砂拉越洲峇哥文丹湾的濒危迁徙滨鸟数量正在增加。但科学家警告说，这一趋势或许反映了东亚迁徙路线上的其他停歇地出现了问题。
潮水涨得很快。“你必须走了，快点，快点，”欧月圆（Rose Au）说。“几分钟水就会涨到你膝盖！” 加上陷入泥沼或者遭遇鳄鱼的危险，这都让统计滨鸟数量这项任务听起来十分惊险。
过去16年，欧和马来西亚自然协会（Malaysian Nature Society，简称 “MNS”）古晋分会在砂拉越的其他业余观鸟者一直勇敢地面对着很多甚至比这些还要危险的状况。他们的目标是：统计每年从西伯利亚繁殖地南迁途经砂拉越的成千上万只滨鸟。
(马来西亚婆罗洲峇哥文丹湾，观鸟者们正在统计滨鸟数量。西伯利亚的候鸟每年南迁途中都会在这里歇脚。 图片来源：Batrisyia Teepol/MNS)
African Swine Fever in Sabah has devastated wild pig numbers since February last year. Has this hurt the Kadazandusun-Murut communities, whose livelihood and culture are tied to this wildlife? Part 2 of a series on the impacts of the disease.
LEAN HUNTING dogs eagerly patrol the dirt roads, viewing strangers with caution. Stands of oil palm, rubber and food trees surround houses with zinc roofs. A large cross marks St Bede’s Catholic church.
This is Kampung Pangas Ulu, a village in Keningau, Sabah.
Like all rural indigenous Kadazandusun-Murut (KDM) villages, this kampung was once surrounded by forests. And one forest animal, babi hutan, the Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus), was integral to their culture and identity.
(Photo: All dressed up and no pigs to hunt: Ahmed bin Pintin (right) with his buddy and hunting dogs | Pic by Alven Chang)
African Swine Fever has devastated wild pig populations in Sabah. To understand its impact on the animals, the forest, and people, data is needed. But counting pigs is tricky. This is Part 1 of a two-parter on the impact of the disease.
IT IS December 2020 and in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, a dead Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus) lies on the ground. It was the first of 14 that would be found in the following weeks.
“We knew something was very wrong when more pig carcasses started to pop up,” says Dr Benoit Goossens, director of the Danau Girang Field Center, which is located there.
(Photo: Since ASF, camera trap photos of wild pigs like this one from 2013 are rare | Pic by Danau Girang Field Centre)
Over two years, a scientist took over 2,000 drone photos of limestone hills in Peninsular Malaysia. The stories they tell are fascinating. A photo essay.
Text by SL Wong. Images by Foon Junn Kitt/ ‘Conservation of Limestone Ecosystems of Malaysia’ (2021).
Published: January 25, 202
Quarrying limestone is worth billions but how does that compare to the ecological, touristic, cultural and historical values of this ecosystem?
DRIVING on the North-South Highway to Batu Gajah, Perak from Kuala Lumpur brings back many childhood memories of my balik kampung ritual.
We would pass limestone hills topped by dipterocarp trees fighting for space at canopy level while the sun created shadows in the hills’ crevices.
These views always made me ask my mother, “Do you think dragons live in these hills and caves?”
(Photo: Perak’s limestone hills are valuable as a source of raw materials for construction but is that all they should be valued for? | Gunung Kanthan pic by Sakyamuni Caves Monastery)
Floods might hog the current natural disaster news in Malaysia, but landslides are occurring too. Does Malaysia have what it takes to handle landslides?
CARRYING her one-month-old baby, Pricila Gracelyn rushed out from her hillside house in Penampang, Sabah in terror and pain as a big falling tree and cascading mud almost split her home into two.
“I was just about to lay my baby down on the bed when I suddenly heard a loud sound coming from above us. I thought it was thunder,” remembers Gracelyn.
“Maybe it’s my instincts, I carried my baby and escaped from the room, and in a blink [of an eye], our house was destroyed by the landslide.”
(Composite photo: Soil and trees destroyed Gracelyn’s house in Penampang, Sabah in September | Pics by Pricila Gracelyn)
Di kawasan Hilir Kinabatangan, Sabah, sekumpulan wanita menggunakan parang, memandu bot dan menjaga anak-anak pokok, untuk menyambungkan kawasan hutan yang telah terkesan akibat aktiviti pembalakan. Inilah suara mereka.
Temuduga dan foto oleh Chen Yih Wen. Penterjemahan oleh Adibah Abdul Ghani.
Diterbit: Disember 4, 2021 [Updated Disember 17, 2021]
In Sabah’s Lower Kinabatangan, a group made up entirely of mothers and housewives is wielding parangs, driving boats and nurturing saplings to link forests. These are their voices.
Text and images by Chen Yih Wen.
Published: November 29, 2021 [Update December 17, 2021]
Interviewed: Dr Liew Thor Seng, biologist [thorseng@ums.edu.my]
IF YOU don’t know where all the limestone hills are, how will you know which to protect, which to quarry? Moreover, if you want to protect them, which ones do you begin with?
Well, decision-makers now have at their fingertips, Malaysia’s most comprehensive database and map of limestone hills.
(Photo: Screen capture of the online gazetteer showing details of limestone outcrop of interest in Malaysia | Courtesy of Liew Thor Seng)
Microplastics are now found in more parts of the human body, writes Professor Dr Lee Yeong Yeh, whose team confirmed the presence of plastics in Malaysians’ bowels. What does this mean?
THIS YEAR, scientists found plastic in the human placenta. This discovery highlights the extent to which plastic permeates our bodies. It should make us very concerned.
By now, it is quite common knowledge that microplastics – smaller than a papaya seed – are ubiquitous in the human food chain, especially seafood and drinking water. This has been shown in many studies, including those in Malaysia.
(Photo: Plastic is entering human bodies when we consume water and seafood. Marine plastic pollution must be tackled, beach cleanups being one way. | Pic by SL Wong)
