Amal Najihah Muhamad Nor’s research while affiliated with University of Malaysia, Kelantan and other places

The waste-to-wealth program refers to the process of transforming waste from depleted usefulness to valued and desired utility. The waste-to-wealth program consists of recycling, upcycling and composting. This study explores the types of waste generated and waste disposal practices by the Delta Tumpat, Kelantan community and explores the waste-to-wealth program’s potential. A total of 280 respondents participated in this study using stratified sampling. This study found the high potential to introduce waste-to-wealth programs to the community of Delta Tumpat based on the abundance of organic wastes generated, as well as the high awareness of waste-to-wealth and willingness to participate in waste- to-wealth programs in the future. Organic waste is the most generated waste by the Delta Tumpat community. Food and agriculture waste are the most significant contributors to the organic waste in the Delta of Tumpat. Burning is the primary disposal practice due to a lack of knowledge of sustainable waste disposal practices. Better intervention programs and initiatives are needed to increase the community’s willingness to participate in the waste- to-wealth program.

A study was conducted to assess the tree species composition, diversity, and above-ground biomass at Gunung Stong State Park (GSSP), Dabong, Kelantan, Malaysia. Five plots were systematically established of each 20 m x 20 m (0.2 ha), and all trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 5 cm and below were enumerated. A total of 273 individual trees were enumerated, representing 88 species belonging to 40 families and 67 genera. Lauraceae was the most represented family, consisting of 3 genera and 4 species. The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H’) indicated a high diversity value of 3.46 and the Simpson Diversity Index (D) with 0.97. The total above-ground biomass of the trees was estimated to be 0.619 ta/ha. Notably, Vatica maingayi and Aquilaria malaccensis identified in the study area are listed as vulnerable, with decreasing population trends. The floristic composition and the presence of these threatened species underscore the ecological importance of GSSP, highlighting its potential role as a critical conservation site for maintaining biodiversity and protecting vulnerable plant species. This study provides valuable baseline data for the management and conservation of forest resources in GSSP and contributes to the broader understanding of tropical forest ecosystems in Malaysia position implies that the study area can serve as a conservation site for the threatened plant species.

Flooding is a serious environmental threat with no quantitative assessment of its consequences. It is necessary to understand which places are at risk of flooding to implement flood mitigation strategies. However, landscape factors are still lacking in the development of a flood-prone area map. This study aims to examine the landscape structure that has the potential to cause flood events in Jeli and develop a flood-prone area map in Jeli. The study used satellite images, ground truthing technique, image classification, landscape structure analysis, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results indicate that the higher density of the built-up area, the area near the water bodies, lower elevation ground surface, and surfaces with a steep slope have a high level of flood-prone areas and are the most vulnerable to flood. 38.11 % of the land use/land cover has a high level of flood-prone area, 43.13 % for medium level, and 18.75 % for low level. The findings can contribute to the sustainable planning and management of land use for flooding mitigation strategies.

Poverty is one of the most significant issues facing humanity in the 21st century. In Malaysia, awareness of poverty was more heavily weighted toward developing a prosperous lifestyle. Hence, the objectives of this study were to explore the spatial pattern of poverty and the effects of agricultural growth and physical geography on poverty in East Coast, Malaysia. Secondary data on the heads of poor households from 2020 were obtained from the e-Kasih database. The dependent variable was the number of poor household heads in each district, which count variable and acts as an indicator for measuring poverty. Therefore, a Generalised Linear Model (GLM) was used. Since a spatial autocorrelation was detected in the model using Moran’s I statistic, a Poisson Log Linear Leroux Conditional Autoregressive was fitted to the data. RStudio software was used to analyze the data. The results of this study indicate that the variables of the number of people without education, number of female heads of households, number of government servants, total land area for cash crops, and slope significantly influence the number of poor household heads in each district. The estimated poverty risk in each district was measured. ArcMap software created the poverty distribution map in Kelantan, Pahang, and Terengganu. The estimated poverty risk map shows a nearly similar spatial pattern to the Standardised Poverty Rate (SPR) map. This research adds new literature on poverty models in Kelantan, Pahang, and Terengganu for other researchers studying poverty factors in these regions.

This manuscript explores Teluk Renjuna communities’ willingness to participate in the waste-to-wealth program. Waste-to-wealth is an initiative to reduce the environmental impact of waste disposal. The total number of respondents who participated in this study was 118 respondents. Analysis indicated a reasonable waste disposal practice among respondents, with moderate knowledge and high awareness of the waste-to-wealth program. Besides that, this study found no significant sociodemographic impact on the knowledge and awareness of respondents on the waste-to-wealth program, except for age, income, and marital status. A Pearson Correlation test assessed the significance between knowledge, awareness, practices, and willingness. The results indicated a weak relationship between practices and willingness. A moderate relationship was found between knowledge and willingness, and a strong relationship was observed between awareness and willingness. The findings of this study are crucial to help government agencies or NGOs in planning suitable waste-to-wealth programs for the island community.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the Master Plan of Ecological Linkages has proposed ecological corridors at Chini-Bera forests complex to connect the forest patches. However, the proposed corridors have been determined arbitrarily without evaluating the reliability of the landscape structure which may cause liability in conservation effort. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the potential ecological corridors by considering the reliability of landscape structure in Chini-Bera forests complex using Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) as a focal species. The tapir was chosen because it is one of the target large mammals in the master plan. In this study, three landscape structures, i.e., patch size, patch distance and landscape resistance were used as parameters in modelling the potential ecological corridors for tapirs. In the modelling, circuit theory, connectivity analysis and least-cost path were integrated using the geographic information systems and remote sensing platforms. The model has identified a total of 35 potential ecological corridors for tapir of which over 50% connect the large core areas while the other 25% connect the small core areas. Meanwhile, four corridors can be considered as priority corridor as their effective resistance below 1000 which indicate easy movement and high connectivity. The findings showed the importance to consider the reliability of the patch size, patch distance dan landscape resistance in determining the potential ecological corridors of wildlife to avoid liability in conservation effort. In addition, the integrated modelling approach contributes to a more concrete assessment of ecological corridors for effective wildlife conservation planning.