Consultations and activities will include men and women of local communities around Kampung Bertang. Activities will be tailored to meet their specific needs and requirements accordingly, so as to yield maximum benefits to the particpating local communities in line with the objectives of the project.
Sustainable livelihoods such as the harvesting and processing of medicinal herbs and agroforestry will be promoted among the indigenous Orang Asli communities.
Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The local indigenous Orang Asli Temuan communities of Kampung Bertang will be involved in the planning, design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Notable Community Participation
The project participants are the indigenous Orang AsliTemuan communities of Kampung Bertang, Lipis, Pahang.
Capacity - Building Component
The project will be a pilot demonstration and capacity building project where innovative technologies and local community-level approaches will be proven to conserve the rainforest and its produce and minimise climate change without impeding the social development of the Orang Asli communities inhabiting the rainforest.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
This will be discussed on a one-on-one basis by NGO and project participants over the course of the project period.
Project Results
Some of the activities undertaken were:
Indigenous knowledge documentation-
This projects attempts to collate information for the community use so that they can help assist in the conservation of plant resources useful for their community. The community has been trained to identify, record and document plant resources, which has improved their sustainable livelihoods as a result of their own knowledge enhancement. The purpose of having documented local community traditional knowledge is to conserve and perpetuate the intrinsic heritage and value of the Orang asli themselves as well as to conserve the plant resources that are useful to the community. The gathering of the plants useful for the community involved all members of the community including the children.
The children had knowledge of plants used as food, play material and for toy construction. A total of 435 plants were registered in the list.
The intellectual property of this info belongs to the community. In recording a list of plants used by the community the villagers learnt how to use a tape recorder and a digital camera and to follow a knowledge documentation process. They also learn how to develop an audio file and pictures for the community.
Traditional knowledge center-
A traditional knowledge center functions as the local library
Ethno botanical plot-
Was developed with the villagers to provide access to the plants so that they can provide training for their children. The garden consisted of 4 plots located near the village to provide easy access. These plots were planted with a diversity of local, useful plants used for medicines food and shelter etc. The objective of this garden is to encourage children to learn more about plants, to demonstrate to the visitors the myriad of medicinal plants and it also serves as a gene bank for herbal and medicinal plants. It is also important as to conserve these plants in the event that they lose their surrounding forests. They also provide fast access to medicines that the community frequently uses.
Community Nursery-
The community nursery acts as a hub for the multiplication and promotion of locl useful plants. The villagers allocated 4 main areas within the village to develop the nursery. With the assistance of IPGRI the community has managed to sell seed and seedlings to outside buyers hence increasing their income.
The main objective is to maintain the knowledge of traditional plants for the present and future generation and to serve as an educational center for the local men, women and children to learn about multiplying and caring for these useful plants without damaging their natural habitat.
Renewable energy
The project has installed an affordable and appropriate renewable energy system for the villagers in collaboration with solar voltaic. Solar power, which is clean and environmentally friendly and sustainable, is the best solution to meet energy needs. Electricity is generated to power the computers at the traditional knowledge center, 5 streetlights outside the community center, fluorescent lights for the community hall and 17 out of the 35 houses. This system will bring about long-term benefits, which will sustain the livelihood of the indigenous communities.
Water supply and sanitation-
A pipe system was installed to supply water sourced from upstream river to all houses. Apart from that, proper sanitation has also been constructed for the community where every house was provided with a toilet.
Capacity building
Capacity building programmes is carried out to empower the local community through knowledge and skill enhancement. Among the programmes rae the indigenous knowledge workshop where the communities were trained how to continue to document and record their indigenous knowledge. The solar panel maintenance workshop was also conducted to teach the community how to maintain the solar system. The cleanliness and personal hygiene workshop was conducted.
Medical camps were organized to collect stools for analysis and to provide treatment for skin diseases. Computer classes were also conducted, they were taught how to access educational materiel using the computer which is interactive and more interesting.
Dry ration and food was provided from time to time and wood was provided from time to time fore the construction of the community hall. Arrangements are being made to provide literacy classes for the community.
The project aims to give a new way of thinking to the community to empower themselves. The project provides the community with a systematic way to retain and to pass down their knowledge while creating an alternative source of sustainable livelihood. The capability building activities enhances their knowledge and skills to improve their lives to better face the future. In the meantime proper water and sanitation system helps towards their health status thus increasing productivity and income generation in the long run.
All these are to be part of a continuing effort to preserve forest resources, documenting traditional knowledge and achieving sustainable livelihoods for the Semai tribe.
