Bfm :: Earth Matters

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 organising FOBK Bukit Kiara Hill Walk in conjunction with Earth Day 2023 on the 21st of May, and we find out more about this from Leon Koay, the President of FOBK, who will also remind us about the many wonders found in this urban forest, including the world’s largest firefly!Image Credit: Facebook

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 organising FOBK Bukit Kiara Hill Walk in conjunction with Earth Day 2023 on the 21st of May, and we find out more about this from Leon Koay, the President of FOBK, who will also remind us about the many wonders found in this urban forest, including the world’s largest firefly!Image Credit: Facebook

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 Meenakshi Raman, the President of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, to discuss the negative social and environmental impacts this project is expected to cause, and why concerned groups are still calling for the project to be scrapped, despite the project now being scaled down by 49% to one island, from the original three.Image Credit: Facebook

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 identified 9,372ha of new threats to forests, and six land rights conflicts involving indigenous communities. We get updates from Adam Farhan, the co-founder and director of RimbaWatch.

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, describes it, the climate time-bomb is ticking, and the IPCC report is a how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb. It is a survival guide for humanity. We speak to two experts, Professor Jim Skea CBE (Co-Chair, Working Group III, IPCC) and Prof Dr Joy Jacqueline Pereira (Principal Research Fellow, SEADPRI-UKM and Vice-Chair, Working Group II, IPCC) about the synthesis report, and why it is a fundamental policy document to shape climate action during this pivotal decade.

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 Putih at Cape Rachado. From the limestone summit, you get a full panoramic view of Port Dickson's entire coastline - which is accessible via a simple trek through the jungle from the lighthouse. Guiding us again is Andrew Sebastian, the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia (ECOMY), and he’ll also let you in on how to get to a hidden beach too! Listen to our previous episodes in the series:Episode 1: Kuala TahanEpisode 2: Pulau Bangau in Teluk Intan

Description: 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, and some interesting facts on why waste happens, based on findings by an NGO distributing leftover food. Finally, we encourage you to attend Borneo Heart in Kuala Lumpur, curated by Sabah artist Yee I-Lann, which looks at indigenous identity through weaving.Image Credit: Shutterstock

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 for dispute-resolution, and many have called for stronger national and regional legal instruments to protect the rights of Malaysians affected by the haze, but there seems to be little to no updates on this. We catch up with Heng Kiah Chun, a Regional Campaign Strategist with Greenpeace Southeast Asia, to discuss the fundamental root causes of the transboundary haze crisis which must be addressed, and for an update on the pioneering complaint filed at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) in 2021 - the first to

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, and former secretary of Friends of Bukit Kiara, and also Datuk P. Gunasilan, a veteran town planner and a Fellow with the Malaysian Institute of Planners.Listen to Part 1 here.

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 peatlands are the good people from the People for Peat (PFP) coalition, who over the last four years, have supported peatland communities in Southeast Asia (SEA), to promote sustainable use of peatland in ASEAN. Malaysia's Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) were also part of the coalition, and they join us to share more about the People for Peat programme, and to shed more light on their achievements thus far. We speak to Mariam Ghani (Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Manager) and Dr. L

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 Peter Leong, a researcher and environmental activist, and former secretary of Friends of Bukit Kiara, and also Datuk P. Gunasilan, a veteran town planner and Fellow with the Malaysian Institute of Planners.

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 train our binoculars to discover the different species of birds and wildlife found in the area, before setting sail on a gentle river cruise to view the light display by fireflies! Guiding us along for this adventure is Andrew Sebastian, the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ECOMY, who assures us that we won’t regret visiting Teluk Intan, and the island of egrets!Listen to our previous episode in this series:Ep1: Kuala TahanImage Credit: Shutterstock

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 discuss the major issues related to this project, including how the EIA was approved without there being adequate measures to mitigate impacts that include unavoidable adverse impacts to the area's ecology and biodiversity.

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 strengthen their management and protection? We discuss this and more with  Mohamed Shah Redza Husein, the Director of the Perak State Park Corporation, who manages the conservation of Royal Belum and other Perak State protected areas.

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 supposedly help to reduce carbon emissions from waste treatment in the future. But is this truly the answer? We discuss the environmental and health impacts of waste incineration with Mageswari Sangaralingam (Senior Research Officer, Consumers' Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Khor Sue Yee (Co-Founder and Director, Zero Waste Malaysia) and Tasha Sabapathy (Programme Outreach and Communications Executive).Image Credit: Shutterstock

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 this loss was said to be fuelled by timber plantations - the “forest” plantation program in Peninsular Malaysia, the licenses for planted “forest” (LPF) in Sarawak and industrial timber plantations (ITP) in Sabah - but also by regulatory, social and environmental issues. We speak to Adam Farhan, the co-founder and director of RimbaWatch, to dive into the findings of their study.Image Credit: RimbaWatch

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 Department to appoint its own consultants to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIA) on development projects. Lastly, we look forward to Earth Day,  on the 22nd of April, and discuss how we can all "Invest in Our Planet."Image Credit: Shutterstock

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

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 sustainability plans, just to name a few. In conjunction with International Day of Forests, we catch up with Law Yao Hua, an environment journalist and editor with Macaranga, and a former fellow with the Rainforest Investigations Network with the Pulitzer Centre, to discuss his navigation through the multiverse of forest data in Peninsular Malaysia. We discuss what official government documents reveal about forest reserve changes in Peninsular Malaysia, and the implications and impacts of inaccurate forest datasets.Ima

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 situation on the ground, and whether indigenous communities have benefited from logging, as claimed by the authorities.Image Credit: Save Rivers