Buffer Zone Concept and its Potential Implementation in Tasek Bera

Tasek Bera (TB), one of the Protected Areas (PA) in Malaysia is an important site for natural eco system and community’s life. Previous studies suggested that the activities around the PAs gave a great impact to the latter. Thus, the implementation and management of the surrounding areas – Buffer Zones (BZ) are necessary to safeguard the PAs. This study interviewed in- depth, six stake holders of TB and the adjacent areas. Results indicated that although all stakeholders agreed on the overall concept and the importance of the BZs, there are disagreement in term of threats and opportunities derived from the potential implementation of it. Keywords: Tasek Bera; Buffer Zones; Protected Areas; stakeholders. eISSN ISSN 2514-751X © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Semelai agricultural patterns: Toward an understanding of variation among indigenous cultures in southern peninsular Malaysia

What were the indigenous agricultural and population patterns in peninsular Malaysia's southern lowlands? What factors produced these patterns? Based on our analysis of ethnographic and historical evidence, as well as aerial photographs taken in 1948 in the Tasek Bera and Sungai Bera watersheds, the Semelai, an Orang Asli group, had a robust and productive subsistence agricultural system emphasising rice but insured by cassava. These photographs, from the P.D.R. Williams-Hunt Collection, provide an unusual record of Semelai agriculture prior to settlement in 1954 and contribute to our knowledge of indigenous economic patterns in the southern lowlands, which have received little ethnographic attention.