Abstract
This paper reports on the development of a web based virtual forest environment to raise the awareness of threatened plant species in particular for the family of Dipterocarpaceae. Tropical forests in Malaysia consists of unique ecosystems which are home to flora and fauna including the threatened plant species that are listed in the Red List by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia. However, the lack of awareness on the threatened plant species somehow can jeopardise on the effort on conservation of the forest. A web based utilizing virtual environment were developed that focussed on threatened plant species. User experiments were conducted to evaluate the user acceptance on the developed application. 30 participants were divided into two groups, brochures and web version. Results showed that participants who completed the experiments with web based virtual environment increased their level of awareness as compared to the usage of conventional brochures on threatened plant species.
Highlights
Tropical rainforests in Malaysia consist of an estimated 8,300 species of vascular plants in Peninsular Malaysia, with another 12,000 in the East (Saw et al 2010)
An experiment needed to been held to show evidence whether using the web based virtual forest environment (MyRedList) developed in this study using the conceptual framework for designing a virtual environment could raise awareness for the conservation activities of threatened plant species in Malaysia
The analysis of the data of the study shows a significant increase in awareness regarding the threatened plant species in Peninsular Malaysia
Summary
Tropical rainforests in Malaysia consist of an estimated 8,300 species of vascular plants in Peninsular Malaysia, with another 12,000 in the East (Saw et al 2010). Malaysia Plant Red List (Chua et al 2010) had been developed by Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), listing the critically threatened plants in tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia in particular the family of Dipterocarpaceae to assess and monitor the conservation of the rare and threatened plants. The family of Dipterocarpaceae has the largest population in the tropical rainforest of Malaysia and the population has decreased from year to year (Chua, Suhaida & Aslina 2012). The implication of this action is badly affected It decreases the awareness of threatened plant species as the public cannot enjoy the beauty of the nature of the habitat
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