INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON WETLANDS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2007

THE VALUES OF MANGROVE FOREST IN SUPPORTING LOCAL

COMMUNITIES LIVELIHOOD.
Izarenah, M.R.*, and Sulong, I.
Institute Oceanography
KUSTEM
ieyza9@yahoo.com
Abstract

Mangrove provides myriad of functions and services. Hence, it is known as one of

the most productive ecosystem in the world. One of the functions derived directly
from the forest that plays a major role in supporting the local communities’ livelihood
is the resources gained from the Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP’s). Here, in this
study it provides a baseline data on the value of mangrove forest in Kelantan Delta,
Kelantan in terms of its NTFP’s. Presently, the NTFP’s gained from the mangrove
forest by the local communities in this study area are mainly food source, animal
products such as shellfish, mollusk and Nypa leaves rather than timber. The valuable
information was obtained through questionnaire survey, identifying types of
resources obtained and assessing the only actual value of the forest products. Most
of the local communities involved actively as mangrove resource users are
fishermen, collecting crabs (ketam nipah) nearby Nypa trees, lokan, siput, kerang,
prawns and fishes along the rivers of Kelantan Delta. However, the women as well
taking part in the process of consuming NTFP’s gained from the forest. They might
not going into the adjacent forest to harvest the Nypa leaves, but they communally
increase the livelihood of the family by processing the Nypa leaves into cigarettes
and Nypa flowers to be a delicacy similar to salad known as kerabu to be sold at the
market. To complement the study, the survey as well explores the perceptions of the
local communities towards the importance of mangrove ecosystem. From there, a
more thorough understanding of the relations between the local communities and the
mangrove ecosystem could be developed. It is hoped that the findings from this
study will be reference to address the scarce of information and studies pertaining
direct use values of mangrove forest in Malaysia.

Key words: Mangrove Ecosystem, Services And Functions, Livelihood, Value