Malaysians are all too familiar with the periodic haze from slash-and-burning cultivation, which regularly ends up covering much of the country in noxious fumes for days and weeks on end. Beyond the obvious health effects, the haze exudes an air of inconvenience. Traffic often grinds to a standstill in affected…

As the peak of the dry seasons looms, so does the risk of forest fires. And forest fires in Malaysia and Indonesia can spell disaster. To forestall that eventuality, Malaysia is ready to send firefighters to Indonesia to help extinguish open fires, according to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan…

They’ve had enough and set out to stop it. “They”: an alliance of farmers, citizens, environmentalists and agriculture companies. “It”: the periodic haze caused by the widespread burning of trees, shrubs and other vegetation in Indonesia. The Fire-Free Alliance, which was set up a year ago in the wake of a massive…

Here we go again: yet another forest fire. A flash fire that started on February 21 in Sarawak devastated at least 200 hectares of forest in the northern part of the state within the space of a single day. The flames, which continue to rage, have already destroyed precious natural resources,…

Palm oil production is an integral part of Malaysia’s economy. On second thought, make that a vital part: the country is the commodity’s second largest producer in the world, after neighboring Indonesia, producing nearly 20 billion tons of palm oil annually. The industry, which accounts for up to 6% of…