UTILISATION AND CONSERVATION OF ARENGA SPECIES USING

THE COMMUNITY BASED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

(CBNRM) APPROACH

Tu Chu Lee

Master of Environmental Science

(Land Use and Water Resource Management)

2015

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

UTILISATION AND CONSERVATION OF ARENGA SPECIES USING

THE COMMUNITY BASED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

(CBNRM) APPROACH

Tu Chu Lee

A thesis submitted

in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environmental Science

(Sustainable Land Use and Water Resource Management)

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK

2015

I

Acknowledgement

This research project would not have been possible without the support of many people. I

wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Gabriel Tonga Noweg who was

very helpful in offering invaluable assistance, support and guidance. Deepest appreciate

accorded to the community at Kiding village especially to KK Bakas ak Daneu, Mr. Bútúp

ak Kadat, Mr. Siut ak Tiat, Mr. Angi ak Kuput and Mr. Agaun ak Bandan for without

whose knowledge and assistance, this study would not have been successful. Special

thanks go to all the SBC colleagues for assistance and understanding especially Madam

Margarita Naming. I would also like to convey thanks to the State of Government and

Sarawak Biodiversity Centre for providing the financial means, equipment and facilities

for me to conduct the field collection and data. Finally, an honourable mention goes to my

family and friends for their understanding and supports to enable me to complete this

project.

II

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement ……...…………………………………………………..

I

Table of Contents …………………………………………………………...

II

List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………….

V

List of Tables and Figures …………………………………………………..

VI

Abstract ……………………………………………………………………..

1

Introduction & Objective…………………………………………………….

Background ……………………………………………………….....

The recognition of Nyok by the Local Community ………………....

Importance of Nyok……………………………………….................

The Management of Nyok in Kiding Village …………….................

Problem Statement …….....................................................................

Specific Problem Statement …….......................................................

Objective.............................……........................................................

3

3

5

5

6

7

7

8

Literature Review …………………………………………………………...

Palm Family………………………………………...………..……....

Importance of Palm ....…………………………………..……..........

Palm Wine-produce Species..........…………………….…..………...

Arenga Species..........…………………………....................………..

Descriptions of Arenga Species.......…………....................………....

Chemical Properties of in Arenga Species..........................................

9

9

9

10

10

12

14

III

Methods of Palm Tapping....................................................................

Agroforestry.........................................................................................

Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM)

Approach..............................................................................................

15

15

16

Materials and Methods....................................................................................

Study Site ………………………………………………….………...

Community Interview Session..................……………….………......

Data Collection and Analysis for Species Diversity…………..……..

Species Density.....……………………………………………...…....

Species Frequency.....……………………...………………………...

Shannon-Wiener Index of Diversity......……………...……………...

Herbarium Specimen Identification...………………………...……..

The Determination of Ijuk Value…………………………..………...

17

17

18

18

19

20

20

22

22

Results and Discussion...…………………………………………………….

Density (d), Relative Density (Rd), Frequency (f) and Relative

Frequency (Rf) of Three Forest Types…………………….……....…

Species Diversity………………………………………...……….….

Species Name of Palm Collected….……………………...…...….....

The Variety of Nyok Based on Community Description………....….

Traditional Uses of Palm in Kiding Village.………………...........….

Value Estimation of Ijuk………………………………………..........

Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) in

Kiding Village………………………………………………….…….

23

25

29

31

32

34

36

37

Conclusion ……………………………………………………….…………. 40

References ………………………………………………………………….. 41

IV

Appendix …………………………………………………………………....

Appendix A: Photo Taken from Headman House, Kiding Village on

the Name of Nyok Plant Part.……..……...........................................

Appendix B: The Summary of Plant Collected at Traditional

Agroforestry, Secondary Forest and Rubber Plantation……………..

Appendix C: The Example of Nyok Varieties in Kiding Village..…..

Appendix D: Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index for Traditional

Agroforestry, Rubber Plantation and Secondary Forest………….…

Appendix E: The Name of Community Who Knows to Process Ijuk.

46

46

47

48

50

51

Appendix F: The Preferable Nyok Varieties that are Recommended by

the Community………………………………………………….....… 52

V

List of Abbreviations

arak wine

a.s.l. above sea level

cm centimeter

DNA Deoxyribonucleic Acid

Ijuk local wine

km kilometer

KK village headman

m meter

mm milimeter

RM Ringgit Malaysia

SK secondary school

sp. species

tuak local wine

tambuk local basket

°c degree Celsius

VI

List of Tables and Figures

Figure 1 The view of Kiding village

Figure 2 The use of black fibre from Nyok to tie the bamboo bridge

Table 3 The distribution of some Arenga species

Table 4 The vernacular name of some Arenga species

Figure 5 The leaf sheath of Arenga

Figure 6 The fruits and seeds of Nyok

Figure 7 Chemical compositions of fibres from different morphological parts of the

Arenga species

Figure 8 The map of Kiding village

Figure 9 The proposed quadrates with the size of 20m x 20m

Table 10 The Density (d), Relative density (Rd), Frequency (f) and Relative

frequency (Rf) at traditional agroforestry, rubber plantation and secondary

forest

Figure 11 Shannon-Wiener Index of diversity (H) for traditional agroforestry, rubber

plantation and secondary forest

Figure 12 The species evenness for agroforestry, rubber plantation and secondary

forest

Table 13 Scientific name for each palm variety

Table 14 Nyok varieties and the descriptions according to the community

Table 15 The usage of each palm variety and the regeneration of plant

Table 16 The summary of estimated value of Nyok in Ijuk production at Kiding

village

Table 17 Comparison of parameter between Kiding village and with papers published

by Dalibard, 1999, Smits, 1996 and Martini et al., 2012

Figure 18 The marking of useful plant. A. Nyok B. Bamboo

1

Utilisation and Conservation of Arenga Species using the Community

Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Approach

Tu Chu Lee

Master of Environmental Science

Faculty of Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

ABSTRACT

There are 13 varieties of Nyok that have been recognised by the community at Kiding

village. The documentation and utilisation of the Nyok varieties however, are yet to be

studied. Furthermore, the conservation work on Nyok by the local community is less

known. This study focused on the sustainability potential by accessing the species diversity,

relative density and relative frequency in different forest types namely agroforestry area,

rubber plantation and secondary forest. This study also focused on the viability and

sustainability of Nyok in the production of local wine and the value to ensure the current

demand can be sustained The result showed that only one species of Arenga has been

identified from 13 varieties of Nyok. The recognition of Nyok by the community is based

on the interaction with the conditional of the environment, surrounded plant, soil types and

insect. Agroforestry has the highest number of Nyok varieties compared to rubber

plantation and secondary forest. The population of Nyok in Kiding village is under threat

due to the lost of interest from young generation. The knowledge in making Ijuk is

disappearing even though Nyok is still planted and conserved by the old generation. The

studies on Nyok population and its conservation effort should be emphasised as this palm

can be one of the modeling plants for conservation and value creation.

Keywords: Nyok, Ijuk, palm, agroforestry, rubber estate, secondary forest, CBNRM.

2

ABSTRAK

Terdapat 13 jenis Nyok yang dikenalpasti oleh komuniti di Kampung Kiding. Walau

bagaimanapun, kajian tentang dokumentasi dan penggunaan Nyok dan kerja permulihan

tentang tumbuhan tersebut adalah sangat terhad. Kajian ini tertumpu kepada potensi

kesinambungan dengan mengkaji kepelbagaian species, ketumpatan relative dan kekerapan

relative di Agro-perhutanan, ladang getah, hutan sekunder. Kajian ini juga tertumpu kepada

kesesuaian and kesinambungan Nyok dalam penghasilan Ijuk and nilai supaya permintaan

terhadap Nyok dapat dikekalkan. Keputusan mendapati hanya satu spesis Arenga

dikenalpasti daripada 13 jenis Nyok. Pengecaman Nyok oleh komuniti dipengaruhi oleh

keadaan persekitaran, tumbuhan sekeliling, tanah, and serangga. Agro-perhutanan

mempunyai jenis Nyok yang paling banyak berbanding dengan ladang getah dan hutan

sekunder. Populasi tumbuhan Nyok sedang mengalami ancaman disebabkan kehilangan

minat oleh generasi muda dalam pengekalan Nyok. Pengetahuan tentang pemprosesan Ijuk

semakin hilang walaupun generasi tua masih menanam dan menjaga Nyok di kawasan

mereka. Kajian tentang populasi dan pemuliharaan Nyok perlu diberi keutamaan supaya

Nyok dapat menjadi satu contoh dalam pemuliharaan dan pengiraan nilai.

Kata kunci: Nyok, Ijuk, pokok palma, Agro-perhutanan, ladang getah, hutan sekunder,

CBNRM.

3

Introduction & Objective

Background

Kiding village is one of the villages where most of the old folks still practice traditional

knowledge on uses of plants and depend on the forest for medicinal plants. Some

medicinal plants are planted in their home garden or farming area for their own

consumption. Bamboo is one of the most important plants in Kiding village as the

community depend on it for building materials, smoking apparatus, animals’ traps, bamboo

bridges and as firewood. Most of the villagers recognise some poisonous plants such as

Daun Api (Dendrocnide sp.) and Rengas (Gluta sp.). Kiding village is also one of the

villages who still practise the making of local wine or Ijuk from a sugar palm known as

Nyok or Arenga sp. This plant has also become one of the important plants in their culture

and livelihood since the community has been settled in the area.

Their ancestors are believed to have come from Dado village which has been settled in the

area during 16 Century. The resettlement of the community to Kiding village is driven by

geographic factors such as unevenness of land, rivers complexity, diseases and ritual belief

such as the existence of ghost or spirit. The view of Kiding village is shown at Figure 1.

Currently, a road has been connected to the village but only four-wheel vehicle can reach

the village due to muddy and steep road terrain. In the early days, the villagers need to

walk about 3 km from SK Kambug to Kiding village where they crossed the river using

bamboo bridge. The income from the villagers is mainly from selling of vegetables such as

Kantan flower (Etlingera elatior), Barley (Hordeum sp.), Cucumber (Cucumis sp.), Chilli

4

(Capsicum spp.), Terung Asam (Solanum ferox) and fruits such as Durian (Durio sp.),

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) and Rapi (Elateriospermum tapos) seed.

Figure 1: The view of Kiding village.

There are more than 70% old folks compared to youngsters in village as most of the young

generation are working outside the village or persuade higher education in the college or

universities. Some of them go back during the evening or on the weekend to check their

house, land and crops such as paddy and vegetable. Most of the villagers only go back to

the village during festive events such as Gawai and Christmas where family gathering are

held and united with their parents.

To date, there is no electric grid that connects to the village. Most the houses are equipped

with generator for electric power at night. The water supply in the village is from the

Meneng mountain using gravity feed. It is common for the community to have water

shortage during drought season as the water level is too low or heavy rain as the pipes that

had been installed were being washed away or were blocked by the leaves.

5

The Recognition of Nyok by the Local Community

Nyok or Arenga sp. is a multipurpose palm species that belongs to Arecaceae family. The

palm can be recognized by its black fibre liked material on the trunk. It is easily found in

Kiding village as some communities planted the palm in their home garden. There are 13

varieties of Nyok plant that have been reported by the community of Kiding Village.

Traditionally, Nyok is identified by the community based on the characters of the leaves,

the inflorescence, yield of palm juice, plant grow rate and habitat. Such observation and

experience, however, can be misinterpreted and miscommunicated. Therefore, it is

important to proof the knowledge either in scientific based on the taxonomy, systematic

identification, DNA profiling or DNA sequencing. Realising the concern of losing Arenga

plant from the village due to the change of lifestyle, environment degradation and

overharvested of resources as well as land use change, it is also important to carry out this

study to address the value of this plant resource and the potential in conservation

approaches. At the mean time, the species of Nyok that are available in Kiding village area

can be documented and studied to understand the relationship and interaction between the

community and the plant.

Importance of Nyok

Nyok or Arenga sp. is classified as palm. It is very well known in Kiding village not only

for traditional palm wine harvested from flower stalks but also for its various usages such

as food, fibres for building material (Figure 2) and household utensils (Martini et al., 2012).

Ijuk is similar to tuak that produced by Iban community and is served as one of the identity

of Bidayuh Tebia in making traditional wine. Ijuk is served during events such as Gawai,

6

Christmas or wedding. Each plant part of Nyok has a name in Bidayuh language

(Appendix A) for part recognition by the community.

Figure 2: The use of black fibre from Nyok to tie the bamboo bridge.

The Management of Nyok in Kiding Village

The processes and knowledge of making Ijuk has been passed down from one generation

to another generation through observation, listening tales and practices. To date, there are

few other villages in the area which are still practicing traditional palm wine making

namely Kakas village, Sapit village, Semban village, Kemas village, Rejoi village, Sait

village and Bojong village. The information of the village in conserving the Nyok plant to

sustain the production however is still lacking. In general, traditional approach in

conserving the plants such as Nyok in particular is to carry out through planting in their

7

own land based on the needs or to take care on the resources that brought by the animals

and geminated in their land. A traditional sign or a mark will be labelled to inform others

that the plant is owned by someone and should not be disturbed in the open area. The

concept of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) approach in

Kiding village is very much dependence on the current environment, land use and the

needs of the community.

Problem Statement

Nyok have been utilised by the community at Kiding village since they settled in the area.

However, the species of Arenga used by the community in Kiding village has yet to be

identified and documented. The claim from the community on the 13 varieties of Nyok

especially on their recognition had not been verified. Moreover, little effort has been made

to capture the conservation, resource management and utilization of Arenga species by the

community in sustaining the constant supply of Ijuk in Kiding village. The current land use

changes due to the development in the area have also affected the generation and viability

of Nyok varieties. Therefore, it is crucial to carry out a study before the practices were lost

due to the changing of lifestyle, environment and society.

Specific Problem Statement

This study focused on the sustainability potential by accessing the species diversity,

relative density and relative frequency in different forest types namely agroforestry area,

rubber plantation and secondary forest. The status of economically valuable Ijuk in Kiding

village or its area which is poorly known was identified. The viability and sustainability of

8

Nyok in the production of Ijuk and it derivatives such as crafts and food were determined.

Lastly, this study was undertaken by solving the question on the ability of community

forest to sustain the supply of the resource based on current rate of utilisation.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to identify the distribution and density of Arenga species in three

different forest types in Kiding Village. The production of Ijuk in the village was

determined to ensure the current production can sustain the needs of the community. On

the other hand, the study assessed the potential value of Nyok resource in production and

stock at Kiding area based on the age, production yield and frequency of harvesting of the

Nyok. Apart from that, this study determined and documented the natural resources

management that has carried out by the local community in sustaining the Nyok population

and Ijuk production. This study provided baseline data to permit the planning for

conservation and management of the resources particularly Nyok.

9

Literature Review

Palm Family

Palms are believed to be among the oldest flowering plants in the world (Redhead 1989).

There are estimated 202 genera and 2,700 species of Arecaceae or Palmae in the world

(Johnson, 1992; Wilson et al., 1990) with 1,385 species occur in Asia and the pacific

islands while 1,147 species occur in North and South America. Indonesia has the greatest

number of palm species with 477 species followed by Brazil with 387 species (Johnson,

1992). Kiew (1991) reported that there are 194 indigenous palm species from 31 genera in

peninsular Malaysia with 82 species and one genus of Calospatha is endemic. In Sarawak

there are more than 213 palm species from 25 genera native to Sarawak but only 85 species

from the total have been documented as useful (Pearce, 1991).

Importance of Palm

The palms with the greatest importance in world commerce are coconut (Mitchell et al.,

1945; Montenegro, 1985), oil palm (Basri et al., 2005), date palm (El-Hadrami et al., 2012;

Mahmoudi, 2008), sago palm (Barrau, 1959), sugar palm (Mogea et al., 1991), and rattan

(Pearce, 1991; Kiew, 1991). Palm has many usages and can be used as edible fruits, oil,

building materials and craft products (Kahn, 1988). It is also widely used in the Amazon

region in house construction (Henderson, 1995). Oil palm is one of the most important

cash crops in the world and can be utilised as diesel fuel substitute or energy resources

(Sapuan et al., 1996; Ndayishimiye & Tazerout, 2011; Chiew et al., 2011). Oil palm

industries have also raised the income of more than 500,000 farmers in Indonesia (Zen et

10

al., 2005).

In Malaysia, the 2014 report from Malaysia Timber Industry Board (MTIB) shows that

rattan has contributed about RM 35 million of Malaysia exports in major timber products

in 2014. In Thailand, 12 species that belong to genus Calamus are used commercially for

production of furniture. However, Thailand has lost most of its rattan resources as a result

of deforestation and over-exploitation (Dransfield et al., 2004). Palms have symbolic and

ritual importance which has been shown in Parker& Horton (1996) and Reichel-Dolmatoff

(1989). The socio-cultural importances of palm have also been reported by Gilmore et al.

(2013).

Palm Wine-produce Species

Many palm species have been tapped throughout the tropical world in order to produce

fresh juice (sweet toddy), fermented drinks (toddy, wine and arak), syrup ("honey"), brown

sugar (jaggery) and refined sugar. One of mankind's first sources of sugar was probably

Arenga pinnata (Redhead 1989). There are few palm wine-produce species in the world

namely Borassus aethiopum, Raphia hookeri, Elaeis guineensis (Mollet et al., 2000),

Hyphaene coriacea, Phoenix reclinata (Cunningham & Wehmeyer, 1988), Caryota species

(Flach & Ong, 1996), and Arenga species (Burkill, 1966; Mogea & Siemonsma, 1996).

Arenga Species

There are more than 20 species of Arenga distributed from India, Southern China, Ryukyu

Islands, Taiwan, South-East Asia, Christmas Island to Northern Australia and Sunda Shelf

11

(Smits & Rumawas, 1996; Smits, 1996; Henderson, 2006). Table 3 show the distribution of

some Arenga species based on the study by Smits & Rumawas (1996).

Table 3: The distribution of some Arenga species.

The Arenga genus is mainly grown in primary forest in the lowlands and hills of the per-

humid tropical forest (Mogea & Siemonsma, 1996) and can be found up to 1700m a.s.l.

Arenga borneensis, Arenga brevipes & Arenga undulatifolia are native to Sarawak (Pearce,

1991). There are many local names for Arenga species and the most well known given

name is Aren. Table 4 represents some example of vernacular name for Arenga sp. (Smits

& Rumawas, 1996).

Table 4: The vernacular name of some Arenga species.

Scientific name Vernacular name

A. microcarpa Indonesia: aren sagu, sagu baruk, pepe tinggi

Papua New Guinea: wana kuk, wokabin, iri

A. obtusifolia

Indonesia: langkap, bolangan, langko

Malaysia: rangkap, pangkap

Thailand: langkap

A. tremula Philippines: dumyaka, abigi, baris

A. undulatifolia

Indonesia: Aren gelora, aping, take

Malaysia: bangkala, toki, aping

Philippines: ambong, bat-bat, caong

A. westerhoutii Malaysia: langkap, anowe kutare, gtor

Thailand: langkap, rangkap, rangkai

Arenga pinnata is one of the well known species and the most important species in sugar

production. Store large quantities of starch in their stems, then they begin to flower,

Scientific name Distribution

A. microcarpa Native to Indonesia (from Sangihe and the Talaud Islands through the

Moluccas to Irian Jaya) and Papua New Guinea

A. obtusifolia Thailand, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Java

A. tremula Philippines, Hainan, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands

A. undulatifolia Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sulawesi), Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah) and the

Philippines

A. westerhoutii Native to Peninsular Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand

12

converting it into sugar, in order to transfer it from the stem to the inflorescences. By

tapping the peduncle of the inflorescence, this sugar can be drawn off in the juice. Arenga

was apparently among man’s first source of sugar before the sugar-cane (Burkill, 1966).

Descriptions of Arenga Species

Arenga species are from dwarf to large, either solitary or clustered, usually unarmed. They

are monoecious plant where the male and female reproductive organs are form in the same

individual. The trunk is single and covered with a black, fibrous, hessian-like material

(Figure 5). The leaves are 6–12 m long and 1.5 m in width, pinnate, with the pinnae in 1–6

rows, 40–70 cm long and 5 cm in width. The stem has distinct internodes and the leaves

are flabellate, usually induplicate and imparipinnate. The male inflorescence is in a dense

cluster of 4 feet long is purple and has an unpleasant odour. The female inflorescence is

longer than the male inflorescence and ripens very slowly into glossy, brown, and plum-

sized fruits. The inflorescence is usually interfoliar and the fruit is a globose to ellipsoidal

drupe (Figure 6) (Mogea & Siemonsma, 1996; Martini et al., 2012).

13

Figure 5: The leaf sheath fibres of Arenga.

Figure 6: The fruits and seeds of Nyok.

Leaf sheath fibres

Leaf stalk

Carpel

Seed

Mesocarp

Fresh

14

Chemical Properties of in Arenga Species

The chemical properties of Arenga species are not widely studies. Currently, we know that

the fruits of Arenga consist of oxalate crystals that make the flesh inedible (Mogea &

Siemonsma, 1996). Smits (1996) reported that palm juice consists of 5-21% of sugar with

75% sucrose. The sap of Arenga pinnata that consists of 5-methyl-6,7-dihydro-5H-

cyclopenta pyrazine and 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H) furanone were responsible for

roasty and sweet caramel-like aroma (Ho et al., 2007). A recent study carried out by the

master student of University Putra Malaysia has listed out six chemical properties of fibres

(Figure 7) from different plant part of Arenga species (Sahari et al., 2012)

Figure 7: Chemical compositions of fibres from different morphological parts of the

Arenga species.

Frond Bunch Ijuk Trunk

Plant part

15

Methods of Palm Tapping

Tapping for the sap of Arenga pinnata method is well documented in Burkill, 1966

although every community around the world showed different methods based on

environment, culture and belief (Mogea et al., 1991). Tapping is carried out on the male

inflorescence peduncle and female inflorescence usually yields little and will appear before

male inflorescence. The surface beneath and above the peduncle will be hit slowly using

wooden mallet for over three to seven days (Burkill, 1966). The sap is allowed to flow into

a bamboo pipe. In every tapping, the apex of the stalk will be sliced to ensure there is a

continuous flow of the sap from peduncle. The amount of sap produces will decrease when

the peduncle is closer to the ground (Mogea et al., 1991).

Agroforestry

Agroforestry or traditional agroforestry is referred to the land with different crops in

ecological and economic interactions between the tree and non-tree components.

Agroforestry is usually managed by small farmers and it is a relatively cheaper form of

land development (Young, 1990). Agroforestry has many advantages; it provides assets and

income from carbon, wood energy, improved soil fertility and enhancement of local

climate conditions, ecosystem services and reduces human impacts on natural forests

(Mbow, et al., 2014) as well as erosion control (Young, 1986).

16

Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) Approach

CBNRM can be defined as a process by which landowner can gain access and use rights on

the natural resources to establish collaboration and transparency plan as well as participate

in the resource use management in order to achieve monetary and non-monetary benefits

from stewardship (Child and Lyman, 2005). CBNRM is aimed to promote sustainable

development in order to reduce local poverty and to increase livelihood diversification

through employment and revenue (Lepper & Schroenn, 2010) It encourage better resource

management outcomes with the full participation of communities and resource users in

decision-making activities, and the incorporation of local institutions, customary practices,

and knowledge systems in management, regulatory, and enforcement processes (Armitage,

2005). This approach has been implemented in many countries such as Southern Africa

(Child 2009), Oregon (Hibbard & Lurie, 2006), Malawi and Botswana (Blaikie, 2006)

even though some scholars and practitioners suggested that CBNRM is experiencing a

crisis of identity and purpose with even the most positive examples experiencing only short

term success due to major scarcities (Dressler et al., 2010).