Sustainable Hunters and Gatherers in Belum-Temenggor Tropical Rainforest

Abstract

Belum-Temenggor tropical rainforest is located in the district of Upper Perak, state of Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. Covering an area of 300,000 hectars which represent 5 % of forest and 50% of known species in the world and is home for 80% of primates in Peninsular Malaysia. This complex is a combination of four forest reserves namely Royal Belum Forest Reserve, Temenggor Forest Reserve, Gerik Forest Reserve and Banding Forest Reserve in which only Royal Belum State Park has been fully protected since 2007 [Figure 1]. The Belum-Temenggor rainforest also consists of man made lake known as Tasek Temenggor which is the result from hydroelectric dam project which covers an area of 22,672 acres and is home to at least 42 species of freshwater fish. This tropical rainforest is rich in its diversity of flora and fauna which become the source of subsistence, medicines, domestic and economic to semi-nomadic Jahai hunters and gatherers who live in this area. These negrito subgroupings adapt in the rainforest environment with majority of them built their huts at the lake shores and rivers. The lake and rivers act as a medium of communication and offers source of daily necessities with its abundance of fresh water fish. Apart from that, the sustainable adaptation was also contributed by the element of belief in spirits that inhabited the forest, these peoples ask protection from the spirits through rituals. The Jahai believed that this area is their country and they were the custody of the rainforest. Therefore it is their responsibility to protect and sustain the surrounding area. Based on ethnographic survey conducted in Jahai settlements in Belum-Temenggor rainforest, this paper aims to discuss shortly on how these communities survived and sustained their living pattern within the environment.