Moving Beyond Rhetoric: The Need for Participatory Forest Management with the Jakun of South-East Pahang, Malaysia

Abstract

Centralized forest management is widely regarded as the catalyst for large-scale forest degradation and the loss of access, use and management rights of forest dependent communities. Forest dependent communities are often regarded as impediments to conservation and left out in sustainable forest management initiatives. This paper is a critique of the effects of centralization and alternative livelihood projects under the guise of conservation in a Jakun community of South-East Pahang, Malaysia. This case study revealed that economic pragmatism takes precedence over conservation in light of decreased autonomy over their traditional resources and rapid socio-economic changes which not only severely impedes their means to secure basic needs, but also their ability and desire to utilize forest resources in a sustainable manner. Therefore, there is an increasing need for local peoples to be involved in the management of their resources to maintain ecological integrity and to meet their subsistence needs. The findings justify the need for forest management units in South-East Pahang to develop a framework that addresses the rights of the Jakun to access, use and manage natural resources, which is a vital precondition for social justice to seek a common ground for sustainable forest management.