as the main pathogen in cultured tilapia. This review discusses the current scenario and risk factors of streptococcosis in tilapia and suggests the control and prevention measures for this disease. The preventive measures focus on combined aspects of selecting farm location, applying good aquaculture farm practices, utilization of antibiotics and proper vaccination programme. A combination of all these measures will perhaps be the key to improve the health of cultured tilapia and prevent the infection by S. agalactiae, which in turn will increase the economic profit of tilapia farm operators

Hazard-rating assessment of roadside trees at UPM using geospatial tool.

Roadside trees provide benefits in the form of green landscape, human health, storm-water management, carbon storage and etc. However, they are potentially hazardous to their surroundings. Hence, there is a need to evaluate these trees as to whether they are hazardous or not. Hazard-rating assessment in the context of urban trees is the evaluation of the hazard of trees and how likely they are to fail as well as how severe in terms of damage that they could cause to their surroundings. In this study, roadside trees hazard rating was assessed automatically using a customised ArcMap TM application using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), known as UPM-Malaysian Urban Trees Information System (UPM-MUTIS), developed by Faculty of Forestry, UPM. The study is to determine the capabilities of UPM-MUTIS in generating hazard-rating assessment. The study area covered part of UPM’s academic zone. Result depicted that out of 909 trees assessed, 99.8% (907 trees) were categorised as ‘Medium’ hazard rating and no trees with ‘Low’, ‘High’, and ‘Severe’ hazard rating. Upon deriving hazard-rating assessment, abatement activities were subsequently proposed in which was mainly various degrees and types of pruning. This paper details out the hazard-rating assessment process of roadside trees and the succeeding abatement activities proposed at the study site

The Portrait of English Teaching Grounded in Interculturality

This study aimed to analyze English teaching based on the perspective of intercultural language teaching (ILT). The ILT perspective was referred to Liddicoat and Scarino's (2013) model. Three English teachers from one of the schools in Kepahiang District were engaged as the participants of this study. This study applied a qualitative method. The data were collected using observation. The findings of this study revealed that the teachers had applied three principles of ILT, namely active construction, making connections, and interaction. Active construction was represented by some activities such as word quiz, the use of cultures-embedded materials, group work, pair-work communication, and check and recheck with partners. Making connection principle was portrayed from some activities such as directing questions and cultural comparison. Interaction principle was depicted from some activities such as the use of cultures-embedded texts, group-interaction, pair-wok communication, and check and recheck with partners. It is recommended that further studies be conducted by involving more participants so that richer data with their varieties can be portrayed.

PERBAIKAN KINERJA KEUANGAN PT.TELEKOMUNIKASI INDONESIA, TBK DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC) DAN RASIO PROFITABILITAS ( Studi Kasus: PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk divree III )

Kondisi perekonomian Indonesia di era globalisasi dengan tingkat persaingan yang semakin ketat, beberapa tahun belakangan ini mulai menunjukkan adanya perbaikan, setelah dilanda krisis ekonomi yang berkepanjangan. Kondisi tersebut menuntut perusahaan baik perusahaan swasta, maupun BUMN untuk meningkatkan efisiensi dan efektivitas perusahan dalam menghadapi persaingan yang semakin ketat.Salah satu analisis metode keuangan yaitu Activity Based Costing (ABC). ABC merupakan pengelompokan berbagai aktivitas kedalam satu produk. Dalam pengelompokan ini dibutuhkan Cost Driver. Cost Driver ini digunakan sebagai parameter dalam pengelompokan aktivitas-aktivitas.Untuk menilai kinerja suatu perusahaan, perlu dilakukan analisis terhadap laporan keuangan perusahaan tersebut. Dalam penelitian ini analisis dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode Rasio Profitabilitas. Dengan metode ini, akan terlihat nilai rasio NPM (Net Profit Margin), GPM (Gross Profit Margin), ROI (Return On Investment), ROE (Return On Equity). Tujuan dari analisis ini adalah untuk mengetahui kinerja perusahaan PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk.Selama periode penelitian (2009-2010), hasil perhitungan dengan metode Rasio Profitabilitas menunjukkan bahwa adanya kenaikan nilai rasio. Ini menunjukkan bahwa pada periode tersebut kinerja perusahaan berjalan dengan baik. Hasil perhitungan nilai rasio perusahaan PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tbk pada periode 2009-2010 adalah sebagai berikut:No Jenis Rasio 2009 2010 Standard Industri 1 Gross profit margin ( GPM ) 35,6% 36,9% 35% 2 Net Profit Margin ( NPM ) 18% 22% 20% 3 Return On Investement ( ROI ) 11,6% 14,7% 12% 4 Return on Equity ( ROE ) 29% 32,9% 30% ABC, Cost Driver, Rasio Profitabilitas, GPM, NPM, ROI, ROE