Nature is trendy again. Conservationist Surin Suksuwan takes a look at the journey of colonial-era ‘Nature Study’ to the present.
NOW, PERHAPS more than ever before, Nature is becoming a concern for all rather than just to a fringe group who are labelled as tree huggers.
Unfortunately, it has taken the combined crises of climate change and biodiversity loss for people to realise that the Earth is in trouble and we cannot go on with business as usual.
(Feature pic: Nature Study was once taught to primary and secondary schoolchildren. | All photos by Surin Suksuwan)
Those who have been working within the Sustainability and Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) space would be aware that the metrics for measuring nature dependencies and biodiversity impacts are even more complex than for those related to carbon and climate change.
The regulators, the CEOs, the sustainability leads, etc. may be wondering why is it so difficult to pin down the metrics despite all the biodiversity researchers and conservationists out there having worked on nature conservation for decades.
The short answer is that biodiversity is complex. Living organisms do not behave in predictable ways the way an atom (eg. C) or a molecule (eg. CO2) would, and these organisms interact with each other within a natural ecosystem which is very dynamic.
In order to make sense of it all, there is a need to go back to basics.
It used to be that most schools taught nature appreciation or “Nature Study” as a subject at the elementary or primary level of schooling. This is to ensure that all students have a basic understanding of their natural world.
In Malaya (prior to Independence and the formation of the Federation of Malaysia), Nature Study was taught as a subject at the primary and secondary school levels.
The syllabus for Nature Study dates back to at least 1927 when the subject was known as “Gardening” (see below). The teaching of Nature Study continued for a while after the formation of Malaysia in 1963 before it was taken out of the syllabus.
“Gardening” (sic) syllabus of Malay vernacular schools in 1927
Scanned from: Anon. Regulation for The Malay Vernacular Schools in the Straits Settlement and Federated Malay State and for The Sultan Idris Training College, Education Code V 1332/27. The Government Printing Office, Singapore. As cited in: Khairi Ariffin, Mohd Hairy Ibrahim, Ramli Saadon, Fauziah Che Leh, Sahul Hamid Mohamed Maiddin, Mohd Kamal Kamaruddin & Siti Fatimah Ali Nur Ali. 2018. Gardening Subject in Malay Vernacular Schools on the British Colonial Period in Malaya. Sci. Int. (Lahore) 30(3): 441-444.
This change in syllabus was likely due to a number of reasons related to the development imperative of the young nation at that time.
For example, many historians are of the opinion that the British colonial government’s decision to introduce Malay vernacular schools in Malaya was to educate students to “merely” become better farmers and fishermen rather than to inspire them to so-called higher aspirations, better occupations and scale the social ladder.
Notwithstanding that, a positive outcome was that it produced a generation of Malayans who were relatively informed about their natural world.
My parents can identify a good number of local and introduced plants, having benefited from the school system of that era (although it could be argued that their childhood in a rural agrarian community in Kedah also infused them with traditional ecological knowledge).
I recall the time when I came across a bean-like pod which I couldn’t identify. I showed the pod to my mom – she couldn’t figure out what it was exactly but suggested that it could belong to the same plant family as the Beka tree (Oroxylon indicum).
Later, I managed to work out that the pod belonged to a Tabebuia tree, a popular ornamental tree introduced from South America, which does indeed belong to the same family (Bignoniaceae) as the Beka!
When the country’s first university, Universiti Malaya, was established in Kuala Lumpur in 1962 , the natural sciences such as botany and zoology were amongst the first courses to be introduced.
Among its academic staff were renowned botanists and zoologists including Lord Medway (now the Earl of Cranbrook), the late Benjamin Stone, David Wells and Kiew Bong Heang.
As Malaysia gradually dismantled the shackles of colonisation, there was a gradual shift of emphasis towards science and technology.
This culminated in a more pronounced pivot during the first tenure of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Muhammad (1981—2003). Tun had an aversion to nature conservation, agriculture and other disciplines associated with the rural economy and their associated stigma of poverty and backwardness.
Illustrative of this was renaming of Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (the Agricultural University) to Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Nature studies was no longer taught as a subject during my entire schooling life in Malaysia from the early 1980s to early 1990s.
When I was applying for a scholarship from the Malaysian government for my undergraduate studies, the courses available to applicants, were all focused on economic development. Botany, zoology and nature related subjects were conspicuously missing.
I ended up applying for a BSc in Biotechnology which was the closest thing I could find to my interest.
Many conservationists of my generation did not actually study biodiversity-related courses for their first degree due to the limited opportunities available, and also parental and societal pressures against doing degrees that do not ensure job security.
Yet, many of us found our way into conservation work somehow, out of passion.
Fast forward to the present. A continuing legacy of the educational policy is that most younger Malaysians now do not learn about their natural world in the formal education system.
Fortunately, environmental NGOs have helped to fill the gap by organising nature-based activities for kids, but their reach is limited by the availability of resources.
But with the rising interest and concern about Climate and Nature, more universities are starting to offer nature-related courses. However, these are usually packaged into more “practical” offerings such as bioindustry, medical biotechnology, environmental science, and resource science and management.
Also, much has been lost in the intervening years. Some of the technical and institutional capacity has become diluted during the years when nature was neglected.
There are fewer mentors and tutors around who can provide much need technical guidance to those wanting to learn about the biodiversity in Malaysia.
,
Published resources such as reference books for the identification and taxonomy of some of the animal groups (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects) have become harder to find and/or have become outdated.
Sadly, even the older reference books are being removed from school and public libraries as their condition deteriorates or when the books are no longer actively used.
In my new vocation as a nature bookshop owner, I have come across many such books with their pages stamped to indicate that they have been expunged from library collections.
Most of these books have been out of print for many years and you’d be lucky to find them in bookshops specialising in used books (or “preloved” books as some people would describe them).
Resilient human systems
Despite these setbacks, it is still possible to be positive about Nature.
Natural ecosystems have been known to be resilient, provided that the degradation has not reached the point of ecosystem collapse, and conditions are suitable for regeneration as well as the replenishment of genetic resources.
Similarly, the ecosystem of biodiversity practitioners in the country can be revitalised – capacity can be rebuilt and libraries can be restocked.
There is much to be done to make up for the lost years but there are exciting times ahead as Nature regains its rightful place at the top of our global (and hopefully national) agenda.
Surin Suksuwan is a biodiversity conservationist and a nature interpreter with more than 25 years of experience. He is also a co-founder of Sunda Shelves, a nature bookshop in Kuala Lumpur.
[Edited by SL Wong]
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Macaranga.
Support home-grown journalism
Know what is happening at home. As newrooms creak under the weight of inadequate resources, we at Macaranga feel it is more important than ever to build media locally to carry local news. Support Macaranga. Sign up for as little as RM10 a month.
