A Sabahan conservationist is studying the carbon sequestration from her project’s tree planting efforts in the severely logged Lower Kinabatangan River, in order to better understand and implement reforestation more effectively.
What Way If Not the PJD Highway?
While many Petaling Jaya residents don’t want an elevated highway through their community, they are still keen to drive. This is Part 2; read Part 1 for an interactive trip along the PJD highway.
TRAFFIC jams are a painful part of life in the Klang Valley. The Malaysian way to ease traffic, however, appears to focus largely on mega infrastructure: huge, tolled highways that cost hundreds of millions of ringgit to build.
In 2022 alone, two elevated highways were completed: the Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Highway (DASH) and the first phase of the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Highway (SUKE).
And the government is evaluating the proposal of yet another elevated highway: the Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link Expressway (PJD). However, unlike the earlier highways, the PJD would pass through some of the most crowded residential and commercial areas in Petaling Jaya.
Voices Along An Elevated Highway
The Real Meaning of ‘Water is Life’
On World Water Day this 22 March, ecosystem restoration activist Kennedy Michael brings us on a journey of rivers, dams and our role as polluters.
RIVERS. THE watering pipes of mountains and forests and fields and factories. Bringing us fresh and clean water (once upon a time, now maybe not so) from the highest elevations to the lowest lands.
The shift from hunting and gathering to agrarian societies that signalled the start of early civilizations was centred around the fresh water brought by rivers.
And just as it did 6,000 years ago, it remains today for us the main source of our civilization.
(Feature pic: Raw water is carried through main supply pipes from the Klang Gates Dam to the water treatment plants in Wangsa Maju and Bukit Nanas | Pic by Alliance for River Three)
Projects that Replaced Natural Forests in Peninsular Malaysia
Navigating the Multiverse of Forest Data
Popular Songbird Gets Trade Protection
As regulators tighten international trade of the White-rumped shama, local hunting and captive breeding continue.
“THIS ONE, nine-inch, a Kuala Lumpur champion for more than 5 times,” says Soo Hoo Kok Weng as he points to a bluish-black bird in a cage. The White-rumped shama is popular in bird-singing competitions and Soo Hoo breeds them for this purpose.
But this bird has not sired any chicks after more than a year of pairing. Soo Hoo reckons its previous owner had been feeding it stimulants to win the highly-competitive bird singing competitions. “Its sperm is spoilt,” he says. “That’s the price it has been made to pay.”
But for the species, the price is far higher than that: extinction.
(Photo: Birdkeepers enter their songbirds into competitions for prizes and prestige. Winning competitions also increases the selling price of the bird | Pic by Lee Kwai Han)
No Fiercer Tiger Defender Than Kae
What does it take to speak up for tigers? Conservationist Wong Pui May pays tribute to her mentor and a great Malayan tiger defender, Kae Kawanishi.
IT WAS IN 1998, the Year of the Tiger, that Dr Kae Kawanishi started her journey in Malayan tiger conservation. She was Malaysia’s first tiger biologist. This year marks her third Tiger Year in Malaysia.
As it draws to a close, I thought it was time that we who are following in her footsteps, thanked Kae for leading the way.
(Photo: Kae Kawanishi in Taman Negara with PERHILITAN wildlife rangers)
What Happens After Poachers Are Arrested?
Bringing poachers and illegal wildlife traders to court is complex and needs serious attention, says conservationist Nor Arlina Amirah Ahmad Ghani.
MANY Malaysians want to see people behind bars for committing wildlife crimes. But very rarely do they pay attention to the ornate pathway after the arrest and what it takes to convict offenders.
We celebrate arrests and seizures made by our enforcement officers, but the news often ends there, whereas an arrest is almost always only the first step towards reclaiming justice for wildlife in Malaysia.
(Photo: Prosecution and sentencing need to be strengthened when offenders reach the court, such as this Environmental Court in the Temerloh High, Session, and Magistrate Court | Pic by Nor Arlina Amirah for Justice for Wildlife Malaysia)
Penduduk Pitas Memulih Bakau yang Dimusnah Kolam Udang Gagal
Penduduk Pitas Memulih Bakau yang Dimusnah Kolam Udang Gagal
Penduduk setempat di Pitas, Sabah, menderita akibat kolam udang besar yang memusnahkan hutan bakau mereka dan kemudian gulung tikar.
Foto dan laporan oleh Chen Yih Wen.
Diterbitkan: 28 November 2022
