Ethnoscape of Riverine Society in Bintulu Division [Yumi Kato, et al.]

Ethnoscape of Riverine Society in Bintulu Division Yumi Kato(The Hakubi Project /Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University) Hiromitsu Samejima (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University) Ryoji Soda(Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University) Motomitsu Uchibori (Faculty of Liberal Arts, The Open University of Japan) Katsumi Okuno(College of Liberal Arts, J.F.Oberlin University) Noboru Ishikawa (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University) Introduction  The study site of this project is the riverine areas of the Kemena and Tatau Rivers in the Bintulu Division. This article provides an overview of the ethnic groups living along those rivers. However, the details of these people, their backgrounds, and their inter-ethnic […]

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The Edible Birds’ Nest Commodity Chain between Sarawak and East Asia [Daniel Chew]

The Edible Birds’ Nest Commodity Chain between Sarawak and East Asia Daniel Chew (University of Malaysia Sarawak)  Edible birds’ nest, which are moulded from the saliva of the aerodramus swiflets, forming white and black nests, are a highly prized culinary food product reputed to have health benefits. The uniqueness of the appeal of the nests is its association with the dynastic past of China as a special food for rulers and the wealthy, an appeal which carries on to this day as an expensive and prestigious food product for the ethnic Chinese wherever they live. The nests are collected from cliffs in caves and man made structures in maritime and […]

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International Seminar:”Current Status and Challenges of Sustainable Forest Management in Borneo”

”Current Status and Challenges of Sustainable Forest Management in Borneo: Views from governments, private sectors, NGOs, and local communities” 【Date】December 9-10, 2013 【Venue】Inamori Fundation Memorial Building, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan  On December 9 and 10, our project held an international seminar ”Current Status and Challenges of Sustainable Forest Management in Borneo: Views from governments, private sectors, NGOs, and local communities with the co-hosted of Southeast Asian Studies for Sustainable Humanosphere research program.  The two-day seminar drew about 120 participants from Japan and overseas and was concluded with success.  From this Project, Samejima and Soda made their presentations based on the researches and studies of the […]

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Oil Palm Smallholding by Longhouse Villagers in Inland Area, Sarawak [Yumi Kato, Ryoji Soda]

Oil Palm Smallholding by Longhouse Villagers in Inland Area, Sarawak Yumi Kato(Waseda University Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies) Ryoji Soda(Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University) Introduction  The recent growth of oil palm agriculture in Sarawak, Malaysia is remarkable. In the 1990s, the area planted with oil palm was less than 200,000 hectares. In 2004, it was more than 500,000 hectares and it reached 920,000 hectares in 2010. (Fig.1) Fig.1: The expansion of the area of oil palm agriculture in Sarawak (1991-2009)(ha) Source: Yearbook of Statistics Sarawak, Malaysian Palm Oil Statistics 2007, 2010  In general, oil palm plantations are created after clear-cutting over a wide range of existing […]

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Bank Erosion along the Rajang River and Its Social Impacts [Watakabe, Soda, Mokudai, Ikeda, Yuhora]

Bank Erosion along the Rajang River and Its Social Impacts Takuma Watakabe(Graduate School of Regional Sciences,Tottori University) Ryoji Soda(Graduate School of Literature and Human Sceiences, Osaka City University) Kuniyasu Mokudai(Pro Natura Foundation Japan) Hiroshi Ikeda(Fukada Geological Institute) Kazuhiro Yuhora(Muroto Geopark Promotion Office) Introduction Fig. 1 Study area  Introduction  The district of Sarawak, Malaysia is stretched in the tropical forest and the residents of this area are facing a drastic environment change ever since the logging operation began. One example is the Rajang river basin (Fig. 1) where people witness serious riverbank erosion. According to the residents, the problem began to surface from the end of 1960s or 70s which coincide […]

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