vii
Preface and Acknowledgements
Known as the Indigenous People or Orang Asli in Malay, with a total of 18 subethnic communities, they live in Peninsular Malaysia, carrying out their traditional
occupations such as hunting, fishing and collecting of forest resources. They are
known as forest people due to their dependency on forest resources for their subsistence and livelihoods. Around Kenyir Lake, the Orang Asli belong to the Semaq
Beri ethnic group, which can be found living in other parts of the eastern coast of
Peninsular Malaysia.
Forest resource is highly intertwined with the life of the Orang Asli for their
sustainable livelihoods. Various types of plants (ethnobotany) and animals (ethnozoology) are known to be important as their use supports the life of the Orang Asli.
As such, many herbs are used as medicine to treat illnesses. Besides that, some of
the resources become their source of income to buy their daily necessities. Their
traditional and ecological knowledge on the tropical rain forests are passed down
from their ancestors to their future generations.
Nevertheless, rapid development negatively influences the Orang Asli’s life in
terms of their culture and tradition, beliefs, and carefree lifestyles. One of the significant visible effects is that forest resources utilised by the Orang Asli for their
livelihood are cleared and destroyed for our national buildings, socio-economic
development as well as large-scale infrastructure projects to support the exponentially growing populations. This depletion of resources and serious competition
University’s Non-academic Staffs and Postgraduate Students
We thank the sustained support from the Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable
Development (BIO-D TROPIKA), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universiti Sultan Zainal
Abidin and the University of Malaya. The next gratitude goes to our administrative editors, namely,
Amera Hanna Mohd Tajuddin, Norsyarinie Binti Young Rockie, Mohd Noor Afiq Bin Ramlee and
Muhamad Aidil Zahidin, who have been a helping hand in the compilation of the articles for the
book. Our sincere thanks also go to the Springer Nature Editorial Team and Book Project
Coordinator for their cooperation and prompt response to our emails.
Photo Credit
The photograph used for the cover of this book is taken by Mr. Suzairi Zakaria (Dome).
Preface and Acknowledgements
Known as the Indigenous People or Orang Asli in Malay, with a total of 18 subethnic communities, they live in Peninsular Malaysia, carrying out their traditional
occupations such as hunting, fishing and collecting of forest resources. They are
known as forest people due to their dependency on forest resources for their subsistence and livelihoods. Around Kenyir Lake, the Orang Asli belong to the Semaq
Beri ethnic group, which can be found living in other parts of the eastern coast of
Peninsular Malaysia.
Forest resource is highly intertwined with the life of the Orang Asli for their
sustainable livelihoods. Various types of plants (ethnobotany) and animals (ethnozoology) are known to be important as their use supports the life of the Orang Asli.
As such, many herbs are used as medicine to treat illnesses. Besides that, some of
the resources become their source of income to buy their daily necessities. Their
traditional and ecological knowledge on the tropical rain forests are passed down
from their ancestors to their future generations.
Nevertheless, rapid development negatively influences the Orang Asli’s life in
terms of their culture and tradition, beliefs, and carefree lifestyles. One of the significant visible effects is that forest resources utilised by the Orang Asli for their
livelihood are cleared and destroyed for our national buildings, socio-economic
development as well as large-scale infrastructure projects to support the exponentially growing populations. This depletion of resources and serious competition
University’s Non-academic Staffs and Postgraduate Students
We thank the sustained support from the Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable
Development (BIO-D TROPIKA), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universiti Sultan Zainal
Abidin and the University of Malaya. The next gratitude goes to our administrative editors, namely,
Amera Hanna Mohd Tajuddin, Norsyarinie Binti Young Rockie, Mohd Noor Afiq Bin Ramlee and
Muhamad Aidil Zahidin, who have been a helping hand in the compilation of the articles for the
book. Our sincere thanks also go to the Springer Nature Editorial Team and Book Project
Coordinator for their cooperation and prompt response to our emails.
Photo Credit
The photograph used for the cover of this book is taken by Mr. Suzairi Zakaria (Dome).