Our good friends from Zero Waste Malaysia return, this time to talk about the 30 Day Zero Waste Challenge which will encourage Malaysians to adopt more sustainable habits, one baby step at a time. This new community engaging project is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) and we find out all about what's in store from Zero Waste Malaysia's Khor Sue Yee (Co-founder and Director) and Jasreel Lim (Head of Finance & Funding and External Relations). Image credit: Zero Waste M...
Sep 27, 2021•26 min
The message is clear - we only have a small window left to save the Malayan tiger. More than just a national icon, tigers play a critical role in maintaining the balance of our forest ecosystem. To know how many tigers still remain in Peninsula Malaysia and where, a definitive new survey is being carried out, and thousands of camera traps have been placed throughout the rainforest, providing a rare insight into what happens deep in our rainforests, but also the dangers that lurk within. The film...
Sep 22, 2021•44 min
The message is clear - we only have a small window left to save the Malayan tiger. More than just a national icon, tigers play a critical role in maintaining the balance of our forest ecosystem. To know how many tigers still remain in Peninsula Malaysia and where, a definitive new survey is being carried out, and thousands of camera traps have been placed throughout the rainforest, providing a rare insight into what happens deep in our rainforests, but also the dangers that lurk within. The film...
Sep 22, 2021•44 min
Gibbons provide one of nature's most enchanting concerts - welcoming the sunrise with their songs, as a way to mark their territories, celebrate unions and more. But their songs are being used by poachers as a means to track and capture juvenile gibbons for the wildlife pet trade, and coupled with habitat loss, gibbons are being pushed further into the endangered species list. The Gibbon Conservation Society have been working tirelessly to rescue gibbons who have been poached and kept illegally ...
Sep 20, 2021•32 min
As far as Dr Nurzhafarina Othman is concerned, to ensure the survival of Bornean elephants, people need to understand that we need to co-exist with them. An elephant ecologist and founder of NGO Seratu Aatai, Dr Farina and her team try to find ways for people and wildlife to co-exist peacefully, and to avoid human-elephant conflicts, both inside and outside of protected areas in Sabah. She joins us for a 101 on this smallest Asian elephant subspecies - classified by the International Union...
Sep 15, 2021•34 min
They have a head like a horse, a tail like a monkey, possess the ability to change colour like a chameleon, and to grow weed-like appendages on their body. On top of that, they are socially monogamous, the males are the ones who give birth, and seahorse babies are called "fry"! But across the world, seahorses are in trouble, threatened by habitat loss, and sold in a massive global trade, with tens of millions of them taken from the sea each year. Scientists say this can’t go on, or seahors...
Sep 13, 2021•38 min
Project Reef Spawn was a winner of the North American Association for Environmental Education 30 under 30 Changemaker Grant 2021, and was developed to deliver effective environmental education, specifically for the marine environment. The project has three components, which included capacity-development for 12 selected youths through virtual and hands-on activities. Two of the youth who have completed the virtual part, Priyangka Gunasagaran and Muhammad Irfan Hazim bin Mowardi, join us to...
Sep 08, 2021•38 min
The mission to keep Taman Rimba Kiara as a park that benefits all continues, as the Federal Court has allowed DBKL and the other parties involved to appeal against the quashing of the development order, and commence with an appeal to reinstate the development over a portion of the public park. We catch up with Hafiz Abu Bakar, the Chairman of the TTDI Residents Association, and Leon Koay, the Committee Coordinator of the Save Taman Rimba Kiara Working Group about this new development in the case...
Sep 06, 2021•43 min
Over 45,000 formal objections, over 130,000 online signatures in protest, a huge turnout at the public hearing against the move, clear and unmistakable dissent from the communities of the Kuala Langat North forest reserve including the Orang Asli, huge public outcry from civil societies and the public in general, 56 representatives in the Selangor State Assembly voting unanimously to support a motion to protect all forest reserves in Selangor. Despite all this, the Selangor State Executive Counc...
Sep 01, 2021•35 min
In this month's roundup of environmental news with Macaranga's Wong Siew Lyn & Law Yao Hua, we remember and pay tribute to the late Balu Perumal, MNS's Head of Conservation, who passed away from COVID-19 in early August. We also remember those who lost their lives in the devastating floods in Kedah, and discuss whether logging and deforestation played a part in the devastation caused by the heavy rainfall. Finally, we look at how the banteng - the wild cattle of Borneo - are being poached to...
Aug 30, 2021•21 min
It's becoming clearer that there are connections between democracy and climate change - climate change is impacting democratic governance with its effects on food security, migration and water scarcity. As Malaysia pushes to recover from the pandemic and get back on track to becoming a developed nation, how will we adopt policies to adapt to the climate crisis, reduce our carbon footprint, and ensure our future stability? How must leaders, especially the freshly minted Malaysian Cabinet, incorpo...
Aug 30, 2021•23 min
They're a symbol of national pride, of bravery, courage and regalness. The Malayan tiger is prominently featured in our national coat of arms, and Malaysia's football team is also affectionately referred to as ‘Harimau Malaya.’ But the Malayan tiger is also officially listed as Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. According to WWF-Malaysia, there are less than 200 Malayan tigers left in the wild here in Malaysia. Why are their numbers still dwindling, ...
Aug 25, 2021•31 min
When visiting Sabah for the first time back in 1994, Dr Marc Ancrenaz, together with Dr Isabelle Lackman, realised that many orangutans were hanging around in disturbed and over-logged forests. They decided to establish an intensive study site in the fragmented forests of Lower Kinabatangan to study orangutan adaptation to habitat disturbance, and thus, the NGO Hutan was born. Then in 1998, they established the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (KOCP) in the village of Sukau, a...
Aug 23, 2021•48 min
When visiting Sabah for the first time back in 1994, Dr Marc Ancrenaz, together with Dr Isabelle Lackman, realised that many orangutans were hanging around in disturbed and over-logged forests. They decided to establish an intensive study site in the fragmented forests of Lower Kinabatangan to study orangutan adaptation to habitat disturbance, and thus, the NGO Hutan was born. Then in 1998, they established the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (KOCP) in the village of Sukau, a...
Aug 23, 2021•48 min
It's being called a Code Red for Humanity. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report , which was prepared by 234 scientists from 66 countries, highlights how human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years. This sobering assessment - endorsed by the world's governments - is the first major review of the science of climate change since 2013. What does it predict and what needs to be done to prevent more catastrophe? ...
Aug 18, 2021•47 min
They're the largest land mammal on the Asian continent, a keystone species, invaluable ecosystem engineers, and cute to boot. Decades ago, the Asian Elephant could be found in almost every state in Peninsular Malaysia, but their numbers have dwindled so much that these days, you'll likely encounter them in only six states. The usual litany of issues - habitat loss and fragmentation, and human-elephant conflict - are causing their numbers to decline. The Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elepha...
Aug 09, 2021•40 min
Back in January of this year, scientists devised what they called the " 10 golden rules for reforestation ", around ‘right tree, right place’ principle. These rules challenged the myth that ‘all tree planting is good’ and brought out discussions of best practices for protecting and restoring the world’s forests. Many of those rules were already being put into practice by conservationists here in Malaysia, and we speak to Afzaa Aziz ( Tropical Rainforest Conser...
Aug 04, 2021•49 min
As we've seen, pandemic or not, a conservationist's work carries on, as threats to the survival of wildlife continue. The same is the case for Dr Chen Pelf Nyok and her team at the Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia , who have been working tirelessly to ensure the survival of river terrapins, a critically-endangered freshwater turtle species here in Malaysia. While working for the survival of terrapins, the team at TCS also work to ensure local communities - who are similarly involved in co...
Aug 02, 2021•38 min
It was International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem On Monday – celebrated annually on the 26th of July - and on Monday's episode of Earth Matters , we did a 101 on the characteristics of mangroves, and why they are so important to people and the planet. (Hint: They are carbon-hoarding, coastline-protecting forests which are sponges for greenhouse gases, among many other things.) On today's episode, we focus on the threats the mangrove ecosystem faces, and look at solut...
Jul 28, 2021•44 min
For July's look-back, the Co-Founders, Co-Editors and Writers of Macaranga.org , Wong Siew Lyn & Law Yao Hua, have plants on their minds. First up, it was recently reported that Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths Limited is considering a new site to build their permanent disposal facility for their radioactive waste, from the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant. The company is reportedly planning a smaller disposal facility just next to their current facilities in the Gebeng Industrial Park. Will...
Jul 26, 2021•19 min
Mangroves are described as rare, spectacular and prolific ecosystems on the boundary between land and sea, which contribute to the wellbeing, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide. But reports estimate that 67% of mangroves have been lost or degraded to date, and an additional 1% is lost each year, putting mangroves at a risk of being destroyed altogether. In conjunction with this year's International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, we're doing a two-...
Jul 26, 2021•31 min
Mangroves are described as rare, spectacular and prolific ecosystems on the boundary between land and sea, which contribute to the wellbeing, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide. But reports estimate that 67% of mangroves have been lost or degraded to date, and an additional 1% is lost each year, putting mangroves at a risk of being destroyed altogether. In conjunction with this year's International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, we're doing a two-...
Jul 26, 2021•31 min
Social enterprise Hara Makers have been working towards reducing plastic pollution, and started the Reimagine Plastic Project as a way of working towards that. The initiative is also a community and income-generating project for the economically disadvantaged, by providing them with vocational skills in recycling and upcycling of plastic waste. They have successfully fused plastic bags and plastic packaging into fabric, and even melted harder plastics such as bread tags into flower pots, coaster...
Jul 21, 2021•42 min
A staple Hari Raya dish, there is little research on the origins of the ketupat, though academics date its beginnings to 14th and 15th century Java. Traditionally made from different species of palm leaves, many now opt for "ketupat plastik" - which is cheaper and readily available, but also less sustainable, and yet another contributor to plastic waste. Dr Jarina Mohd Jani, a senior lecturer at the faculty of science and marine environment at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) has embarked on...
Jul 19, 2021•36 min
Pua Lay Peng received death threats, had her home splashed with red paint, her work and life disrupted, and was accused of having nothing better to do by the authorities - all in the name of protecting her home in Jenjarom from unlicensed plastic recyclers. These illegal operators were turning the area into a toxic cauldron of pollution, whose modus operandi was to set up ad-hoc factories in quiet areas, contaminate the groundwater as they process plastic waste, and illegally dump or burn whatev...
Jul 14, 2021•33 min
From January to July 2018, Malaysia became the world's top destination for plastic waste exports. Even today, we are still reeling from pollution and effects caused by other countries’ waste - a sharp rise in illegal recycling facilities and illegal dumpsites, and land, water and air pollution. The C4 Center or the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism's research into the issue found that the problems plaguing the plastic recycling industry include allegations of smuggling, factories op...
Jul 12, 2021•40 min
From a Facebook group to a full-fledged movement and organisation, the folks behind Zero Waste Malaysia are keeping up the good fight to get more Malaysians on-board with the zero-waste way of life. Always exploring new ways to reach people, last year they launched a Lesson Plan and virtual classroom, and now, they are going to launch the MY Zero Waste Life - Summarized handbook, a free-to-access guide available in four languages. In their own words, it is a "treasure trove of information ...
Jul 07, 2021•38 min
World Firefly Day is observed annually during the first weekend in July, and is a global celebration of these fascinating and amazing creatures that inspire wonder in so many of us. Dr Sara Lewis, a Professor of Biology at Tufts University, has researched the luminous lives of fireflies for nearly three decades now, and she is also the co-chair of the IUCN Firefly Specialist Group, and works on global firefly conservation. She joins us for an illuminating chat about these most de-light-ful creat...
Jul 05, 2021•28 min
We've all been living through a traumatic year, both in relation to this public-health crisis as well as the social-justice crossroads we face as a country. With lockdowns continuing until “underdetermined dates” in Malaysia, many are being overwhelmed by feelings of despair, loneliness, anger and fatigue, among others. Can turning to the natural world be the panacea to help us get through these times? We discuss this and more with Baida Hercus, the President of the environmental NGO...
Jun 30, 2021•26 min
In this month's round-up, we first look at all the news surrounding old and new environmental extractive projects - the Penang South Islands reclamation, the mining projects at Tasik Chini and Som forest, the sand-mining at Setiu Wetlands - what gives? Next up, we look at a massive deforestation project in Bukit Ibam, Pahang, which will displace Orang Asli families, and also the land dispute cases in Sarawak, where Penan and Kenyah groups are alleging that they haven't given free, prior, informe...
Jun 28, 2021•21 min
