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…

In the Hollywood movie Medicine Man, an eccentric scientist, played by Scottish actor Sean Connery, seeks to save a rainforest from destruction as he believes that its unique biodiversity holds the ingredients of new cures for debilitating human diseases. A bit of celluloid fantasy? Hardly. The health of natural environments…