Resource Use and Sustainability of Orang Asli

Comprising of -18 sub-ethnic groups the indigenous communities, or better known as the Orang Asli, located in the Peninsular Malaysia, is a unique community in terms of their culture, lifestyle, and heritage. The life of the Orang Asli, popularly referred to as the Forest People, is highly intertwined with forest resources which makes the community a great source of information and traditional knowledge, particularly in the use of medicinal plants.

This book covers three important issues to explain and gain insights into the sustainability of the Orang Asli:

1. Social and demographics
2. Sustainability of resource use
3. Governance, administration and management

The book presents research to help bridge the gaps and provides a baseline reference for further research regarding the sustainability of the Orang Asli.

This book is intended for researchers and graduate students to help gain an understanding of the Orang Asli. By highlighting the plight of Orang Asli the authors hope that this community will be recognised and become a part of society. More research is required to help the 178,197 Orang Asli achieve the sustainable development goals for their community in the Peninsular Malaysia.

Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah, PhD is a professor and was the former Director of the Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (BIO-D TROPIKA), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). He has conducted his fieldworks in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand with a broad interest in biodiversity, biogeography, molecular ecology, mammalogy, park and wildlife conservation. Recently, he received the best zoological and ecotourism book awards in the Malaysia National Book Award 2017 and 2019 respectively. He has published about 100 indexed journal manuscripts and co-edited nine books, two of which by Springer Nature Publisher. Currently, he is an active independent researcher affiliated to the Academy of Sciences Malaysia of which he is a fellow and a new found hobby as a YouTuber (Taj Abdullah).

Candyrilla Vera Bartholomew graduated with MSc in Zoology from the Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. She did her BSc in Zoology at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. She has been involved in scientific research and conducted social surveys of the Orang Asli to characterise their forest resource use patterns and determining factors affecting the involvement of Orang Asli to hunt and collect forest resources. She is also co-authored journal and conference manuscripts and a local book and two book chapters within, which characterise resource utilisation by the Orang Asli.

Aqilah Mohammad, PhD is a senior lecturer and a mycologist in the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. She currently holds a dual appointment position in the Faculty of Science and Marine Environment and acts as the Head of Program in the Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. Aqilah has been involved in fungal ecology, fungal diversity and ethnomycology studies and conducted fieldworks in several states in Malaysia. She is currently engaged in the post-Covid19 industry-community project on mushroom cultivation for low-income communities nearby UMT main campus area. She has been actively publishing works on her field in both local and international journals and academic books since 2011 until present and as co-editor two international books by Springer Nature Publisher.