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Freshwater Gastropoda can be considered as the biological indicator in ecosystems such as rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds. The objectives of this study are to identify freshwater gastropod species, diversity, and distribution along Sungai Penebak, Sungai Nanga Tiga, and Sungai Kabo in the Betong division. The study was conducted on 10 November 2020. A 50 m transect was laid on the riverbank of all three stations. The existing specimens were counted and collected from each sampling point and stored were taken to the laboratory for species identification. The diversity index and morphological study of freshwater gastropods were performed. Five species of freshwater gastropods belonging to four families were discovered. The five species of freshwater gastropods consisted of Sulcospira pageli, which shows great abundance, followed by Clea nigricans, Brotia costula, Pila ampullacea, and Vittina pennata. The diversity indices of collected Gastropoda species from the different stations, for instance, Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H'), Pielou's evenness index (J'), and Margalef's richness index were assessed; where station 3 showed higher diversity of Gastropoda compared to other two stations. The information presented in this paper might be helpful for ecological wealth studies and considered as the baseline data for the stream ecosystem in Sarawak, Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the energy security implications of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy in Malaysia (SCORE), a US$105 billion infrastructure development plan in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. SCORE aims to build a series of hydroelectric dams along a 320-kilometer corridor by 2030. The article begins by explaining the methodology utilized for its research interviews and site visits. It goes on to argue that energy security in Southeast Asia should consist of simultaneously improving the availability, affordability, efficiency and stewardship of energy services for end users. Availability involves diversifying the fuels and technologies in energy production and minimizing dependence on imports; affordability means providing electricity and fuel within the income range of most consumers; efficiency means improving the performance of equipment and lowering demand for energy; and stewardship is minimizing political, social, and environmental hazards associated with energy production and consumption. The paper next introduces the SCORE project before making an assessment utilizing the four criteria of energy security. While SCORE partially improves availability, we argue that it erodes aspects of affordability, efficiency and stewardship. Cost overruns and delays in financing will make the electricity from SCORE suitable only to industrial users, not the energy poor. SCORE is predicated on the assumption that electricity demand should grow greatly in the future rather than the idea that energy efficiency and demand side management programmes should attempt to reduce growth in demand for electricity. SCORE also has a pernicious set of social, environmental and political consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport is a main concern for people living in rural and remote communities around the world, where the absence of affordable and reliable transport often prevents access to education, health services and employment opportunities. In Sarawak, a state of Malaysia on the island of Borneo, many rural villages experience acute transport poverty. For their basic transport needs, people here rely on informal transport systems based on local social and cultural networks, which provide essential mobility. We apply Polanyi's concept of social embeddedness to explore mobility in this region, people's efforts to develop regional models of entrepreneurship but also the relative marginalisation of remote communities in terms of development and infrastructure provision and the resulting friction between local people, the companies involved in regional resource extraction activities and local government. Based on data collected between 2015 and 2017, we frame informal transport in this region as a form of Indigenous entrepreneurship that can help local communities achieve wider social and economic inclusion. Our research points to a more social type of entrepreneurship and economic practice, in which social relationships and community responsibilities play an important role. Our qualitative approach, including ethnographic methods such as semi-structured interviews and participant observation, underpins the groundedness of our data in the every-day experiences of the people who took part in the research. • The paper investigates the role of informal transport in alleviating transport poverty. • Informal transport is framed as a form of socially embedded Indigenous entrepreneurship. • Social embeddedness of transport supports mobility and encourages grassroots development. • Persisting structural problems limit the effectiveness of grassroots transport strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swidden agriculture, commercial logging and plantation development have been considered to be the primary common causes of degradation and loss of tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia. In this paper, I chose a part of northeastern Sarawak, East Malaysia as my case study area to analyze the changes in its land-use characteristics. In the study area, as well as primeval forests, we see that land use began about 100 years ago by a native group called the Iban; commercial logging began in the 1960s, and the development of oil palm plantations began recently. I describe the changes in land use as well as their social and economic causes by referring to aerial photographs, literature surveys, interviews with government officers and the Iban, and observation of land use. My analysis of land use demonstrates that on “state land”, where commercial logging and oil palm plantation development are occurring, large areas of forest have been disturbed in a short period of time. The objective is to benefit economically in response to the social and economic conditions surrounding the study area. On the other hand, in the “Iban territory,” where the Iban practice their land use, land conversion has not occurred on a large scale and in a short period of time, even though the forest has been cut and agricultural fields have been created in response to social and economic conditions as well. They disperse small agricultural fields throughout their forest land. Therefore, the landscape of the “Iban territory” is based on secondary forest, composed of patches of forest in various stages and with several types of agricultural land. Today in Sarawak, monocrop plantations are rapidly expanding and little primeval forest remains. Given these conditions, the land-use practices of natives such as the Iban will be evaluated from the viewpoint of ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. It could play an important role in providing habitats for natural wildlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]