Community participation in protected area management of Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia / Mohd Salleh Daim

Within the theoretical concepts community participation has been used or explored in many fields as an approach for conflict resolution. In the field of natural resource management, recognising the rights and responsibility of local community neighbouring to natural areas has become vital to complement the traditional management approach especially in protected area management. One of the prevalent issues in the field of protected area management would be the relationship between the protected area and its neighbours. This bittersweet relationship is loaded with protected area management theories and principles adopted by most management agencies mixed with the moral, values and norms of local community who often reside within or in close proximity to these protected areas. This thesis explores the dynamic of participatory approach in protected area management. This thesis deals with the long overdue issue of local community versus protected area, by exploring one example pertinent to Malaysia which is the Taman Negara National Park and its neighbours. Briefly, it intends to examine the issues, concerns and opportunities of participatory approach in protected area management in Peninsular Malaysia. Specifically, it examines the benefits of community participation and its relationship with community acceptance on the types or levels of participation suitable in protected area management. One primary case has been selected for this study which is Taman Negara National Park, Pahang, Malaysia. A total of 290 respondents from ten villages consist of seven Malay villages and three Orang Asal villages neighbouring to Taman Negara National Park, Pahang were selected and interviewed face-to-face using a questionnaire. The data were analysed using discriptive statistics, factor analysis, and Partial Least Square SEM (PLS-SEM) technique. Drawing from the empirical evidence gathered from this study, the findings are: 1) community participation in TNNP management is very minimal and at a lower level of participation, 2) economic, social, legal and institutional, and attitudinal benefits tested as benefits of community participation do have significant influence to the villagers' acceptance on the types or levels of participation suitable for TNNP management. Legal and institutional benefit is the benefit that influences villagers' view the most on community participation in protected area management. Overall, it can be concluded that as the benefits of community participation among local community improve, their acceptance to participate in the highest level of participation also increase. This information may be of use in addressing the policyrelated issues concerning the roles of neighbours and the management of protected areas in sustainable development

Light Intensity and Soil Compaction as Influenced by Ecotourism Activities in Pahang National Park, Malaysia

Pahang National Park provides a diversity of flora and fauna, which is popular for ecotourism activities within Malaysia. The ecotourism activities such as trekking and camping may result in some degree of changes to the forest condition in the protected areas. Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate the influences of ecotourism activities on the light intensity and soil compaction in Pahang National Park. A total of 40 plots measuring at 20 × 25 m were established in camping area, trekking trail and natural area of the park. The light intensity and soil compaction were measured using hemispherical photography at nine points and a hand penetrometer at five points, respectively, randomly selected in each plot. The Analysis of Variance shows there was a significant difference in the means of light intensity and soil compaction in three study sites (p < 0.05). The light intensity in the trekking trail is significantly greater than in natural area (18.87% vs. 13.13%). The soil compaction in the trekking trail is significantly greater than in natural area and camping area (p < 0.05). This may suggest that ecotourism activities especially trekking activity has significantly influenced the trend of forest light intensity and soil compaction in Pahang National Park

A preliminary study on the influences of ecotourism activities to the stand structure of protected forests of Taman Negara Pahang

A preliminary study on the influences of ecotourism activities on forest stand structure was carried out in the protected forests of Taman Negara Pahang. Forest stand attributes data were collected from Kuala Keniam and Lata Berkoh areas which comprised of two different conditions (known as natural and disturbed areas) with the size of plots of 20 m × 25 m. All trees greater than 1 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) were measured and identified. A total of 1,398 stems were enumerated in study areas. Basal area of sampled trees was determined. From the analysis of variance, it was found that the difference in the means of the basal area of trees between study sites were not statistically significant at P≤0.05. The forest stand structure described by diameter distribution was inverse J-shaped which indicates the stands are developing and regeneration in the forest is present in the study areas. Information from this study may provide a valuable reference for forest assessment as well as ecotourism planning and management

Production of L2 lipase by Bacillus sp. strain L2: nutritional and physical factors

A thermophilic bacterium, Bacillus sp. strain L2 was isolated from a hot spring in Perak, Malaysia. An extracellular lipase activity was detected through plate and broth assays at 70 °C after 28 h of incubation. The L2 lipase production was growth dependent as revealed by a number of factors affecting the secretion of extracelullar lipase. As for nutritional factors, casamino acids, trehalose, Ca2+ and Tween 60 were found to be more effective for lipase production. The optimum physical condition for L2 lipase production was obtained at 70 °C after 28 h of cultivation time, at pH 7.0, 150 rpm of agitation rate and 1% of starting inoculum size. The activity staining of crude L2 lipase revealed a clearing zone at 39 kDa

A multi-stakeholder strategy to identify conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysia, with its rapidly growing economy, exemplifies the tensions between conservation and development faced by many tropical nations. Here we present the results of a multi-stakeholder engagement exercise conducted to (1) define conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia and (2) explore differences in perceptions among and within stakeholder groups (i.e. government, academia, NGOs and the private sector). Our data collection involved two workshops and two online surveys where participants identified seven general conservation themes and ranked the top five priority issues within each theme. The themes were: (1) policy and management, (2) legislation and enforcement, (3) finance and resource allocation, (4) knowledge, research and development, (5) socio-economic issues, (6) public awareness and participation and (7) rights of nature. In spite of their very different backgrounds and agendas, the four stakeholder groups showed general agreement in their priority preferences except for two issues. Respondents from government and private sector differed the most from each other in their priority choices while academia and NGO showed the highest degree of similarity. This ranked list of 35 conservation priorities is expected to influence the work of policy-makers and others in Peninsular Malaysia and can be used as a model to identify conservation priorities elsewhere

Influence of ecotourism activities on the forest structure and light intensity in forests of Taman Negara Pahang

Ecotourism activities in protected area such as in Taman Negara (i.e., hiking and camping) may result in canopy opening which increases light transmission to the forests floor and influencing the variation in forest structure. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of ecotourism activities on the light intensity and examine its influence to the forest structure in the protected forests of Taman Negara Pahang. Information on light intensity and forest stand attributes were collected in a total of 16, 20 m × 25 m plots which consists of camping sites, forest trails and natural areas. All trees ≥ 1 cm in diameter-at-breast height (DBH) were measured, tagged and numbered. The light intensity was measured using hemispherical photography at nine points randomly sampled in each plot. The diffuse light intensity recorded in hemispherical photographs was analysed (in percent) using RGBFisheye software. From the field measurements, there is a significant difference (P≤0.05) in basal area between two conditions (i.e., disturbed and undisturbed). The means of light intensity as recorded in hemispherical photographs of forest trails, camping sites and natural areas were 11.37%, 10.05% and 8.32%, respectively. Results from the analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant difference in the means of light intensity among study conditions (P≤0.05). Moreover, all study areas showed an inverse J-shaped DBH distribution which indicates the presence of abundance regeneration in the forest and the stands are still at the stage of development. Therefore, the study showed that the increase in light intensity in disturbed areas may result in the variation of forest structure beneath canopy. This could be because of the lesser stratification of canopy layers and the tolerance between some tree species and light in the disturbed areas