When the current Environmental Quality Act was enacted in 1974, Malaysia’s environment was in a significantly better shape. Most of Sabah and Sarawak were still covered in thick forests, while mainland Malaysia, too, boasted large swathes of virgin forest. Air and water pollution were yet endemic and the nation’s marine…

Sunda clouded leopards aren’t just rare. They are also highly elusive. They are so elusive in fact that mere sightings of them can qualify as newsworthy occurrences. Thus the feat of a foreign photographer in capturing on camera a female clouded leopard walking through a forest with her two cubs…

A man and a woman at a parking lot in the town of Donggongon, in Sabah. That seems innocuous enough. Except the pair were there to sell a live pangolin, which is illegal. “They were trying to sell the pangolin to a ‘customer’ at the parking lot, where the transaction…

Large parts of Penang are prone to occasional flooding. Climate change makes weather patterns more erratic and exposes tropical islands like Penang to increased risks of severe flooding. There’s next to nothing people on Penang can do about climate change, which is a global phenomenon and needs a global response….

In the highland forest of Batang Toru in North Sumatra live a small colony of orangutans. They are largely isolated from other orangutans. It turns out they’re not just any orangutans but an entirely different and hitherto unknown species of the great apes. So say scientists who have sequenced the…

The sooner young Malaysians become aware of environmental issues, the better. And we can’t just expect children to develop a passion for the environment on their own. We have to teach them to appreciate the natural bounty of Malaysia and we have to teach them how to be good stewards…

Forests continue to shrink, boxing animals into ever smaller living spaces. More and more roads continue crisscrossing areas thick with forests. These developments lead inevitably to similar outcomes: more animals will end up as roadkill while they seek to cross from one wooded area to another. Just this past August…

Across vast stretches of Borneo lush rainforests have been felled for timber and land. In their place have sprouted endless stretches of oil palm plantations. In Sabah, a mere fifth of the state is now covered in forests. The area’s storied biodiversity has suffered greatly as a result with numerous…

Malaysia’s first locally born giant panda is heading back home. Does that sound like a contradiction? It does, doesn’t it? The female panda called Nuan Nuan (“warmth”) was born in Malaysia (in Kuala Lumpur zoo, to be precise) on August 18 in 2015. So if she was born here, doesn’t…

Many poachers do not go about killing wild animals out of fun. Nor do many farmers take revenge on wild animals just because they feel like it. Rather, there are routinely economic reasons behind both wildlife poaching and revenge attacks against animals, like elephants, that destroy crops, thereby unwittingly inviting…

Across Malaysia’s wildlife reserves and national parks rangers and officers are invariably undermanned and underfunded. Yet in the Danum Valley, Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon this will change. Teams of 50 wildlife rangers, armed and alert, will be taking turns to hunt down poachers in the areas falling within the…

For many Indonesians, songbirds aren’t just pretty little things that gladden the heart with their joyful chirps. They are invaluable parts of their culture and very identity. Many of these hobbyists will go to great lengths to acquire prized birds. Those lengths include poaching rare songbirds relentlessly from forests. And…

Millions of ringgit in losses over an area of 30 hectares. That’s how much damage a herd of feeding elephants can inflict on a plantation, according to the Sabah Wildlife Department. In just a single night elephants can destroy six hectares of crops, the department’s head Augustine Tuuga explained. “Elephant…

HIV/Aids, malaria, tuberculosis. These deadly diseases continue to take horrible tolls on the lives of millions of people, especially in developing countries. Yet the combined death toll from these three diseases pales in comparison with the death toll caused by pollution. So say researchers who have published a study in…

Recently some two dozens protesters gathered at Malaysia’s consulate in New York. They were holding signs and calling on tourists to boycott the country. The reason: Lasah, an ageing work elephant, remains in bondage at Langkawi Elephant Adventures (LEA) amusement park on Langkawi island in Kedah. The 37-year-old pachyderm was born…

The juvenile zebra shark was recently on sale at a market stall in Miri, Sarawak. When Iqbal Abdollah, chairman of the local branch of the Malaysian Nature Society, saw it, he instantly knew there was a problem. This species is listed as “endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List. Therefore, it should…