The Forest School Programme: Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Jakun Village Tribe is a long-term initiative aimed at preserving and conserving cultural and natural heritage that is rapidly disappearing  over time. The goal of this programme stems from the community’s concerns about the younger generation, who are no longer practicing or interested in their ancestors’ traditions as a result of mainstream and more contemporary living.   


With the support of the YELL 2023 Seed Grant, MRA will be able to scale up and continue previous community programs/activities related to conservation and capacity building such as Junior Park Ranger, Nature Education and Interpretation and Community Based Sustainable Tourism for conservation work in Endau Rompin Peta Johor National Park. The main focus of this project is to safeguard the community’s socioeconomic activity (tourism) by nurturing the younger generation to inherit their ancestor’s skill and knowledge of nature sustainably. From the project that will be conducted, we expect that the younger generation (school children) will carry on with the cultural and natural heritage of the Jakuneses people and improve what they currently have in terms of socioeconomic perspective.


The following activities will be carried out:

By safeguarding the community’s tourism-based economy, ensuring it thrives for future generations. The development of the Cultural and Natural Heritage Conservation Module using research on Orang Asli-Jakun history, mythology, survival skills, and medicinal plants has provided opportunities for locals to promote environmental tourism. 

The training covers topics such as traditional cooking and recipes, as well as exposure and preservation of traditional music as a means of income generation for younger Jakunese boys and girls, who are now growing up feeling empowered by their culture and history. 

So far MRA has trained 13 enthusiastic orang asli youths as local ambassadors and trainers who cover different specialities like cooking, music and tour operations/management. Whilst simultaneously, also enrolled 53 young orang asli-Jakun children into Sekolah Rimba to learn more about their culture in an interactive and engaging learning environment.

This in time will empower youth and children of Kg. Peta to inherit, preserve, and innovate upon their ancestors’ knowledge and skills.
 

Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA) is a humanitarian organisation registered under the Trustee Act 1952, with the primary objective of assisting those affected by natural disasters or armed conflicts, both local and abroad.