Coral Reefs are getting KO’d by Climate Change

Coral Reefs are getting KO’d by Climate Change

Coral bleaching is bad news for fragile marine ecosystems. Mass bleaching of corals on a wide scale is worse news still. Yet bleaching en masse reefs around the seas are, according to scientists who have surveyed bleaching records of 100 reefs collected between 1980 and 2016 from around the tropics….

Environmental Education may Soon be Taught in Malaysian Schools

Environmental Education may Soon be Taught in Malaysian Schools

Earlier this year Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, minister of Natural Resources and Environment, announced that his ministry was considering introducing environmental education into school curricula. The aim, he said, was to inculcate a love of nature in young Malaysians and to teach them about sustainable ways of living. A great…

Renewable Energy Sources can be made Wildlife Friendly

Renewable Energy Sources can be made Wildlife Friendly

The planet’s climate is in trouble, owing to our reckless burning of fossil fuels, and our only hope for improvement lies in transitioning to cleaner and greener energy sources. So far so good. The trouble is, however, that not even renewable energy comes without some environmental and aesthetic costs. To…

Let’s Make Ecotourism Work

Beautiful beaches. World-class diving spots. Scenic forests. Picturesque landscapes. Misty mountaintops. Fantastic biodiversity. Malaysia is a land of unsurpassed natural beauty with unique treasures. Not surprisingly, tourists from around the world keep flocking to the country. Last year alone nearly 27 million visitors came, generating MR82 billion in tourism income….

Borneo’s Orangutans are on the Retreat

Borneo’s Orangutans are on the Retreat

Orangutans in Borneo’s jungles have been facing grim prospects. Relentless deforestation has been depriving them of their traditional habitats. All they can do in the face of encroaching development is to seek refuge in denser vegetation in the hope of staying out of sight and out of harm’s way. Unless…

Rahayu the Turtle is back Home in Malaysia

Rahayu the Turtle is back Home in Malaysia

Rahayu the turtle is back home safe. She will be returned to the wild in Malaysia, where she belongs. The endangered Malaysian freshwater turtle was rescued in Singapore in October 2015 after a local saw her crossing a road. The turtle, which weighs around 30kg, was discovered with a fish hook in her mouth. The reptile was…

‘Save Penang’s Trees in Urban Areas’

‘Save Penang’s Trees in Urban Areas’

Trees are trees and they are worth protecting no matter where they are. That’s the rationale behind a call by the Penang Nature Conservation Society (PENCONS) on local authorities to protect the island’s trees not only in Penang’s forests but also in its urban areas. What with the high rate of…

Russia’s Reindeer Apocalypse may be a Foretaste of things to Come

Russia’s Reindeer Apocalypse may be a Foretaste of things to Come

Despite all the dire warnings about the impending environmental impacts of global warming, climate change remains an abstract concept for many people around the world, Malaysians included. That is because the effects of climate change still remain largely unnoticeable in many parts of the world. The days may feel a…

For world-class Environmentalism, we should look to tiny Slovenia

For world-class Environmentalism, we should look to tiny Slovenia

Slovenia is a small European nation wedged between Italy, Hungary and Croatia. It covers a little more than 20,000 square kilometers and has a population of just over 2 million. Yet this tiny nation is a veritable giant when it comes to environmentalism. According to the Legatum Institute, a London-based…

Teeing-off Python: A curious Snake drops by a Golf Tournament in KL

Teeing-off Python: A curious Snake drops by a Golf Tournament in KL

A Malaysian python made headlines worldwide … by disrupting a major golf tournament. A six-foot-long python was spotted slithering across the green at the Klang Valley resort in Kuala Lumpur before the juvenile reptile was safely removed so the tournament could resume uninterrupted. The animal was then released unharmed at…

Malaysia is a ‘global hub’ of Smuggling and Trafficking: UN

Malaysia is a ‘global hub’ of Smuggling and Trafficking: UN

This should come as no surprise to Malaysians, especially those who are familiar with the sorry state of affairs when it comes to extensive deforestation and wildlife poaching: The country is a leading exporter of illegally logged wood and is a hub of wildlife trafficking. That’s according to the United…

A Ray of Hope: Malaysia’s Forests are Slowly Growing

A Ray of Hope: Malaysia’s Forests are Slowly Growing

It’s easy to get despondent about the state of the environment – and not without good cause. Many natural habitats are increasingly threatened, many species have been driven to the edge of extinction, and environmental pollution has continued unabated. But now here is some good news: Malaysian forests are doing…

Borneo’s Massive Ecological Experiment

Borneo’s Massive Ecological Experiment

One of the largest ecological experiments in recorded history is being conducted in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.  It has to do with three hot-button issues – palm oil, deforestation, and biodiversity – and it hopes to find a way to point them all in the direction of sustainability. Launched in 2010,…