Applied Research in Southeast Asia
Ethnobiology of Proposed Community Use Zones of Crocker Range Park, Sabah
Under a Darwin Initiative grant, The Global Diversity Foundation is conducting a three-year (2004 - 2007) ethnobiological assessment of key resources and anthropogenic landscapes that are important for the indigenous Dusun communities living inside and adjacent to the Crocker Range Park in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. In this project, we investigate the sustainability of local community livelihoods by examining the dynamics of local community access, regeneration and management of key plant and animal resources, agricultural patterns, subsistence hunting and freshwater fishing strategies. The results of this project contribute to the conceptualization and implementation of Community Use Zones within the Crocker Range Park that balance the need for biodiversity conservation and sustainable community use of ethnobiological resources and landscapes in these areas.
The Crocker Range Park (CRP), covering 139,919 ha, was gazetted as a State Park in 1984. The CRP is made up of primarily lowland, lower montane and upper montane forests, which are characterized by rich biological diversity and endemism. The Park is a main water catchment for the major rivers on the west coast, interior plains and northeast of Sabah. Approximately one million people, including residents of Kota Kinabalu (Sabah’s capital) live around the CRP, and depend upon the ecological services provided by the Park. The integral long-term viability of the CRP is a crucial priority for Sabah Parks, the state government authority responsible for park management in Sabah.
Sabah Parks, a principal partner in this project, aims to strengthen the management of the CRP while ensuring sustainable access to natural resources for the survival of subsistence livelihoods. In 2006, Sabah Parks commenced the implementation the Crocker Range Park Management Plan, which introduces a CRP Zoning Plan that designates Community Use Zones as areas within the CRP that are specifically set aside for continued local community use. The Community Use Zones are intended to be collaboratively managed by both Sabah Parks and the local communities living in these areas - a landmark development for protected area management in Sabah.
Our Darwin Initiative project stems from a Sabah Parks request for expert investigation of ethnobiological resource use that will contribute towards the creation of Community Use Zones. The area of Buayan-Kionop, which is a proposed Community Use Zone under the CRP Zoning Plan, has been selected as the Darwin research site. This multidisciplinary study employs qualitative and quantitative ethnobiological methods to assess non-timber forest product gathering, swidden agriculture, hunting and freshwater fishing by the local communities in Buayan-Kionop. We are working intensively with a team of eight community field assistants, community leaders, key informants and local researchers to obtain baseline data and develop methodologies for the future monitoring of natural resource use in and around the Community Use Zone. We also work closely with PACOS (a local indigenous NGO) in an innovative approach to community resource mapping with several local communities around the Buayan-Kionop area. Our results will guide the formulation of rules and regulations for the Community Use Zone Management Agreement that will govern the joint management of the Buayan-Kionop Community Use Zone by the local communities and Sabah Parks.
Additionally, this project includes a series of intensive training courses and methods workshops, held in collaboration with the Universiti Malaysia Sabah and lecturers from the University of Kent. Focusing on ethnobiology and conservation, these training courses build the capacity of local community members, researchers and students to carry out ethnobiological research projects throughout Sabah. We are also awarding grants to UK and Malaysian postgraduate students from the University of Kent and Universiti Malaysia Sabah to conduct field research projects in the CRP on subjects ranging from the feeding ecology of fish, subsistence hunting patterns, to the assessment of valuable landscapes.
In combination with our field research program and training initiatives, we are preparing a series of publications, including a ”Best Practice in Assessing Community Use Zones” handbook, which describes the methods we have employed, presents examples of results obtained, and discusses specific cases encountered through our field experience, which will be useful for other practitioners and students interested in developing this field of expertise.
As part of our long-term goals, The Global Diversity Foundation is working towards building capacity among local professionals, researchers, students and local community members in exploring the issues surrounding protected area management, advancing methodological approaches to ethnobiological assessments of community accessed areas, and encouraging local community engagement in the development of a collaborative management agenda for protected areas in this region.
