Category Archives: Insight

Short features 500-1200 words

Helping Sabah’s Sun Bears Return to the Wild

(Feature image: Sun bears Sunbearo and Loki being released into the forest in 2021. The two were among the 12 bears released by the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) between 2015–2022. (Tee Thye Lim/BSBCC))

Returning rescued sun bears to their wild homes is tough and too many die in the process. While conservationists labour to help these bears, they say it is better that the bears never left the forests.

INSIDE SABAH’S Tabin Wildlife reserve, just over an hour’s drive from the seaside town of Lahad Datu, 4 men trudge into a natural clearing in the forest, their footing sure despite the muddy terrain. They are carefully hauling the disassembled parts of a wild bear trap.

One man empties a packet of bait into a small cage made of wire mesh. He hoists and suspends the small cage into the air. His 2 other teammates rapidly assemble the bear trap.

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Banking on River Reserves to Protect Water Supply

Selangor wants to secure its water supply with more river reserves. But will the law have teeth? And what about protecting the forests that feed the rivers?

SELANGOR residents are no strangers to frequent water cuts. They have suffered water cuts due to river pollution every year in the last decade except for 2017 and 2018, according to news reports.

Pollution in the raw water intake, particularly from illegal dumping and industrial discharge into rivers, has forced Air Selangor to shut down key treatment plants. Such disruptions severely impact the water supply for residents across Klang Valley and surrounding regions.

(Feature image: Volunteers doing their best to keep a riverbank clean in Taman Melawati, Selangor. River pollution has caused major and costly water cuts in the state. |  Photo by Chen Yih Wen)

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Langur In City Spotlights Efforts To Tackle Wildlife Trade Online

IN OCTOBER 2023, ecologist Izereen Mukri received a phone call and a photo about a “weird monkey” in the urban park near his house called Taman Subang Ria in Selangor.

Izereen glanced at the photo. Greyish black with a long tail – it was a Selangor silvery langur, Trachypithecus selangorensis, a primate species classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. These langurs live in mangroves or by rivers, not in a park surrounded by roads and buildings. 

He went to observe the langur. It was a female that must have felt terribly alone as the species naturally lives in a group. It was not eating its natural diet of shoots, but the apples and bananas left by park visitors. It was also relaxed when humans got close. Izereen, who spoke to Macaranga in his personal capacity, suspects that it used to be someone’s pet.

(Feature image: The lone female Selangor silvery langur found lingering in an urban park in Subang Jaya, Selangor. “It was a beautiful shot. But I rather not have it,” said wildlife photographer Izereen Mukri of this January 2024 photo. | Photo by Izereen Mukri)

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Social Media Makes It So Easy To Like And Buy Exotic Pets

AT 7pm JUST after dinner, Sam* would walk his dog around his neighbourhood block in Petaling Jaya, come home and feed the dog. Then he would either play online video games with his friends or scroll through social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram right before bed. 

And once every few weeks, he adds something to this routine. After feeding his dog he would feed his other pets: a ball python (Python regius), a bearded dragon (Pogona spp.) and a sulcata tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata).

(Feature image: Screenshot of exotic pet content on popular social media platform TikTok.  | Image by Macaranga)

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气候变迁法案是系统治灾依据

治灾防灾靠的不只是人力财力,更需要完善的法律。

为解决气候变迁和频繁水灾的根本问题,气候变迁法案是其中一个尚在规划的方案,而前能源、工艺、科学、气候变化及环境部长兼蒲种国会议员杨美盈希望在团结政府届满前,在国会提呈及通过气候变迁法案。

她之前解释,政府应成立一支特工队,设下18个月的目标,在2年内完成气候变迁法案。

(图片:水灾给百姓带来巨大的损失。| 来源:Canva 图片库)

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可持续规划,治水灾根本

气候变迁导致降雨骤增,更揭露了我国长期忽视排水需求的根本问题。我们该如何对治频频发生的严重水灾呢?

每年年杪至年初,水灾一直是马来西亚的重大课题。根据国家灾难管理机构(NADMA)灾难控制中心发出的最新全国灾难事故报告指出,2023年11月11日至2024年1月13日期间,累计有2万2966户家庭和7万4807名受害者安置在临时疏散中心(PPS),其影响农地达4900公顷,造成我国2300万令吉的经济损失。

(图片:淹没的村镇。 | 来源:Canva 图片库)

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Unlocking Rare Earth Riches in Malaysia

The world wants a lot more rare earths to power its green technology and meet climate goals. This offers lucrative opportunities for Malaysia to tap into its subterranean rare earth deposits of 16.1 billion tonnes. But first, the country wants to develop guidelines for a rare earth mining method said to be safer for the environment. Can Malaysia produce rare earths for the world’s green technology, and keep itself clean too?

(Image: A rare earth mining  facility in Perak; satellite image taken in January 2022. | Image: Google Earth)

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As Disasters Rise, Climate Change Act Clearly Needed

While its towns bear the consequences of extreme weather, experts and politicians push for a long-awaited climate bill to be signed into law.

MANY Malaysians remember the floods of December 2021, when roads turned to rivers, and homes were swept away or submerged by rising water. 

The disaster claimed 50 lives, at least 400,000 people had to be evacuated and financial losses were estimated at RM6.1 billion, according to a 2022 analysis by Serina Rahman, an environmental anthropologist.

Young Syefura Othman, the member of parliament for Bentong district in Pahang, recalls how three consecutive days of pelting rain inundated her constituency. The flooding happened “of course because of climate change,” she said.

(A man walks through floodwaters in Taman Sri Muda, Malaysia, December 2021  | Image: Alamy)

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Securing Water in a Harsher Climate

El Niño sparks concerns of dry taps in Malaysia. And as global temperatures increase, so will droughts and heatwaves, experts say. In response, government agencies are coordinating water assets and integrating water management for better water security.

EL NIÑO is back, casting its fiery spell upon Malaysia once more.

Last observed in 2019, this natural phenomenon is often synonymous with hot and dry weather in Malaysia. During particularly strong El Niño events in 1997 and 2015, millions of Malaysians endured water rationing – some for months – as dams dried up.

Now, experts are sounding the alarm as they predict this El Niño weather might last until March 2024 and intensify. To shield ourselves from the impacts of El Niño, it is now more vital than ever to ensure our water resources are well prepared. But can we?

(Photo: Air Hitam Dam is one of three dams on Penang Island. Authorities had to do cloud-seeding in June 2023 to replenish the dropping water levels at the dam. | Image from Google Earth Pro, June 22, 2022)

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