Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Poverty within watershed and environmentally protected areas: the case of the indigenous community in Peninsular Malaysia

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

“Indigenous people” have been acknowledged as among the poorest and most socio-economically and culturally marginalized all over the world. This paper explores the socio-economic status of the indigenous people and their poverty profile within watershed and environmentally protected areas in Peninsular Malaysia. The findings of the study indicate that the “indigenous community” is likely to be poor if they live in environmentally sensitive and unprotected areas as compared to families under the new resettlement scheme. Inadequate access to basic education and employment contributed significantly to their poor economic status. The findings further reveal that the indigenous community is facing difficulties in receiving access and support in terms of basic needs such as housing, education, economic livelihood, and other social infrastructure. Moreover, the regulatory structure for the management of watershed areas as well as the emphasis for commodity crops such as palm oil and natural rubber have indirectly contributed toward the poverty level of the indigenous people.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achea, T. N., Wangombe, A., & Khadioli, N. (2010). A logistic regression model to identify key determinants of poverty using demographic and health survey data.

  • Alesina, A., & LaFerrara, E. (2005). Ethnic diversity and economic performance. Journal of Economic Literature, 63, 762–800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altman, J. C., Biddle, N., & Hunter, B. H. (2005). A historical perspective on indigenous socioeconomic outcomes in Australia, 1971–2001. Australian Economic History Review, 45(3), 273–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anaya, S. J. (2009). Report of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya: addendum: report on the situation of human rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil. UN.

  • Anderson, R. B., Dana, L. P., & Dana, T. E. (2006). Indigenous land rights, entrepreneurship, and economic development in Canada: “opting-in” to the global economy. Journal of World Business, 41(1), 45–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asadullah, M. N., & Yalonetzky, G. (2012). Inequality of educational opportunity in India: changes over time and across states. World Development, 40(6), 1151–1163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu, S. K. (1994). A health profile of tribal India. Health Millions, 2, 12–14.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borooah, V. K. (2005). Caste, inequality, and poverty in India. Review of Development Economics, 9(3), 399–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, S., Draca, M., Green, C., & Leeves, G. (2007). The magnitude of educational disadvantage of indigenous minority groups in Australia. Journal of Population Economics, 20(3), 547–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulan, R. (2010). Indigenous peoples and the right to participate in decision-making in Malaysia. Discussion Paper presented for the International Expert Seminar on Indigenous peoples and the Right to Participate in Decision Making, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 20–22 January 2010.

  • Chiswick, B. R., Patrinos, H. A., & Hurst, M. E. (2000). Indigenous language skills and the labor market in a developing economy: Bolivia. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 48(2), 347–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, M., Mitrou, F., Lawrence, D., Guimond, E., & Beavon, D. (2007). Indigenous well-being in four countries: an application of the UNDP’s human development index to indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 7(1), 9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das, M. B. (2006). Do traditional axes of exclusion affect labour market outcomes in India?. Available at SSRN 1919070.

  • Department of Statistics. (2008). Monograph series no. 3—‘Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia’.

  • Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia (2010). QGIS at the federal department of town and country planning, Peninsular Malaysia. Retrieved from https://www.qgis.org/en/site/about/.

  • Dixon, S., & Maré, D. C. (2007). Understanding changes in Māori incomes and income inequality 1997–2003. Journal of Population Economics, 20(3), 571–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Economic Planning Unit (EPU) (2009). http://www.epu.gov.my/en/video-tahun-2007. Accessed 28 Oct 2014.

  • Feiring, B., Coguox, A., Maclin, B., & West, G. (2003). Indigenous peoples and poverty: the cases of Bolivia Guatemala Honduras and Nicaragua.

  • Filmer, D (2000). The structure of social disparities in education: gender and wealth. Annals of World Bank Policy Research working paper 2268.

  • Filmer, D., & Pritchett, L. (1999). The effect of household wealth on educational attainment: evidence from 35 countries. Population and Development Review, 25, 85–120. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.1999.00085.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredericks, L. J., & Nair, S. N. (2008). Proceedings of the international conference on poverty and distribution amidst diversity: options and challenges for development. Kuala Lumpur: The Center for Poverty and Development Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomes, A. G. (2004). Looking for money: capitalism and modernity in an Orang Asli village. Subang Jaya: Centre for Orang Asli Concerns.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, W.H. (2000). Simulated likelihood estimation of the normal-gamma stochastic frontier function, Working Papers 00–05, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.

  • Gundersen, C. (2008). Measuring the extent, depth, and severity of food insecurity: an application to American Indians in the USA. Journal of Population Economics, 21(1), 191–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson, B., & Shi, L. (2003). The ethnic minority‐majority income gap in rural China during transition. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 51(4), 805–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, G. and Patrinos, H. (2010). Indigenous peoples, poverty and development.

  • Hall, G., & Patrinos, H. (Eds.). (2012). Indigenous peoples, poverty and development. New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannum, E. (2002). Educational stratification by ethnicity in China: enrollment and attainment in the early reform years. Demography, 39(1), 95–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannum, E., & Xie, Y. (1998). Ethnic stratification in northwest China: occupational differences between Han Chinese and national minorities in Xinjiang, 1982–1990. Demography, 35(3), 323–333.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, H. J. (1990). Incidence of tuberculosis in the hunting tribe E-Lun-Chun in northeast China. Pneumologie, 44(1), 453–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA) (1993). Retrieved from http://www.jakoa.gov.my/maklumat-orang-asli.

  • Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA) (2011). Retrieved from http://www.jakoa.gov.my/maklumat-orang-asli.

  • Kardooni, R., Kari, B. F., Yahaya, S. R., & Yusuf, S. H. (2014). Traditional knowledge of Orang Asli on forests in Peninsular Malaysia. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 13(2), 283–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kari, F., NurulHuda, M. S., & Salleh, N. H. M. (2012). Income risk vulnerability and perception towards conservation: a community level analysis for Pulau Sibu-Tinggi Marine Park, Mersing. Journal of Tropical Marine Ecosystem, 1, 55–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klitgaard, R. (1991). Adjusting to reality: beyond state versus market in economic development. San Francisco: ICS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M. A., & Lockheed, M. E. (2006). Inexcusable absence: why 60 million girls still aren’t in school and what to do about it. Center for Global Development.

  • Maybury-Lewis, D. (2002). Indigenous peoples, ethnic groups and the state. Needham, Massachusetts: Allyn & Baker.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas, C. (2000). The Orang Asli and the contest for resources: indigenous politics, development and identity in Peninsular Malaysia. IWGIA Document No. 95. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas, C., & Engi, J. (2010). The YP. The Orang Asli and the UNDRIP: from rhetoric to recognition. Subang Jaya: Center for Orang Asli Concerns.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noor, M. A. (2012). Advancing the Orang Asli through Malaysia’s clusters of excellence policy. Journal of International and Comparative Education, 1(2).

  • Nopo, H., Saavedra, J., & Torero, M. (2007). Ethnicity and earning in a mixed-race labor market. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 55, 709–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohenjo, N. O., Willis, R., Jackson, D., Nettleton, C., Good, K., & Mugarura, B. (2006). Health of indigenous people in Africa. The Lancet, 367(9526), 1937–1946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez, R. K. (2007). Native hubs: culture, community, and belonging in Silicon Valley and beyond. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosliza, A. M., & Muhamad, J. J. (2011). Knowledge, attitude and practice on antenatal care among Orang Asli women in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 11(2), 13–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rovillos, R. D., & Morales, D. N. (2002). Indigenous peoples/ethnic minorities and poverty reduction. Asian Development Bank.

  • Sachs, J. (2006). The end of poverty: economic possibilities for our time. Penguin.

  • Snijders, T., & Bosker, R. (1999). Multilevel analysis: an introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modelling.

  • Stephens, C., Nettleton, C., Porter, J., Willis, R., & Clark, S. (2005). Indigenous peoples’ health—why are they behind everyone, everywhere? The Lancet, 366(9479), 10–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subramanian, S. V., Smith, G. D., & Subramanyam, M. (2006). Indigenous health and socioeconomic status in India. PLoS Medicine, 3(10), e421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Telles, E. E. (2007). Race and ethnicity and Latin America’s United Nations millennium development goals. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, 2(2), 185–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todaro, M., & Smith, S. (2003). Economic development. London: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP, (2014). Study and review of the socio-economic status of aboriginal peoples (Orang Asli) in Peninsular Malaysia Retrieved from http://www.my.undp.org/content/malaysia/.

  • United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) (2007). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf.

  • Van de Walle, D., & Gunewardena, D. (2001). Sources of ethnic inequality in Viet Nam. Journal of Development Economics, 65(1), 177–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vos, T., Barker, B., Begg, S., Stanley, L., & Lopez, A. D. (2009). Burden of disease and injury in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: the indigenous health gap. International Journal of Epidemiology, 38(2), 470–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zin, R. H. M. (2009). Poverty reduction, social integration and development: the formula for peace? (The public lecture and keynote speech publication series. Institut Kajian Malaysia dan Antarabangsa Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia). Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author(s) would like to thank University Malaya (UM) who has generously funded this study under the research grant FL001G-13BIO (Marketing Survey Strategy Compounds).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Fatimah Binti Kari, Muhammad Mehedi Masud & Md. Khaled Saifullah

  2. The Centre for Poverty and Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Siti Rohani Binti Yahaya

Authors
  1. Fatimah Binti Kari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Muhammad Mehedi Masud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Siti Rohani Binti Yahaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Md. Khaled Saifullah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad Mehedi Masud.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kari, F.B., Masud, M.M., Yahaya, S.R.B. et al. Poverty within watershed and environmentally protected areas: the case of the indigenous community in Peninsular Malaysia. Environ Monit Assess 188, 173 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5162-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5162-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation