45
The indigenous communities practise unique cultural methods in conserving the
sustainability of their surrounding forests. Hood (2004) had observed that the indigenous community, while exploiting the forests to fulfil their daily needs, delicately
selected their harvests with due consideration to the optimal maturity of the plants.
Interestingly, in so doing, they were abiding by their belief system, which pays
homage to supernatural beings in the jungle. Those beings, according to the communities’ belief, forbade the wastage of jungle resources.
There are many studies on the high dependency of the indigenous community on
forest resources in the literature. However, reliance of forest resources as the main
economic activities and the conservation efforts on the forests’ sustainability by the
Sungai Berua indigenous communities have yet to be conclusive. This study aims to
identify the sources of income of Kampung Sungai Berua villagers and study their
approach in preserving the sustainability of their surrounding forests. This study is
based on the following questions; (i) what is the main source of income for the
indigenous community in Sungai Berua? and, (ii) how does the community conserves forests for the benefit of present and future generations?
Methods
The qualitative method had been selected to drive this research. Its advantages in
producing rich complex description on contradictory human behaviours were conducive to this study’s investigation. It had the ability to describe the data and its
details in depth (Marshall and Rossman 1989). This method was also suitable for
understanding a phenomenon. It delivered a form of social inquiry that focused on
how to clarify an individual’s belief, which was logical to their life experiences and
environment (Yeap 2000; Holloway 1997).
Wherein, the compositions of this investigation were delivered in the form of
case studies. The approach involved a study of a case or several related cases involving the observation of an individual or unit, a group of humans, family, a class,
school, community, critical events, culture, project, or part of a programme (Merriam
1998; Burn 1995; Yin 2014). Case studies were used to gain deep understanding on
the real life of respondents, which focused more on the process in exploiting the
output. Emphasis was towards the heterogeneity discovery and not a validation of a
theory, or findings (Merriam 1998; Patton 1990). Case data included interviews,
observations, archives and statements from any testimony intake on the case. The
main techniques expedited were by way of field observations, interviews and document analysis. The ATLAS.ti software Version 7 was used for qualitative analysis of
data gathered from fieldwork (Lewins and Silver 2007).
Information related to the study problems were obtained through fieldwork on an
ongoing basis from June 2015 to June 2016. Kampung Sungai Berua in Hulu
Terengganu, Terengganu, was chosen because the average monthly income of the
indigenous community there was lower compared to other indigenous villages in
the state. Table 1 shows a comparison of average monthly income of Kampung
The Importance of Forest Resources as a Source of Income for the Orang Asli…
The indigenous communities practise unique cultural methods in conserving the
sustainability of their surrounding forests. Hood (2004) had observed that the indigenous community, while exploiting the forests to fulfil their daily needs, delicately
selected their harvests with due consideration to the optimal maturity of the plants.
Interestingly, in so doing, they were abiding by their belief system, which pays
homage to supernatural beings in the jungle. Those beings, according to the communities’ belief, forbade the wastage of jungle resources.
There are many studies on the high dependency of the indigenous community on
forest resources in the literature. However, reliance of forest resources as the main
economic activities and the conservation efforts on the forests’ sustainability by the
Sungai Berua indigenous communities have yet to be conclusive. This study aims to
identify the sources of income of Kampung Sungai Berua villagers and study their
approach in preserving the sustainability of their surrounding forests. This study is
based on the following questions; (i) what is the main source of income for the
indigenous community in Sungai Berua? and, (ii) how does the community conserves forests for the benefit of present and future generations?
Methods
The qualitative method had been selected to drive this research. Its advantages in
producing rich complex description on contradictory human behaviours were conducive to this study’s investigation. It had the ability to describe the data and its
details in depth (Marshall and Rossman 1989). This method was also suitable for
understanding a phenomenon. It delivered a form of social inquiry that focused on
how to clarify an individual’s belief, which was logical to their life experiences and
environment (Yeap 2000; Holloway 1997).
Wherein, the compositions of this investigation were delivered in the form of
case studies. The approach involved a study of a case or several related cases involving the observation of an individual or unit, a group of humans, family, a class,
school, community, critical events, culture, project, or part of a programme (Merriam
1998; Burn 1995; Yin 2014). Case studies were used to gain deep understanding on
the real life of respondents, which focused more on the process in exploiting the
output. Emphasis was towards the heterogeneity discovery and not a validation of a
theory, or findings (Merriam 1998; Patton 1990). Case data included interviews,
observations, archives and statements from any testimony intake on the case. The
main techniques expedited were by way of field observations, interviews and document analysis. The ATLAS.ti software Version 7 was used for qualitative analysis of
data gathered from fieldwork (Lewins and Silver 2007).
Information related to the study problems were obtained through fieldwork on an
ongoing basis from June 2015 to June 2016. Kampung Sungai Berua in Hulu
Terengganu, Terengganu, was chosen because the average monthly income of the
indigenous community there was lower compared to other indigenous villages in
the state. Table 1 shows a comparison of average monthly income of Kampung
The Importance of Forest Resources as a Source of Income for the Orang Asli…