Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T05:31:53.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Peninsular Malaysia's Protected Areas' Coverage, 1903–92: Creation, Rescission, Excision, and Intrusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

S. Robert Aiken
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Geography, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada.

Extract

As in other former British colonies, the earliest protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia were game reserves. There were twenty protected areas at the end of the colonial period (1957), and twenty-five in 1992. The outstanding achievement of the colonial period was the creation of King George V National Park (now Taman Negara), but unfortunately too much reliance was subsequently placed upon it. Protected areas were established in economically undesirable or (formerly) remote areas, largely on an ad hoc basis and mainly as a kind of ‘residual’ land-use. The protected areas have long suffered from rescissions, excisions, and encroachments, primarily for three reasons: because commercial interests have always prevailed; because of insecurity of land tenure; and because ordinary people have been denied a stake in such areas.

I estimate that the ‘effective’ protected-area coverage in 1992 was probably no greater than that of about AD 1940 (when, unlike the situation today, most of the Peninsula still remained forested). The Malaysian states have been reluctant to create new protected areas, and the federal government has been unwilling to invoke certain of its constitutional powers in order to acquire state lands for national parks. Consequently, proposals for additional protected areas have produced few results. Yet owing to the rapid pace of anthropogenic forest change, the Peninsula is running out of potential sites for new protected ares.

Reserved forests comprise virtually all of the Peninsula's remaining forest cover (see Fig. 1). Set aside mainly for productive and protective purposes, it is these forests, not the protected areas, that harbour most of the region's wildlife. This being the case, and keeping in mind that almost all of the wild species are forest-dwelling, it follows that wildlife conservation must come to rely more and more heavily on the reserved forests. Studies conducted by Johns (e.g. 1983, 1986, 1987) at Sungai Tekam, Pahang, on the impact of logging on wildlife, reveal that most species can adapt to the altered conditions of logged forests; or, more precisely, that this appears to be the case following a single logging operation. But this topic, interesting and important as it is, takes us beyond the scope of this paper.

The matter of species adaptability, however, brings to mind a more general theme, which is the need to implement the principles of conservation everywhere, not just in specially protected areas. There is, in short, no effective alternative to rational land-use planning and to making conservation an integral part of all production processes.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aiken, S.R. (1991/1992). The writing on the wall: declining fauna and the report of the Wild Life Commission of Malaya (1932). Wallaceana, 66 & 67, pp. 16.Google Scholar
Aiken, S.R. & Leigh, C.H. (1985). On the declining fauna of Peninsular Malaysia in the post-colonial period. Ambio, 14, pp. 1522.Google Scholar
Aiken, S.R. & Leigh, C.H. (1988). Environment and the federal government in Malaysia. Applied Geography, 8, pp. 291314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aiken, S.R. & Leigh, C.H. (1992). Vanishing Rain Forests: The Ecological Transition in Malaysia. Clarendon Press, Oxford, England, UK: xvii + 194 pp., maps, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, G.C. & Donnithorne, A.G. (1957). Western Enterprise in Indonesia and Malaysia: A Study in Economic Development. Allen & Unwin, London, England, UK: 321 pp.Google Scholar
Anon. (1985). Malaysia. Commonwealth Forestry Review, 64, pp. 196–7.Google Scholar
Anon. (1990). Forest Conservation and Management Practices in Malaysia. Paper presented at the 18th session of the General Assembly of IUCN, 28 November–5 12 1990, Perth, Australia: 48 pp.Google Scholar
Bahrin, Tunku Shamsul (1988). Land settlement in Malaysia: a case study of the Federal Land Development Authority projects. Pp. 89119 in Land Settlement Policies and Population Redistribution in Developing Countries: Achievements, Problems and Prospects (Ed. Oberai, A.S.). Praeger, New York, NY, USA: 416 pp.Google Scholar
Cannadine, D. (1990). The Pleasures of the Past. Fontana Press, Glasgow, Scotland, UK: x + 255 pp.Google Scholar
Chai Hon-Chan (1964). The Development of British Malaya 1896–1909. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 364 pp., maps.Google Scholar
SirComyn-Platt, T. (1937). A report on fauna preservation in Malaya. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, New Series, Part XXX, pp. 4552.Google Scholar
Cranbrook, Earl of (Ed.) (1988). Malaysia, Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, UK: x + 317 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Cubitt, G.E.S. (1920). Forestry in the Malay Peninsula: A Statement Prepared for the British Empire Forestry Conference, London, 1920. Federated Malay States Government Printing Office, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaya: 23 pp.Google Scholar
Desch, H.E. (1931). [Review of] ‘Annual Report of the Forest Administration in the Federated Malay States for the Year 1930’. Empire Forestry Journal, 10, pp. 320–3.Google Scholar
Dixon, J.A. & Sherman, P.B. (1990). Economics of Protected Areas: A New Look at Benefits and Costs. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: 234 pp.Google Scholar
FAO (1981). Forest Resources of Tropical Asia. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy: ix + 475 pp.Google Scholar
Fitter, R. & SirScott, P. (1978). The Penitent Butchers. Fauna Preservation Society, London, England, UK; 48 pp.Google Scholar
Gillett, F. (1908). Game reserves. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire, 4, pp. 42–5.Google Scholar
Glasson, A.K. (1927). [Review of] ‘Report on Forest Administration in the Federated Malay States for the Year 1925’. Empire Forestry Journal, 6, pp. 152–3.Google Scholar
Hislop, J.A. (1961). Protection of wild life in the Federation of Malaya. Pp. 136–42 in Nature Conservation in Western Malaysia, 1961 (Eds Wyatt-Smith, J. & Wycherley, P.R.). Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya: 261 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Hubback, T.R. (1923). Game in Malaya. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, New Series, Part III, pp. 20–6.Google Scholar
Hubback, T.R. (1924). Letter from Theodore R. Hubback to the Chairman of the Fauna Society on the Preservation of the Fauna of Malaya. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, New Series, Part IV, pp. 60–3.Google Scholar
Hubback, T. [R.] (1929). The preservation of wild life. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, New Series, Part IX, pp. 7682.Google Scholar
Johns, A. [D.] (1983). Wildlife can live with logging. New Scientist, 99(1367), pp. 206–9.Google Scholar
Johns, A.D. (1986). Effects of selective logging on the behavioural ecology of West Malaysian primates. Ecology, 67, pp. 684–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, A.D. (1987). The use of primary and selectively logged rainforest by Malaysian hornbills (Bucerotidae) and implications for their conservation. Biological Conservation, 40, pp. 179–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, Mohd Khan bin Momin (1988). Animal conservation strategies. Pp. 251–72 in Malaysia (Ed. Earl of Cranbrook). Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, UK: x + 317 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Kiew, R. (Ed.) (1991). The State of Nature Conservation in Malaysia. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 238 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. (1986). The Forest Resources of Malaysia: Their Economics and Development. Oxford University Press, Singapore: xvi + 268 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Lee, P.C. (1973). Multi-use management of West Malaysia's forest resources. Pp. 93101 in Proceedings of the Symposium on Biological Resources and National Development (Eds Soe-Padmo, E. & Singh, K.G.). Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: vi + 177 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Lohmann, L. (1991). Who defends biological diversity? Conservation strategies and the case of Thailand. Pp. 77104 in Biodiversity: Social & Ecological Perspectives. World Rainforest Movement, Penang, Malaysia; 123 pp.Google Scholar
Malaysian Forester (1978). Forest resources of Penninsular Malaysia. Malaysian Forester, 41, pp. 8293.Google Scholar
Malaysian Forester (1979). Forest resource base, policy and legislation of Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysian Forester, 42, pp. 328–47.Google Scholar
SirMaxwell, G. (1927). Big game and planters. British Malaya, 2, pp. 197201.Google Scholar
Mohd Khan bin Momin Khansee Khan.Google Scholar
Musa bin Nordinsee Nordin.Google Scholar
Ngui Siew Kong (1990). The Management Status of Protected Areas in Malaysia. (Regional Expert Consultation on Management of Protected Areas in the Asia-Pacific Region.) FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 10–14 12 1990, Bangkok, Thailand: 17 pp.Google Scholar
Nor, Salleh Mohd (1988). Forest management. Pp. 126–37 in Malaysia (Ed. Earl of Cranbrook). Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, UK: x + 317 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Nordin, Musa bin (1983). Management of wildlife reserves in Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 2, pp. 103–14.Google Scholar
Page, R. (1934). Wild life in Malaya. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, New Series, Part XXIII, pp. 3442.Google Scholar
Pakenham, V. (1985). The Noonday Sun: Edwardians in the Tropics. Methuen, London, England, UK: 255 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Rachagan, S.S. & Bahrin, Tunku Shamsul (1983). Development without destruction: the need for a pragmatic forest policy in Malaysia. The Planter, 59, pp. 491506.Google Scholar
Rahman-Ali, A. & Wong, Y.K. (1968). The virgin jungle reserve project of the Malayan forest department. Pp. 364–5 in Conservation in Tropical South East Asia (Eds Talbot, L.M. & Talbot, M.H.). IUCN Publications, New Series, Nr 10, IUCN, Merges, Switzerland: 550 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Salleh Mohd Norsee Nor.Google Scholar
SirSeton-Karr, H. (1908). The preservation of big game. Journal of the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire, 4, pp. 26–8.Google Scholar
Stevens, W.E. (1968). The Conservation of Wildlife in West Malaysia. Office of the Chief Game Warden, Federal Game Department, Ministry of Lands and Mines, Seremban, Malaysia: 116 pp.Google Scholar
Strong, T.A. (1952). [Review of] ‘Malaya: Annual Report for the Year 1950’. Empire Forestry Review, 31, pp. 76–7.Google Scholar
Taylor, C. (1991). The Malaise of Modernity. Anansi, Concord, Ontario, Canada: 135 pp.Google Scholar
Thang, H.C. (1985). Timber supply and domestic demand in Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysian Forester, 48, pp. 87100.Google Scholar
Troup, R.S. (1940). Colonial Forest Administration. Oxford University Press, London, England, UK: xi + 476 pp.Google Scholar
Wild Life Commission of Malaya (1932). Report of the Wild Life Commission; 3 vols, Government Printer, Singapore: c. 1,090 pp.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. (1950). Virgin jungle reserves. Malayan Forester, 13, pp. 40–5.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. (1958). Report for the Federation of Malaya. Pp. 40–2 in Study of Tropical Vegetation: Proceedings of the Kandy Symposium (Kandy, Ceylon, 19–21 03 1956). UNESCO, Paris, France: 226 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. (1961). The Malayan forest department and conservation. Pp. 3742 in Nature Conservation in Western Malaysia, 1961 (Eds Wyatt-Smith, J. & Wycherley, P.R.). Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 261 pp., maps, illustr.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. (1973). [Review of] ‘West Malaysia: Annual Report 1969’. Commonwealth Forestry Review, 52, pp. 360–1.Google Scholar