Dr. Khairul Hisyam Kamarudin UTM RAZAK SCHOOL of Engineering and Advanced Technology

1. Exploring Rural Transformation in Malaysia: A Study of the Practice of Sustainable Development Principles among OrangAsliCommunity in Royal Belum, Perak Photo: revbickers.blogspot.com Dr. Khairul Hisyam Kamarudin UTM RAZAK SCHOOL of Engineering and Advanced Technology Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Ngah Centre for Innovative Planning and Development (CiPD), UTM January 2014

2. Introduction – “rural transformation and diversification of rural activities” • There are series of concepts of rural transformation that emerged from the debates about the nature of change affecting rural people on communities in different world regions. Among them are post-productivist, de-agrarianization, the new rural development paradigm, new rurality etc. (Mackayet.al, 2009; Preston and Ngah, 2012; Bryceson, 1996; Gibson et.al, 2010; Kay, 2008). • Rural transformation in Malaysia reflects the multi-dimensional changes towards diversification of rural activities with the increase of the non-farm activities, and broadening of farm or land based activities, and the introduction of quality and local distinctive products (Ngah et al., 2013). • Understanding of the roles of non-farming activities (including the new forms of agriculture activities) are be crucial to inform policy makers on the new development that has taken place in the rural areas and the need for appropriate policies to address them (Ngah et al., 2013). Photo: Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Ngah of CiPD UTM conducted a field survey of OrangAsli at Royal Belum Forest Reserve in Perak

3. This proposal is one of sub topic in a bigger scope of rural transformation study Rural Transformation Local Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation: Sustainable Village Assessment • Community based tourism • One Village One Product • The use of indicators Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Roles of non-agriculture and new form of farming in rural livelihood Sustainable rural development for less developed region

4. Introduction A Study of the Practice of Sustainable Development Principles among OrangAsli Community in Royal Belum, Perak • In the declaration of the Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro 1992, the role of indigenous people in the environmental management and development for achieving sustainability was because of their knowledge and traditional practices (Kamarudin, 2005).

5. Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities, have a vital role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interest and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development. (Earth Summit, 1992: 13)

6. Introduction • Many studies had indicated the importance roles and contributions of indigenous knowledge and practices which in line with sustainable development principles (see Loomis, 2000, Pulido and Bocco, 2003, Kerjala and Dewhurst, 2003, Kamarudin and Ngah, 2007).

7. Introduction • However, the value and traditional practices of the indigenous communities today has gradually disappeared due to pressure from modernization and influence of laissez-fair economy, which penetrated them (Kamarudin, 2005; Kamarudin and Ngah, 2007). • This research intended to examine the extent to which sustainable development principles are practiced among OrangAsli community and how their local knowledge and practices could be used to formulate a framework for sustainable development strategies of the OrangAsli community.

8. Issues and Statement of Problem Issues of development of OrangAsli(in Malaysia in general) and in Royal Belum in particular Issues of indicators of sustainable rural development Issues of implementation of indicators in measuring sustainability practices among OrangAsli community (field test process)

9. Problem Statement • As mentioned earlier, international bodies among other researchers have acknowledged that traditional values and (socio-economic) practices by OrangAsli are “sustainability-friendly”. • Government agencies (e.g. JAKOA) have heavily invested (either physically, human capital development, etc) in developing these underprivileged communities to empower them and to enable them to joint nation’s mainstream communities. • Despite huge investment and initiatives given by government, up to date, unfortunately, there is no measurement tool as to indicate or to measure/assess performance and changes received by the community.

10. Problem Statement • This is where the role and function of indicators become crucial, as a tool for measuring: • The ROI (return of investment) made government and other agencies  Monetary and/or non monetary benefits, etc. • The level of sustainable development principles practices by the community from the four pillars of sustainability i.e. economic, socio-culture, organisational and leadership, and environmental.

11. Research Questions What are the role and contributions of sustainability indicators in assessing/measuring the level of sustainability practices among OrangAsli community in the study area? To what extent does the current practices contribute towards overall sustainable livelihood of the OrangAsli in the study area? What are the factors that encourage and/or hinder sustainable development principles among OrangAsli community in the study area?

12. Research Goal The main goal of this research is to analyse the practice of sustainable development principles among OrangAsli community based on existing set of indicators (developed after previous work). A set of indicators will be used in a field test to determine whether the indicators selected can be applied and measured the community practices using the local stakeholders survey approach.

13. Research Methodology • Data collection  will be based on household surveys and field observation in selected village clusters in Royal Belum. • Three village clusters will be selected for the study including those of varying economic based and location such as fishing villages, conventional agriculture based villages, traditional agriculture based villages and mixed economic based villages (tourism based villages). • The phases of the study is as follows:

14. Phase 1 Preliminary Study This will include further review on literatures related to the previous study done elsewhere in South East Asia and other parts of developing world. In the preliminary study basic information on the current status or profile of the five village clusters will be collected. We aspect basic data on population and households, list of economic activities, cultural practices and village organization will be available from the district office or other related agencies such as District Office, JAKOA, PTNP. From this basic data then we can design proper methods for field study.

15. Phase 2 Field studyHousehold surveys (Quantitative data)socio-demographic data (age, gender, education, skills), ownership of property, migration, employment (full time and part-time, reasons for engaging in particular employment activities, and income of each members of the households (by each economic activities engaged). The respondent’s perception about sustainable development practices (guided by the list of indicators, but must cover all four pillars i.e. economic, social/cultural, organisational and environmental practices) Selection of samples will be according to three village clusters (estimated 60 samples of households for the three clusters, but actual size of the samples will be calculated later).“Limited” participant observation and interviews (Qualitative data)

16. Phase 3 Analysis and findingsData from Household survey  Analysis will look into: Discussions of the procedures in conducting the field test including the survey of local stakeholders. Discussion of the data analysis and respondents’ evaluation of successful uptake of sustainable measures for sustainable development practices (the application of index score analysis.) Presentation of data analysis results and discussion of the respondents evaluation of successful uptake of economic, socio-cultural, environment and organisational measures.

18. Expected Outcomes • Impact on Knowledge • We expect there are wide ranges of activities in (social, economy) and community’s interaction with their surrounding nature for their livelihood. Their interaction (symbiotic relations), in turn might impact to the local economy as community is depending on the natural resources as source of income and to sustain other types of local economic activities. • Community might indicate a positive level of sustainability practices for cultural and social values, while for economy and exploitation of resources practices need to be given more attentions as sustainable development required a balanced to be achieved between all the components. • The findings of this research will contribute to the current debates on the applicability and reliability of indicators in measuring the level of community sustainability.

19. Expected Outcomes • Publications • We targeted at least two publications on index journals. One in Singapore Journal of Tropical geography and another in Rural Studies or World Development which in the past did published many articles related to the topic.

20. Cluster: SUSTAINABILITY ECOTOURISM Work in Progress EcoTourism, Protected Areas and Poverty Alleviation: Perceptions and experiences of OrangAsli community in Royal Belum State Park, Malaysia PAS Grant (UTM) (RM20k)