students about the importance of peatlands and the services it provides to the local
communities.
Keywords Community involvement · Peatland rehabilitation · Awareness ·
Alternative livelihood options · Peat swamp forest
24.1 Introduction
Traditional method of conservation, by the top-down exclusionary which did not
involve local users, is no longer relevant and does not encourage sustainable use of
natural resources (Brown 2002). Direct relationship between biodiversity and local
communities needs to be created through conservation benefits so that it can be an
incentive to those who are interested to get involved in a conservation project such as
rehabilitation and ecotourism activities. Community-based rehabilitation
programme is a new method in conservation which has been proven in Malaysia
(Nath et al. 2017), Indonesia (Check 2005), the Philippines (Walters 2000), Thailand
(Sathirathai and Barbier 2001), Africa (Kairo et al. 2001), and Pakistan (Amjad and
Jusoff 2007). Community-based rehabilitation programme which involves the planting of peat tree species at large scale may not be possible without the involvement of
local communities. They play an important part especially in management and
conservation to ensure the success of the programme (Barbier 2006). Besides that,
local community involvement will also encourage a sense of belonging among them
and thus, encourage them to be more involved in the conservation efforts.
The benefits of the Community-Based Peatland Rehabilitation Programme are as
follows:1. Better and more locally adapted and/or appropriate programme developed to
address peatland management issues for communities living in adjacent area.
The potential conflicts can be limited if all the relevant stakeholders are involved
at an early stage of the project development, thus reducing major problems and
any costly delays at the later stages.
2. Opportunity for hands-on training and exposure for the local communities and
students in peatland conservation, water management, and rehabilitation.
3. Creating an alternative livelihood derived from the projects related to resource
management. The local communities are more likely to engage in the project if
they are directly benefitted from the activities.
4. Communities and schools’ capacity is strengthened by their involvement in the
peatland water management and rehabilitation programme; whereby their input
and output can be streamlined to support the national and state vision and
mission.
In Malaysia, peatland is the most widespread type of wetland found in ten states
which are Johor, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Putrajaya, Sabah,
Sarawak, Selangor, and Terengganu. It covers about 2.6 million hectares
652
N. Rengasamy and F. Parish
communities.
Keywords Community involvement · Peatland rehabilitation · Awareness ·
Alternative livelihood options · Peat swamp forest
24.1 Introduction
Traditional method of conservation, by the top-down exclusionary which did not
involve local users, is no longer relevant and does not encourage sustainable use of
natural resources (Brown 2002). Direct relationship between biodiversity and local
communities needs to be created through conservation benefits so that it can be an
incentive to those who are interested to get involved in a conservation project such as
rehabilitation and ecotourism activities. Community-based rehabilitation
programme is a new method in conservation which has been proven in Malaysia
(Nath et al. 2017), Indonesia (Check 2005), the Philippines (Walters 2000), Thailand
(Sathirathai and Barbier 2001), Africa (Kairo et al. 2001), and Pakistan (Amjad and
Jusoff 2007). Community-based rehabilitation programme which involves the planting of peat tree species at large scale may not be possible without the involvement of
local communities. They play an important part especially in management and
conservation to ensure the success of the programme (Barbier 2006). Besides that,
local community involvement will also encourage a sense of belonging among them
and thus, encourage them to be more involved in the conservation efforts.
The benefits of the Community-Based Peatland Rehabilitation Programme are as
follows:1. Better and more locally adapted and/or appropriate programme developed to
address peatland management issues for communities living in adjacent area.
The potential conflicts can be limited if all the relevant stakeholders are involved
at an early stage of the project development, thus reducing major problems and
any costly delays at the later stages.
2. Opportunity for hands-on training and exposure for the local communities and
students in peatland conservation, water management, and rehabilitation.
3. Creating an alternative livelihood derived from the projects related to resource
management. The local communities are more likely to engage in the project if
they are directly benefitted from the activities.
4. Communities and schools’ capacity is strengthened by their involvement in the
peatland water management and rehabilitation programme; whereby their input
and output can be streamlined to support the national and state vision and
mission.
In Malaysia, peatland is the most widespread type of wetland found in ten states
which are Johor, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Putrajaya, Sabah,
Sarawak, Selangor, and Terengganu. It covers about 2.6 million hectares
652
N. Rengasamy and F. Parish