Sustainable Tourism – The Habitat Foundation

Our Water, Our Duty – World Water Day 2023 Short Clip

Rong — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 07:21:00 +0000

Meet a community that is doing its part to protect the forest and its ecosystem services on World Water Day.

Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) was awarded a Sustainable Tourism Grant for their initiative, which is assisting in the development of a new generation of local stewards in Kampung Janda Baik. Persatuan Sahabat alam tampik Janda Baik (SATJB) maintains the sustainable use of the 30-hectare area within Lentang Forest Reserve and provides exclusive informative tours. Visits to the energising waters of Ulu Tampik Waterfall are now opportunities to learn about and interact with nature.

We believe that more community guardians can be similarly enabled to enjoy nature while protecting it for future generations.

Click here to view the short video on Facebook or Instagram.

HUGS Project in Safeguarding Our Caves in Merapoh

Rong — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 22:23:00 +0000

The Habitat Foundation Sustainable Tourism Grants are about supporting community-based tourism because it also strengthens conservation. HUGS Project received a grant in 2021 to organise specialised workshops for local cave guides from the remarkable limestone landscape of Merapoh, Pahang.

After months of movement restriction control throughout Malaysia, we have finally managed to make a trip to visit the caves in Merapoh in December to understand and support the work of our grantee, Laili Basir, who is working alongside with the local people to safeguard our limestone caves in Merapoh and its vicinity. The local people here have long served as the guardians of the caves. With the support of this grant, we hope to better equipped them with the best practices in cave conservation and paleontology to be cave guides and co-researchers to experts from the Paleontological Society of Malaysia.

This training was conducted by Laili Basir and our local zoo-archaeologist expert from University Malaya, Lim Tze Tshen. The guides were briefed with basic geological and palaeontology knowledge before conducting work at the field sites. They were brought to a few unexplored caves in Merapoh to study the quaternary mammal’s fossils and to practice extracting fossils. The 2-day expedition has yielded an impressive array of wildlife fossils from hedgehog, leopard cat, muntjac to serow, gaur, rhinoceros, elephant and many more. One of the most exciting finding was a fossilized tooth of Orang Utan, as it can only be found in Borneo today.

Tools given to the local guides for fossil extraction which includes a hammer, a chisel, a compass, a measuring unit and a brush.

Fossils from a diverse group of species were extracted throughout the 2-day expedition

Ah Tshen explaining to the local guides on fossil identification

Fossilized tooth of Orang Utan

These archeological findings within such a short span of time show how little knowledge we have on the remarkable caves in Malaysia which are not just a time capsule but also evidences of how humans and animals have adapted to the past environment and prehistoric ecological changes such as climatic changes and sea level changes. These geologic archieves could help in the prediction of future climatic change and help us to improve our ability to predict what lies ahead.

Cave paintings that show the evidence of human settlement in one of the caves in Merapoh

With so much more yet unknown to us, these caves must be preserved and continually protected from unsustainable development and human activities that could bring about any damage to the caves. Through supporting community-based ecotourism, these caves with its own unique ecosystem and wildlife can continue to be preserved while the ecosystem services provided by the caves will also safeguard the livelihoods of the local people.

The team of local guides and our THF staff who joined the 2-day cave expedition

Fuze Ecoteer: Leading Sustainable Tourism in Marine Environments

Rong — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 02:01:00 +0000

Fuze Ecoteer Outdoor Adventures is a Malaysian registered tour operator with experience in conservation and research. It is recognised as a social enterprise that focuses on marine conservation projects.

Fuze Ecoteer believes that people play an important role in nature conservation and that through education and providing opportunity to people of all ages to experience nature are the most appropriate ways to conserve nature.

Fuze Ecoteer is based in Perhentian Island, Terengganu, one of the famous Malaysian islands. As the recipient of The Habitat Foundation Sustainable Tourism Grant, they are funded to bring people closer to marine environment and to educate public on the importance of sustainable tourism. Their project focuses on community engagement especially in involving young people from the local community who are potentially pioneers of marine conservation rapid response team. To appeal to the younger generation, they share their project with the community through social media platforms.

The Marine Park and several local dive shops in Perhentian Island play an important role in this project as they provide training to the youths who are interested to be part of the team. The youngsters are equipped with basic diving skills and knowledge through a weekly training programme on topics such as introduction to corals, marine biodiversity, and identification of fish, which also sets their course to become marine conservationists.

Another major initiative is the development of a management system for the entire island. The funds will help to form, together with other stakeholders, a pioneering group of young people who will be involved in the joint management of the island and this project will also serve as a platform to build trust between all stakeholders involved in this initiative. In line with this effort, the team holds regular small group discussions with the villagers, hotel management, and dive shops on the island who are the important stakeholders to ensure the success of this project.

Throughout the project, the local youth team showed great interest in the activities carried out. Nevertheless, the restrictions in Malaysia due to the pandemic have led to delays in some of their projects and adjustments have to be made to the original plans. Dive shops are not allowed to open and all physical skills training had to be postponed. However, they still carry out their weekly online training regularly.

Empowering the Next Generation of Community Leaders

Rong — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 08:56:00 +0000

It is no mistake that two of the 2021 Sustainable Tourism Grants are to empower initiatives being spearheaded by young people who are conservation leaders and represent the next generation of decision makers.

Giving them the exposure, skills and encouragement they need now will help them demonstrate their capabilities and lay the foundation for future impact. We are delighted to be working with Kelab Alami Mukim Tanjung Kupang in Johor, and the new Rapid Response Conservation Unit of Fuze Ecoteer in the Perhentian Islands of Terengganu.

Fuze Ecoteer (FE) has been working in the Perhentian Islands since 2007 and has run environmentally-focused school programmes since 2010. Its work in Perhentian is part of a larger project in collaboration with Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) and NOAA to develop the management plan for the Perhentian Islands on behalf of the Marine Park Division. FE is the on-ground partner with the role of actively consulting and involving the local stakeholders to get their input.

The Perhentian Islands are home to abundant marine life but the hard-coral cover has declined from 50.5% in 2016 to 35% in 2019 (Reef Check Malaysia, 2019). Uncontrolled tourism has had a role in this. There is a need to socialize more eco-conscious tourism practices among locals and visitors alike to help reduce heavy impact on the marine environment.

The Sustainable Tourism Grant awarded to Fuze Ecoteer will be used to establish and train a youth-led Rapid Response Conservation Unit. This Conservation Unit is expected to play an important role in the future management of the islands. The Conservation Unit would assist Fuze Ecoteer in managing the Reef Care site at Teluk Keke and the Village beach. Local eco-snorkel guides will also focus on developing new snorkel tours that promote good snorkelling behaviours. This will play a role in encouraging greater awareness and more conscientious practices among locals and visitors alike.

A portion of the budget will be allocated to seed a conservation fund which will be used to fund rapid response conservation needs such as boat fuel to remove ghost nets from the reef. These rapid response interventions are beneficial to all tourism businesses on the island.

Ghost nets and other marine debris can be a real hazard to corals and marine life. The Rapid Response unit would aim to remove them where possible.

New co-management initiatives with the Department of Fisheries through the project are a step in the right direction and are giving local people the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of local community empowerment.

By strengthening capacity for introducing better ecotourism experiences in the marine environment, the project aims to reduce impact on the coral and marine life from mass tourism. Fuze Ecoteer is convicted that once the Rapid Response Conservation Unit has had the opportunity to operate and demonstrate its value it will be able generate sustainable finance from resorts and tourism players on the island.

Kelab Alami has been active in Tanjung Kupang for over 12 years. They have focussed on enabling the coastal community of this area to understand and appreciate the natural habitats in their backyard. Over time they have been able to use this knowledge to earn supplementary incomes in the face of depleting traditional livelihoods based on fisheries. The ultimate aim has been to strengthen capacity within the local villages for community management and conservation of the area. They are well known for their seagrass, island, and mangrove habitat immersion tours, as well as village cycling, river and market tours and cooking classes. Their proximity to the cities of Johor Baru and Singapore make them well-suited for education programmes and field visits.

Kelab Alami hosts educational tours to seagrass and mangroves in their backyard.

More recently, Kelab Alami has been given the opportunity to refurbish an abandoned building and site owned by the Johor Port Authority (LPJ) with funding from the Iskandar Region Development Authority (IRDA). This will become the Kelab Alami Nature & Heritage Centre which is due to be ready by January 2021.

The grant will enable them to train more youth guides to better share their natural & cultural heritage with guests. It will also enable them realise the vision of local people leading habitat co-management efforts by bringing together multiple stakeholders at the new Nature & Heritage Centre to co-create and commit to a conservation management plan. The plan will be an important framework for future ecotourism plans and ensure that the community can constructively participate in it for their long-term livelihoods and benefit.

The Habitat Foundation is honoured to support Kelab Alami at this exciting milestone in their journey which has been many years in the making. Young people are now poised to fully take ownership and drive the conservation, education, and livelihood programmes in Tanjung Kupang.

Investing in Building Local Capacity for Sustainable Tourism

Rong — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 23:44:00 +0000

The Habitat Foundation Sustainable Tourism Grants have been created to strengthen the links between ecotourism and conservation. It is no surprise, therefore, that two of these grants are investing in capacity building for local communities.

The grants are facilitating training by academics and science-based NGOs to equip local people to be stewards and guides to natural attractions. This will also enable individuals and community organizations to play an effective role in conservation by safeguarding fragile sites and vulnerable ecosystems, and ensure that they are able to participate more effectively in state tourism development initiatives.