PertanikaJ. Trap. Agric. Sci. 22(2): 203 - 206 (1999) ISS : 1511-3701© Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Direct Uses of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Puchong, Selangor

A. . ABD. GHANI,] P. BAWON,I M. S. HJ. OTHMAN,2 R. MOHD/ S. MOHAMED,I I. FARIDAH HANUM,I and MOHAMED ZAKARIA HUSSI I

lFaculty of Forestry2Faculty of Economics and Management

Universiti Putra Malaysia43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Forest land can be categorised into various usesdepending on the nature of goods and servicesprovided by the forest. This can be categorisedinto several uses such as maintenance ofenvironment, provision of opportunity forrecreation activities, habitat for wildlife,watershed protection, general conservationincluding minimization of soil erosion, and theproduction of wood for various uses. For eachcategory of use, it might be subdivided, orcombined to be used in the same area of forestland.

The use of Malaysian tropical rainforest isnumerous and is not restricted to only timberproduction as most people commonly believe.The management of forest resources inPeninsular Malaysia is based on sustainable forestmanagement principles. It means that the forestis managed for timber and non-timber outputs.A particular use of permanent forest reserve issubject to legal provision in accordance to Section10(1) of the National Forest Act (NFA) , 1984,which categorised functional uses of the forestreserve as follows:

• Timber production forest under sustained yield• Soil protection forest• Soil reclamation forest• Flood control forest• Water catchment forest• Forest sanctuary for wildlife• Virgin jungle reserve forest• Amenity forest• Education forest• Research forest• Forest for federal purposes

The Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve (AHFR) canbe classified under either research or educationforest as defined in the NFA, 1984. Even thoughthe forest is categorised under one of thesefunctions, many of the uses are usedsimultaneously in the same forest reserve. Thus,it can be said that the AHFR is a kind ofmultiple-use forest, whereby many outputs fromthe forest are used from each forest over time.In this context, the AHFR is either used directly(e.g. forest goods and services derived from theforest by people), or indirectly (e.g. for indirectsupport and protection provided by the forest'snatural functions and regulatory environmentalservices) .

The nature of direct uses of AHFR wasexamined through the collection of primary andsecondary data. Primary data were obtainedthrough surveys conducted on the direct usersof AHFR. These include the indigenous peopleresiding the forest, recreation users, and staff ofFaculty of Forestry, UPM. The secondary datacollection was gathered through examiningrecords of direct users of AHFR available fromthe Faculty of Forestry, UPM. These data werethen summarised to obtain qualitative indicatorson the direct users of AHFR. In some cases, thequantitative estimates of direct users weretabulated to calculate percentages.

The current direct uses of AHFR can bebroadly divided into three categories: research,education, and other uses.

Research

The AHFR is used directly by staff and studentsof UPM for scientific research. The majority ofresearch conducted at AHFR is carried outprimarily by final year degree students for their

AWANG NOOR ABD. GHANI, PAIMAN BAWON, MD. SHAHWAHID HJ. OTHMAN, RUSLI MD, SHUKRI MD, I.FARIDAH HANUM and MOHAMED ZAKARIA HUSSIN

campus. The students have to stay in the forestand conduct daily activities with the supervisionfrom faculty members. The forest is also usedfor field laboratory in related courses such asdendrology, ecology, mensuration, silviculture,botany, environmental science and biology.

The direct uses of AHFR for environmentaleducation programme include essaython andnational science camp. The essaythonprogramme was introduced in 1994, and it isbased on writing with activity concept. The targetgroup of this programme is secondary schoolchildren in Malaysia. The participants areselected by the State Education Department torepresent each state. The total number ofparticipants is 56, comprising students fromdifferent schools. The programme is jointlysponsored by the Ministry of Education andESSO Productions. It is normally held inNovember during school holidays. The conductof essay writing competition is to provide studentswith 'real situation' by participating in activitiesdesigned during the 10-day programme. Theparticipants are required to stay in the forest forthe whole duration of the programme. Thegeneral objective of essaython programme is toinculcate awareness and appreciation on theimportance of environmental conservation.Specifically, the essayton programme aims to:

Another environmental educationprogramme conducted by the Faculty of Forestryis the ational Science Camp introduced in 1994.The aim of the programme is in-line with theScience Encouragement Programmes implement­ed by the Ministry of Education. Its ultimate aimis to instill enthusiasm among students in sciencesubjects and encourage students to take-up sciencerelated disciplines when they pursue higherdegrees. The programme is conducted with thecooperation from the Ministry of Education. Thespecific objectives of the programme are to showthe students:

theses. The research projects are not confinedto forestry students only, but from otherdisciplines as well. The focus of the research ismainly on biology, ecology, environment, andwildlife. Research projects are also conducted byacademic staff, mainly from the Faculty of Forestry,UPM. Other research projects are also conductedby staff from the Faculty of Science andEnvironmental Studies. The main outputs of theresearch projects are B.Se. theses, research reports,and papers in journals and seminars. Among theresearch projects conducted at AHFR include thefollowing:

• Distribution of small mammals• Studies on the root biomass and root growth• Tree species diversity and composition• Inventory of medicinal plants• Biomass studies of forest trees• Valuation of stumpage• Valuation of recreation benefits• Pattern of insect herbivory• Ethnobotanical survey• Valuation on the use of AHFR by local

indigenous community• Small mammal species composition• Bird species composition in intermediate and

high land areas• Genetic diversity of selected tree species• Characterisation of soil temperature in forest

gaps• Bat species composition• Remotely sensed indicator of bird habitat

heterogeneity• Microclimatic conditions• Environmental aspects

Education

The AHFR also plays a very important role ineducation. The direct use ofAHFR for educationinclude forestry camp by forestry students of theFaculty of Forestry (diploma and degree), fieldlaboratories, students' practical training,environmental education programmes (essay andnational science camp), other nature-basedactivities such as team building, nature camping,and organised visits.

In the diploma and degree forestry curricula,the students are required to attend a forestrycamp during the first-year semester break fortwo weeks. At present, the most importantcontribution of AHFR is that it provides a suitableplace for students to carry out their forestrycamp because of its close proximity to UPM

•

•

•

•

•

Provide a greater sense of love and care forthe environmentIncrease the ability of observation and writingskillsIncrease interest in science and technology

that science is not a difficult subject if thelearning of it is done the right way,that science is not a dull but an interestingsubject,

204 PERT lKA]. TROP. AGRIC. SCI. VOL. 22 0.2,1999

DIRECT USES OF AYER HITAM FOREST, PUCHONG, SElANGOR

• that it is crucial to learn and understandscience since our daily activities involvescience, and therefore, it contributes towardsthe quality of life to humankind.

The ational Science Camp is usually heldtwice a year during the school holidays. Eachcamp lasted for about one week. There are twotarget groups: students from primary andsecondary schools, and teachers from primaryschools. The participants (students and teachers)represented all states in Malaysia. Each state isrequired to send five students including ateacher.

Another important direct use of AHFR isunstructured nature-based activities whichinclude visits, camping activities, and gatherings.There have been 77 reported activities of thisnature, which last betWeen one and four days.The number of participants also varies, rangingfrom 4 to 150 participants. The participants aremostly UPM students. Other participants includeUPM staff, school children, members from GOand youth associations.

Other Uses

Among other direct uses of AHFR includerecreation and use by indigenous people. TheAHFR is also used by the local population forrecreational activities. Mohd. Shahwahid et ai.(1998) conducted a study to determine theeconomic value of recreation benefits of AHFR.Based on interviews of 80 respondents, theyfound that the majority of the recreation userswere mainly from the District of Petaling (46.3%),followed by the District of Gombak (20%),District of Rulu Langat and Kuala Langat(11.2%), District of Sepang (7.5%), and theremainder 3.8% were from the District of Klang.They also found that the average expendituresof RM12.36 per visitor made by the respondentsin making the trip to experience the recreational

services are for transportation, expenditure forfoods and recreational services/materials.

The use of AHFR by the indigenous peopleor Orang Asli was reported by Rusli et ai.(1997). There are two indigenous villages locatedwithin and adjacent to the AHFR: Sungai RasauLuar and Sungai Rasau Dalam, Puchong,Selangor. The quantity of timber and non-timberforest products collected by the indigenouspeople as well as the revenue that could havebeen generated by collecting these productswere gathered through personal interviews withheads of household. The results showed that theindigenous people are more dependent on theforest reserve for food and fruits than for otherpurposes like housing construction, handicraft­making and medicine. The results also indicatedthat 24 animal species were hunted for theirmeat and 48% (10 species) of the plant speciesare for fruits. Birds and small mammals comprise75% of the animal species collected. In terms ofrevenue, the results showed that the indigenouspeople collected about RMII0,000.00 for theyear 1996. The revenue generated by plantspecies was about seven times more than that ofanimal species. The greatest source of revenuecame from housing construction followed byhandicraft-making and fruits. Table 1 showssome of the forest products collected by theindigenous people.

In conclusion, the direct uses of AHFR arenumerous, where the main uses are for researchand education. While other uses such asenvironmental protection are not directly usedby local people, it plays a significant role inmaintaining the green lung for the urbanenvironment in the Klang Valley. The potentialrole of AHFR for eco-tourism and other nature­based activities in the future is very great. TheAHFR should be conserved not only for researchand education but also for long term benefits tothe community at large.

Product category

Handicraft materials

Medicinal plants

Food

TABLE 1Forest products collected by indigenous people

Products

Bamboo, mengkuang, bertam, rattan, bertam leaves

Akar bertam, Tengkuk biawak, Kacip fatimah, Serapat, Tongkat ali,Ubi jaga

]ering, kerdas, petai, bamboo shoot, bayas shoot, bertam shoot,nibung shoot, rattan shoot

PERTANIKAJ. TRap. AGRIC. SCI. VOL. 22 NO.2, 1999 205

AWANG NOOR ABD. GHANI, PAIMAN BAWON, MD. SHAHWAHID H]. OTHMAN, RUSLI MD, SHUKRI MD, I.FARIDAH HANUM and MOHAMED ZAKARIA HUSSI

REFERENCES

MOHO SHAHWAHID H.O., AWANG OOR ABo. GHANI,RUSLI MOHO, SHUKRI MOHAMEO, 1. FARIOAH HANUMand MOHAMED ZAKARlA HUSSI . 1998. Valuatingthe recreational benefits of the Air HitamForest Reserve, Selangor. The Malaysian Forester61: 38-48.

RUSLI MOHO, AWANG NOOR ABo. GHANI and ABo.RAHIM HAJI OTHMAN. 1997. Indigenous peopledependence on non-wood forest produce: Acase study. Paper Presented at InternationalWorkshop on on-Wood Forest Products,Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor.14-17 October, 1997.

206 PERT lKA]. TRap. AGRIe. SCI. VOL. 22 0.2,1999