is a special conservation area within a Permanent Forest Reserve (PFR), consisting of limestone landscape, an extensive mangrove forest system, beaches, coastal wetlands and islands. However, the limestone, forest reserve and mangrove areas have been identified as environmentally sensitive, and are under threat by development activities. Currently, there is a lack of information on the economic benefits of the geoforest park, in terms of services. A demand model of international visitors to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park (KKGP) was derived and compared the benefit estimated using both travel cost and consumer surplus adjustment techniques. The Travel Cost Method (TCM) has been employed to derive the demand model, whilst the concept of consumer surplus was used for value determination and comparison. The findings showed that the benefit estimated using travel cost adjustments, based on satisfaction attained, is €288,000,000, and number of hours spent in the park is €141,000,000, which was greater than that for the consumer surplus adjustment based on satisfaction attained €278,640,000 and number of hours spent €123,840,000. The study proposed the travel cost adjustment technique findings rather than the consumer surplus adjustment technique, since it was based on specific KKGP model estimation. In conclusion, the findings on the monetary value of the geoforest park will alert the community regarding the importance of conserving KKGP.

Malaysia deforested 6.3 million hectares since independence; 91% of which occurred before Malaysia pledged, at the Earth Summit in 1992, to maintain a minimum 50% of its terrestrial area under forest cover. However, under economic and population pressure, Sarawak—the largest contributing state to the country’s current forest cover of 54.8%—shows continuing deforestation even after 1992. This paper reviews land use policies underpinned by economic development and environmental protection considerations, land rights issues that complicate land use planning, and legislation that regulates land use change. The objective is to investigate the adequacy of existing policies and legislation in governing forest cover in Sarawak and to recommend improvement measures. If the Sarawak Land Use Policy that allocates seven million hectares for forest is realized, Malaysia’s forest cover would drop to 53%, assuming other states maintain their forests. It is recommended that legislation governing the designation of permanent forest and conversion of forest for other land use to be strengthened, civil society to be enlisted to enhance knowledge level, and carbon credit production to be promoted as alternative land use that keeps forests standing. With these measures, it is hopeful that Malaysia’s aspirations regarding forest cover can be achieved.

Addressing environmental issues has been a significant challenge. Malaysia is one of the fastest-growing countries in terms of economic, social, and land use development but high in CO2 emission rates. The introduction of a carbon tax is seen to reduce greenhouse gases emission (GHG), but the uncertain extent of implementation, based on economic theory, remains unknown. Hence, the current study’s objectives are to assess residents’ knowledge and attitude towards GHG. It is also to analyse the factors influencing residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP). Three hundred and eleven (311) residents from Klang were selected using convenience sampling. The result shows that most of the respondents were willing to pay and had medium knowledge and a high level of attitude towards GHG. Poisson regression analysis results showed that gender, age, income, education, number of households, and marital status variables significantly influenced the maximum WTP. Overall, the residents’ WTP for a carbon tax was estimated at RM36.31 per year for open-ended (CVM): RM36.96 and double bound (CVM): RM35.65. A mechanism such as investment in green technology, eco-transportation, and green energy using the tax can be applied. This study is pivotal towards achieving SDG 13: Climate action.

Betta livida is an endangered endemic species of wild fighting fish affected by habitat degradation and exploitation. Despite this concern, the literature on the conservation of wild betta is negligible. Conservation is a non-use value, whereas the species itself is a use-value because they are sought after in the ornamental fish trade business. Therefore, the contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied in this study to establish the monetary value for species conservation by determining hobbyists’ willingness to donate (WTD) for conservation. Fish hobbyists are the most prominent backbone of the industry and are the most acquainted with the targeted species. Hence, hobbyists’ knowledge, perceptions and attitude towards species conservation have also been explored and weighed against the WTD. Purposive sampling was employed with a total of 150 respondents in Klang Valley. The findings show that the WTD was influenced by double-bound CVM, age (AGE) and hobbyists who owned the species (OWNB). In contrast, knowledge, perceptions and attitudes were not significant. Using probit regression analysis, hobbyists’ WTD for species conservation was MYR 9.04 annually. The survey also revealed concern for species that are wild-caught by hobbyists. Hence, the results of this study offer preliminary insights into the WTD for wild betta and local freshwater fish conservation in Malaysia.

<abstract> <p>Growing concerns of climate crisis mitigation in Malaysia over the decades have created pressure for public listed companies and small and medium enterprises in the country to adopt a different approach in their business operations. Green financing schemes such as the Environmental,Social and Governance (ESG) indicator,the FTSE4Good index by the regulatory body Bursa Malaysia for public listed companies and the Green Technology Financing Scheme stemming from the National Green Technology Policy by the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre,address the need to improve operations sustainably through financing. Based on interviews with government agencies and public listed companies,this paper presents the effectiveness of the guidelines and schemes in place from their perspectives. The value drivers,challenges and impact from adhering to the FTSE4Good index were discovered. Findings found that the government is a central player in ensuring the initiatives' effectiveness. Although there have been improvements over the years in the industry since its introduction,barriers are still lingering that may hamper the extent of the initiatives' effectiveness. Suggestions are made as a feedback mechanism for improved green financing towards Malaysia's aspiration on becoming a high-income nation by 2025 and in support of the Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industrial innovation and infrastructure. To realise that aspiration,every player in the industry plays a critical role in greener operations,including the small and medium enterprises.</p> </abstract>