Tag Archives: conservation

Remarks

Nibbling Away at Kota Damansara Forest

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Inadequate protection of precious urban forests is shrinking them, warns community researcher and organiser Peter Leong.

TAPAN KUMAR Nath’s recent article in Macaranga, Support community efforts to better manage urban green spaces, shines an important light on the urgent need for community based organisations to gain a role in the governance of urban green spaces (UGS).

A 2019 study which found that KL “lost about 88% of its UGS between 2007 and 2017″ is most alarming – it highlights that the door of meaningful opportunity for these organisations’ impact in UGS governance is closing.

(Feature pic: In the densely built-up Klang Valley, remaining forest patches are precious to local communities | Photo by Dorothy Woon)

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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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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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Support Community Efforts to Better Manage Urban Green Spaces

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Urban communities appreciate green spaces and should be allowed to co-manage these areas for better results, writes interdisciplinary researcher Tapan Kumar Nath.

IN 2022, the Prime Minister of Malaysia outlined directions towards developing and improving the country’s urban green infrastructure, which would turn into therapy spaces in an effort to relieve the stresses of life that directly improve mental and physical well-being of urban people.

To achieve this vision, I urge the authorities to engage community associations actively in the governance structure of urban green spaces (UGS).

(Feature pic: Precious forests stretch across the dense urban clusters of Kota Damansara and Mont Kiara. | Pic from Google Earth Pro, 2023)

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Pengetahuan dan Undang-undang Melindungi Laut Kita

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Untuk menguruskan pantai dan lautan kita, kita menggunakan undang-undang untuk mewujudkan kawasan yang dilindungi. Tetapi pengurusannya boleh dipertingkatkan, dan melibatkan komuniti yang mempunyai pengetahuan tradisional dalam pengurusan adalah satu cara untuk melakukannya. Cerita di sini pertama kali diterbitkan dalam bahasa Inggeris pada Oktober 2023 sebagai sebahagian daripada siri #SeaWorld kami.

Kisah Nenek Moyang Boleh Menyelamatkan Perairan Kita

Seribu Satu Cara Menyelamatkan Lautan

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守护海洋的知识与法律

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为了管理马来西亚海岸与海洋，我们通过法律设立保护区，但其管理有待改进，而让拥有传统智慧的社群参与是其中的方法。这两篇报导首次于2023年10月以英文发表，是本刊#海洋世界（#SeaWorld）的系列文章。

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La connaissance et les lois sauvent nos mers

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Pour gérer nos côtes et nos océans, nous utilisons des lois pour créer des zones protégées. Mais sa gestion peut être améliorée, et l’implication des communautés possédant des connaissances traditionnelles dans la gestion est un moyen d’y parvenir. L’histoire ici a été publiée pour la première fois en anglais en octobre 2023 dans le cadre de notre série #SeaWorld.

Les récits de grands-pères peuvent sauver nos mers

Mille et une façons de protéger l’océan

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Please Stop Loving Our Corals to Death

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The new airport for Tioman has been averted. Now, tourism needs a good relook, writes Reefcheck Malaysia’s Julian Hyde.

AS SCIENTISTS grow increasingly concerned about biodiversity loss and the accompanying loss of critical ecosystem services, the time has come to revisit tourism policy – and practice – in Malaysia.

This is particularly relevant following the recent decision by the government to abandon plans for a new airport on Tioman. The plan projected a four-fold increase in visitor numbers – from 250,00 per year to a million.

(Feature pic: Seeing fish or people? Tourists galore at a snorkelling site in Tioman |  Pic by Alvin Chelliah/Reefcheck Malaysia)

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