Category Archives: In-Depth

Long features 1200-1500 wds

In-Depth

The Climate-friendly Virgin in Terengganu

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Tropical peat swamp forests are key bastions in our defense against global warming. They store huge amounts of carbon in their soil, and their forests absorb more greenhouse gases than they release. 

Malaysia, like many other countries, has established regulations to stop the exploitation of peatland.

But private company Pure Green Development Sdn Bhd  is seeking to convert forests in Terengganu into oil palm. Its 2,228ha site includes 900 ha of virgin peat swamp forest. 

We look at the project’s catastrophic climate impact and ways to protect the forest.

Read our interactive story and share your thoughts with us below.

Read "The Climate-friendly Virgin in Terengganu"
In-Depth

Fixing Forest Plantations, Part 3: For Wood, Water, and Wildlife

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Fixing Forest Plantations, Part 3: For Wood, Water, and Wildlife

Despite foresters and planters promising tight regulations in Perak, locals are protesting one of the biggest forest plantations in the state over fears of water security and wildlife attacks.

Writer: YH Law; Editor: SL Wong

Published: 11 July 2024

Part 1 | Part 2

(Omar Pandak (right) telling fellow villagers of Kampung Bukit Chermin about the forest plantations coming to Kledang Saiong forest reserve in Perak. | Pic by YH Law)

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In-Depth

Fixing Forest Plantations, Part 2: Faster Replanting Needed

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Fixing Forest Plantations, Part 2: Faster Replanting Needed

By 2021, at least half of forest reserve sites cleared for forest plantations in Peninsular Malaysia were not replanted. Since then, Kelantan has sped up its replanting, but Pahang remains a laggard.

Writer: YH Law; Editor: SL Wong

Published: 10 July 2024

Part 1 | Part 3

(Batai saplings dot a site in the Krau forest reserve that was cleared for a forest plantation. | Pic by YH Law)

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In-Depth

Fixing Forest Plantations, Part 1: Take A Break

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Fixing Forest Plantations, Part 1: Taking a Break

Forest plantations caused so much concern that the Malaysian National Land Council called for a pause on new projects in the peninsula. But 2.5 years into the moratorium, it is not appearing to work.

Writer: YH Law; Editor: SL Wong

Published: 9 July 2024

Part 2  | Part 3

(Planters are clearing sites in the Krau forest reserve for forest plantations. | Pic by YH Law)

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In-Depth

Listen to the Birds to Save Mangroves

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Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Amar Singh-HSS)

Listen to the Birds to Save Mangroves

When birds disappear from back mangroves, the mangrove forest’s very survival could be at stake.

Produced by: Ashley Yeong, Amar-Singh HSS & SL Wong
Edited by: YH Law

Co-published with the Malaysian Bird Report

Published: June 14, 2024

(The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Sitta frontalis is absent in many mangroves in Selangor | Photo by Amar-Singh HSS)

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In-Depth

Strolling Through Magical Matang Mangroves

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Strolling Through Magical Matang Mangroves

A  walk in a thriving , healthy mangrove forest is full of splendour, diversity and birdsong.

Produced by: Ashley Yeong, Amar Singh HSS & SL Wong; Edited by: YH Law

Co-published with the Malaysian Bird Report

Published: June 14, 2024

(Boardwalk in the Pusat Eko-Pelajaran Hutan Paya Laut Matang, Kuala Sepetang, Perak  | Video by Ashley Yeong)

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In-Depth

Floods, Rising Seas Make Dumps More Dangerous

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We already have a rubbish problem, but floods, sea-level rise and other climate crisis impacts make implementing solutions critical.

THE LANDFILL looms like a Titan, 27 meters into the sky, a stark symbol of Malaysians’ mounting waste problem. That is as tall as a 4-storey building. Its decaying mound emits a foul stench, all from the waste we generate.

This is the Jeram landfill in Selangor, which receives waste from 6 local councils in the Klang Valley. Within 10 minutes, 30 trucks unload their contents onto the ever-growing heap. Every day, 1,000 rubbish trucks dump on average, 3.7 million kilograms of waste into the landfill.

(Feature image: Scavengers like cattle egrets find sustenance in waste, but these heaps are getting more dangerous to animals and humans by the day. | Photo by Ashley Yeong)

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In-Depth

Conserving Arowanas Needs More Than Releasing Fish

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The Asian arowana is a fish, a paradox, and an ongoing test of how commercial trade of an endangered animal could help conserve it.  

The fish, once a common food fish for locals from Cambodia to Indonesia, shot to stardom among pet fish enthusiasts and was hunted to rarity in rivers and lakes. But fish breeders learned to rear Asian arowanas in muddy ponds. Every year, hundreds of thousands of farmed Asian arowanas are exported worldwide, many of them from Malaysia.

(Feature image: A golden Asian arowana. | Photo by Eric Chiang/Macaranga)

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In-Depth

Mass Producing to Save Pitcher Plants A Tricky Business

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Horticulturists say producing lots of pitcher plants can conserve wild plants. Is it enough though, when ever more new species whet buyers’ appetites?

IN JULY 2023, a Filipino Facebook post appeared advertising the sale of a Malaysian tropical pitcher plant, Nepenthes berbulu. What was on sale were seeds, purportedly harvested on July 15. The thing is, this is a newly discovered species of pitcher plant from Malaysia’s Titiwangsa Mountains.

Its existence was made public a mere 4 months earlier in a scientific publication. The plant’s exact location was not disclosed and specimens were also only supposedly collected for research.

(Feature photo:  Flooding the market with affordable propagated Nepenthes helps reduce pressure on wild plants. | Image: Bryan Yong)

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In-Depth

Empangan di Negeri Perak Ancam Keramat Batu dan Perkuburan Moyang

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Beberapa siri empangan kecil berikutan peralihan hijau negeri Perak cetuskan bantahan komuniti Orang Asli. Diterjemah oleh Shazni Bhai.

PERJALANAN pacuan empat roda melambung-lambung sepanjang laluan berliku mendaki Gunung Korbu di negeri Perak. Empat puluh minit ke pedalaman terdapat binaan konkrit didirikan berketinggian 5 meter atau hampir 2 tingkat.

Binaan itu adalah sebuah empangan hidro elektrik mini, yang akan dikerah bagi menjana 7 megawatt (MW) tenaga boleh diperbaharui untuk grid kuasa elektrik.

Ini adalah salah satu empangan hidro elektrik mini yang akan dibina di seluruh negeri ini. Walau pun bertujuan untuk memenuhi komitmen tenaga boleh diperbaharui kerajaan, konflik dengan komuniti Orang Asli dilihat makin meningkat.

(Imej utama: Tenaga boleh diperbaharui dijana oleh empangan hidro mini di Sungai Korbu, namun untuk siapa dan apa korbannya? | Foto: Ashley Yeong)

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