Poverty within the watershed and environmeantally protected areas (wepa): The case of the indigenous community (Orang Asli) in Malaysia
The Indigenous People (Orang Asli) are a heterogeneous community scattered over more than 850 villages in Peninsular Malaysia. While 60 percent are located in the outskirts of existing rural villages, 37 percent live in remote areas, and a very small number reside in the vicinity of existing tow...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/15814/1/0001.pdf http://eprints.um.edu.my/15814/ |
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| Summary: | The Indigenous People (Orang Asli) are a heterogeneous community
scattered over more than 850 villages in Peninsular Malaysia. While 60
percent are located in the outskirts of existing rural villages, 37 percent live
in remote areas, and a very small number reside in the vicinity of existing
township. The Orang Asli population has been identified to be among the
poorest and the most socio-economically and culturally marginalized in
Peninsular Malaysia. This paper attempts to build a simple behavioral model
topredict and explain the multi-faceted factors in contributing towards their
poverty, especially among the Orang Asli community living within the
watershed and environmental protected areas. The preliminary finding shows
that the Orang Asli community is quite likely to be poor if they settled in
environmental sensitive and protected areas as compared to families under
the new resettlement scheme. Access to basic education and employment
contributed significantly to the poor economic status of the Orang Asli. Our
preliminary findings show that the poor households among Orang Asli faced
some difficulty in getting access and support in terms of basic needs such as
housing, education, economic livelihood and other social infrastructure.
More importantly, the government regulatory structure in terms of managing
watershed areas and agricultural land for commodity crops has indirectly
. contributed towards the poverty levels of the Orang Asli. As such, Orang Asli
community linkages with land ownership remain to be an important factor in
affecting their-livelihood in the rural remote and isolated areas. |
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