May is coming to a close, which makes it time for another roundup of top environmental news with the co-founders of journalism portal, Macaranga . This month, Wong Siew Lyn and Law Yao Hua join us to discuss the heatwaves we are contending with in Malaysia, while tying it to water supply concerns that are increasing across the peninsula. Next we discuss how Malaysia and Indonesia are gearing up for a two-day joint mission to Brussels, to deliberate on issues pertaining to the EU Deforestation Re...
May 29, 2023•19 min
Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta is our monthly tourism-themed series on Earth Matters, which aims to highlight lesser-known ecotourism spots right here in Malaysia. Done in collaboration with the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia (ECOMY), we want to take you back to the great outdoors, and experience the many off-the-beaten-track nature spots our country has to offer. In our fourth episode, we're heading over to Southeast Johor, more specifically the Sultan Iskandar Marine Park to visit so...
May 28, 2023•25 min
The battle to save Taman Rimba Kiara is finally over, with the Federal Court's ruling in favour of protecting the space, by quashing a development order by the DBKL to develop the area. Many have described the long fight to preserve this green lung as a David vs Goliath undertaking - how did the community rally together to coordinate and take on the authorities? We speak to three of the many involved in the saga, Hafiz Abu Bakar (Former Chairman, TTDI Residents Association), Leon Koay (Committee...
May 24, 2023•48 min
It's International Day for Biological Diversity today, celebrated annually on the 22nd of May to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year, the theme is “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity” and is meant to promote action in support of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. On today's show, we want to celebrate Malaysia's incredible biodiversity by revisiting previous Earth Matters interviews, which all highlighted different aspects of Mala...
May 22, 2023•29 min
Earlier this May, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) officially accepted a complaint against Malaysian timber company Samling, which was filed by civil society groups last October. The FSC accepted the complaint after determining there was “sufficient evidence” regarding violations of FSC policies, and the council has said it will open a case into alleged illegal logging, violations of traditional and human rights, destruction of high conservation value forests and significant conversion of fo...
May 21, 2023•20 min
Bukit Kiara is a much loved green lung in our rather green lung deprived city centre. A former rubber estate, the area is now a popular spot for thousands of Klang Valley residents in search of ways to commune with nature. The area is not fully gazetted though, and the NGO Friends of Bukit Kiara (FoBK) have long been championing the protection and preservation of this area, and are always working towards raising awareness of the importance of keeping Bukit Kiara green and intact. They are organi...
May 17, 2023•29 min
The Penang South Islands (PSI) project was initially a massive reclamation project to create three islands off the southern coast of Penang island. The RM10 billion reclamation project is a state government initiative to finance the RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan through the reclamation of the three islands covering 1,620ha off Permatang Damar Laut. The project has faced fierce and vociferous opposition from many, including environmentalists and local fishermen. We catch up with Meena...
May 15, 2023•45 min
Environmental watchdog RimbaWatch have been hard at work, keeping an eye on forests by using open source data and analytics, and shining a spotlight on deforestation in Malaysia, while also highlighting environmental abuses. They recently revealed a one-stop-centre for data on deforestation on their website, which for the first time allows users to visualise past and future deforestation on the data portal. They also just released their quarterly report, covering Jan-March 2023, which has identi...
May 10, 2023•21 min
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has now published the synthesis report of its sixth assessment report (AR6). This forms the final part of the sixth assessment cycle, which kicked off in 2015. For eight years, the experts analysed thousands of scientific publications, in order to make it easier for people like us and also policy makers to understand global warming, as well as solutions on how to tackle it. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, desc...
May 08, 2023•37 min
Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta is a tourism-themed series on Earth Matters, which aims to highlight lesser-known ecotourism spots right here in Malaysia. Done in collaboration with the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia (ECOMY), we want to take you back to the great outdoors, and experience the many off-the-beaten-track nature spots our country has to offer. In our third episode, we head over to Port Dickson, but specifically to the areas surrounding Tanjung Tuan, including Bukit Batu Puti...
May 03, 2023•23 min
We catch up with local, lovable environmental journalism portal Macaranga , for a roundup of top environmental news from April 2023. This month, we discuss court cases and petitions galore over the defence of traditional indigenous lands, namely involving the Semai tribe from Pos Lanai, and the Temiar tribe of Kampung Cunex, and also the Sarawak NGO Save Rivers, who are fighting a lawsuit by a timber company over indigenous rights claims. Then we turn our attention to the issue of food waste, an...
Apr 26, 2023•13 min
The recent unwelcome visit by the haze in the region was another unpleasant reminder that the issue of transboundary haze is far from resolved. Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad reportedly said that the haze was caused by peat fires and open burning in several areas in the country, but that the haze was also happening in other ASEAN countries. The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution has been criticised for lacking enforcement mechanisms fo...
Apr 25, 2023•19 min
Back in late January of this year, Malaysia witnessed a major win for environmental law in Malaysia, when the Federal Court - in a landmark decision - quashed a hillside development that was issued by the local authority in Penang. Many have noted that this ruling might have impacts on other public interest litigation cases in the country. On a two-part special, we discuss this apex judgement, and what significance it holds in Malaysia with Peter Leong, a researcher and environmental activist, a...
Apr 19, 2023•38 min
Peatlands are a type of wetland which occur in almost every country and are known to cover at least 3% of global land surface. Peatlands are an integral part of our ecosystem - they are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store, and can store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. Sadly, these are areas that have been undervalued for years, seen as no-man's land, or one that only has value if modified for some "better" use. Working towards improving the image of pe...
Apr 17, 2023•37 min
Back in late January of this year, Malaysia witnessed a major win for environmental law in the country, when the Federal Court - in a landmark decision - quashed a hillside development that was issued by the local authority in Penang. Many have noted that this ruling might have impacts on other public interest litigation cases in the country, including the ongoing Taman Rimba Kiara case. On a two-part special, we discuss this apex judgement, and what significance it holds in Malaysia with ...
Apr 12, 2023•52 min
Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta is a new ecotourism-centred series on Earth Matters, which aims to highlight lesser-known ecotourism spots right here in Malaysia. Done in collaboration with the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia (ECOMY) the series will take you back to nature, by visiting off-the-beaten-track spots in our country. In our second episode, we head over to Teluk Intan in Perak, and find out about Pulau Bangau, an island in Sungai Perak which is now a thriving heronry. We ...
Apr 10, 2023•24 min
RimbaWatch recently brought attention to the Department of Environment’s (DOE) approval of an EIA for a palm oil project in Pahang, which amounts to 8,498ha. This project involves the deforestation of intact natural forests nearly twice the size of Putrajaya, and is the largest single palm oil project approved in Peninsular Malaysia in recent years. Why is this happening, considering the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil certification (MSPO) does not allow for deforestation occurring after 2020? We...
Apr 09, 2023•21 min
The Royal Belum State Park , under the management of the Perak State Parks Corporation (PSPC), has been awarded the prestigious Conservation Assured |Tiger Standards (CA|TS) approval, in recognition of its exceptional conservation efforts and commitment to tiger conservation. This milestone places Malaysia on the map as the very first country in Southeast Asia to implement CA|TS. But what does this accreditation mean for tiger conservation, and how can it pave the way for other sites to strength...
Apr 05, 2023•51 min
A growing population also means a growing trash problem - just looking at Malaysia's stats, we reportedly generated over 38 thousand metric tonnes of solid waste per day in 2021 (1.17 kg/capita/day). Of which, 82.5 percent is disposed of in landfills. Experts have warned that there will be no more land left in Malaysia by 2050 if nothing is done to reduce waste. Some have said the solution lies in waste incineration - burning refuse in incinerators to make electricity, which will also supp...
Apr 03, 2023•32 min
Earlier in March, RimbaWatch - formerly known as the Rimba Disclosure Project - released a study which revealed that Malaysia is set to lose 2.3 million hectares of forest, reducing forest cover in the country to 47.35%. The " State of the Malaysian Rainforest 2023 " report further put that into perspective by explaining that the area earmarked for deforestation would roughly be 100 times the size of Kuala Lumpur, and larger than the size of Perak, Penang and Melaka combined. The top driver of t...
Mar 29, 2023•36 min
Another month almost over, another roundup of top environmental news with the co-founders of journalism portal Macaranga . This month, Law Yao Hua and Wong Siew Lyn join us to discuss the Sarawak Premier's announcement that the state will establish a Sarawak Climate Change Centre, before tackling the news from the Dewan Rakyat by Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, that the government are mulling the idea of granting the authority to the Environment D...
Mar 27, 2023•14 min
The 'Rainbow Warrior' is one of three ships in the Greenpeace fleet, patrolling the world's oceans and fighting for climate and environmental justice. The ship was named after a North American Cree Indian prophecy which goes: “When the world is sick and dying, people will rise up like Warriors of the Rainbow.” We catch up with Captain Pep Barbal Badia, the Captain of the Rainbow Warrior, to find out more about his voyages with the Greenpeace crew. Image Credit: D_Zheleva / Shutterstock.com See o...
Mar 26, 2023•21 min
In a recently published two-part series, local journalism portal Macaranga , in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network, identified gaps in forest data for the years 2002—2021, with a focus on Peninsular Malaysia. Their investigations revealed that the data is pretty messy - supposed forest reserves not gazetted, oil palm plantations inside reserves, outdated maps - discrepancies and bad forest data that will hamper Malaysia’s conservation, flood management and...
Mar 22, 2023•43 min
Earlier in March, Sarawak assemblyman Dennis Ngau claimed that logging in Ulu Baram, Miri, was welcomed by indigenous communities, and did not harm their way of life. This was swiftly refuted by indigenous land rights defenders, including Save Rivers and Keruan, who criticised the assemblyman's comments, saying that it demonstrated a real lack of understanding of the issues and needs on the ground. We speak to Celine Lim, the Managing Director of Save Rivers for a clearer picture of the situatio...
Mar 20, 2023•31 min
Rewilding is described as an innovative way of restoring wild nature. It’s also said to be about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, and restore degraded landscapes. On our part - having caused most of the destruction facing this planet - we can give rewilding a helping hand by creating the right conditions, for example by allowing natural forest regeneration, or by reintroducing species that have disappeared as a result of human’s actions, then ...
Mar 13, 2023•37 min
These past few weeks have seen several states in Malaysia experiencing continuous rainfall, and subsequently with that, the occurrence of floods, evacuations, massive disruptions and destruction, and even the loss of life. Over in some areas in Sarawak, flooding has become more frequent and intense in recent years, as witnessed by the local communities there. NGO Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), who have an office over in Marudi, Sarawak have also expressed their continued concern over this, a...
Mar 08, 2023•36 min
For nearly 50 years, Greenpeace has been sailing the world's oceans, protecting our planet and fighting for environmental justice. Through the Greenpeace Fleet - Rainbow Warrior, Arctic Sunrise and Witness - and tireless Greenpeace activists, they have been successful in obstructing nuclear tests in the Pacific, documenting plastics in our oceans, conducting research into the effects of climate change in the Arctic, and stopping shiploads of illegal timber leaving the Amazon. The fleet of ships ...
Mar 06, 2023•28 min
It's World Wildlife Day on the 3rd of March, an annual UN International day to celebrate all the world's wild animals and plants and the contribution that they make to our lives and the health of the planet. Malaysia is of course recognized as one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world, meaning it is one of the top biodiversity-rich countries and home to many animals including sun bears, Malayan tigers, Sunda Clouded Leopards, Asian elephants, pangolins and more. On this episode of E...
Mar 01, 2023•51 min
For this month's roundup of environmental news, we're joined by Wong Siew Lyn, the co-founder of environmental journalism portal Macaranga . First, the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad recently proposed increasing the punishment for water pollution from RM100,000 to RM10 million and the maximum jail time from one year to 15 years, or both. Are harsher penalties for water pollution the solution? Then we turn our focus to the Penang Nature-Based Climat...
Feb 27, 2023•13 min
Malaysia's Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim retabled Budget 2023 last Friday on the 24th of February, after the first tabling in October 2022 by the previous Ismail Sabri administration was thrown out, due to parliament being dissolved. With a new unity government at the helm, there are significant changes to what was initially tabled, with the newly consolidated Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) ministry receiving about RM6.53 billion in alloc...
Feb 26, 2023•33 min
