Be A Guardian of Our
Social Forestry Initiative
Social Forestry Program
Social Forestry is a Community-Based program that focuses on Local Indigenous Society from Lenggong in the state of Perak, Malaysia. The program aims to achieve “3-E Criteria” which is Effective, Efficient and Equity that ensure the forest's sustainability and positively impact the community.
As a group of conservationists, we took the initiative to enhance the sustainability of forests by engaging with the aborigines from Lubuk Chupak village who live at the fringe of the PIAH Forest Reserve. This program fulfilled the 4th Objective of the Malaysian Forestry Policy 2021 where we involve the aborigines in the conservation, preservation and protection of forests.
One of the objectives of this program is to alleviate poverty by engaging with the community living in & around the forest. Moreover, we can empower the community through raising awareness, capacity building, rights and access to land & resources. Improving the forest condition and cushioning the impact of Deforestation, Forest Plantation & Poaching activities happening around the PIAH Forest Reserve area and ensuring the sustainable ecosystem of Flora and Fauna.
Lubuk Chupak Village Aborigines
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The Lubuk Chupak Village is located at Lenggong, Perak 5km from the main road. The aborigines from this village have three different tribes identity which are Temiar, Lanoh and Jahai. Due to intermarriage, these 3 tribes happen to live together as a community. Now they are facing cultural genocide where their culture, art, language, practices and history are being killed. The deprivation of basic needs is also the biggest issue that they are currently facing.
Our team has conducted a census to determine the total population, age, gender, race/tribe, occupation, education, unemployment & dependency of the community. Through this census, we manage to identify the total population of aborigines in the village where there are 32 families consisting of 117 people. We also discover that most of the young adults were unemployed and none of the children is getting a proper education.
The village was established in the 1980s but it was not properly taken care of as most of the houses were impaired. The utility infrastructure such as electricity, water supply & wastewater management and medical care were in a deprived stage. Moreover, the COVID-19 Pandemic has put their situation near to the edge of poverty since early 2020 as the unemployment rate is almost 100%.
Census Forecast of Aborigines from Lubuk Chupak Village
Our Engagement
One of our initiatives in Social Forestry is to produce a music video along with Aboriginal children from Lubuk Chupak Village, Lenggong, Perak. These children are the group that is affected the most because of socioeconomic disparity in the community. They didn’t get a formal education & their basic needs are deprived. Thus, Bambusa Foundation aims to provide opportunities and mediums for the children to polish and express their talent in singing and dancing. With their talent, they can generate income for themselves and the community in Lubuk Chupak Village.
Aborigines are facing a major cultural crisis where their art, music and dance are slowly disappearing due to modernization. So, it is important to record the culture of aborigines, so it can be preserved and the public will be more aware of the community. Moreover, through this video production, we are making aborigines an important figure to deliver the forest conservation message and spread awareness among the public.
The next initiative of Social Forestry Program is setting up a Collection Center of Non-timber Forest Products including bamboo and herbaceous plant. The aborigines are the gatherers whom will collect bamboo & herbaceous plant and create them into commercialized products. Through this, they can improve their socioeconomic and generate more revenue.
Through this program, we will also establish a seed bank & nursery to nurture and manage the young seedlings of forest tree species. This effort can empower the community by generating stable earning and overcoming their socioeconomic disparities. It can also improve the forest condition by driving reforestation activity through replanting trees from the nursery.
