Tag Archives: Insight

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

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Pitas Villagers Restoring Mangroves Destroyed by Failed Shrimp Farm

Pitas Villagers Restoring Mangroves Destroyed by Failed Shrimp Farm

Locals in Pitas, Sabah, suffer the consequences of a huge shrimp farm that destroyed their mangroves and then went out of business.

Photos and reporting by Chen Yih Wen.

Published: November 28, 2022

[Malay version]

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An End To the Culture of Eating Turtle Eggs

Eating turtle eggs in Terengganu is often attributed to culture. But fears it could jeopardise the trade ban on June 1 might be unfounded.

MANN THE turtle sanctuary ranger suddenly raises his finger and points at the ocean blue. “There are turtles mating,” he says. I follow his line of sight to two turtles in a tight embrace and bobbing on the surface of the water.

My heart leaps and I hope for the best. Maybe the female will survive to lay her eggs here at the sanctuary. Maybe those eggs will hatch, like many have before. After all, this is the Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary on Redang Island, Terengganu’s most productive sea turtle nesting grounds.

(The ban on the sale of turtle eggs in Terengganu targets traders. | Photo: Bryan Yong)

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Bila Kawanan Burung Berkunjung ke Teluk Borneo

Bilangan burung pantai hijrah semakin meningkat di Teluk Bako-Buntal di Sarawak. Tetapi trend itu mungkin mencerminkan masalah di tempat lain. Diterjemahkan oleh Noorainie Awang Anak.

[Read story in English | 点击阅读中文版]

AIR PASANG datang dengan cepat. “Anda perlu bergerak, bergerak, bergerak,” kata Rose Au. “Dalam beberapa minit, ianya sampai ke paras lutut anda!” Di tambah pula dengan bahaya terbenam dalam lumpur atau terserempak dengan buaya, usaha mengira burung tidak lekang dari keadaan yang mendebarkan.

Au dan beberapa pemerhati burung amatur Persatuan Pencinta Alam Malaysia Cawangan Kuching (MNS) di Sarawak, telah mengharungi berbagai rintangan sejak 16 tahun yang lalu. Matlamat mereka: untuk mengira beribu-ribu burung pantai yang datang ke Sarawak setiap tahun dalam perjalanan ke selatan dari tempat pembiakan mereka di Siberia.

(Mengira burung pantai di Teluk Bako-Buntal, Sarawak. Burung singgah di teluk setiap tahun dalam perjalanan dari Siberia. | Imej: Batrisyia Teepol/MNS)

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City Farms Growing Resilience

Leadership, training and support help overcome challenges in community farming in Kuala Lumpur’s public housing, sowing success.

WITH FOOD prices ever increasing, community farming for food security among lower income city-dwellers is ever more critical. The pandemic saw the media trumpeting the importance of such programmes.

However, as long as 5 years ago in 2017, the local government in Kuala Lumpur started encouraging the residents of both the Public Housing (PA) and the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) to be involved in community farming. And the programme has sowed some success.

(Photo: Successful community farming projects yield healthy home-grown vegetables that feed all the farmers and their families  | Image by Tan Kai Ren)

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When Birds Flock to a Bornean Bay

Numbers of endangered migratory shorebirds are growing at Bako-Buntal Bay in Sarawak. But scientists warn the trend could reflect problems elsewhere on the critical East Asian flyway.

THE TIDE comes in quickly. “You have to move, move, move,” says Rose Au. “Within a few minutes, it’s up to your knees!” Coupled with the dangers of getting stuck in the mud or encountering a crocodile, the business of counting birds has never sounded more thrilling.

Au and the other amateur birders of the Malaysian Nature Society Kuching Branch (MNS) in Sarawak, have been braving these dangers and more for the last 16 years. Their aim: to count the thousands of shorebirds which come to Sarawak every year en route south from their breeding grounds in Siberia.

(Counting shorebirds in Bako-Buntal Bay, Sarawak. Birds stop at the bay every year on their way from Siberia. |  Image: Batrisyia Teepol/MNS)

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当鸟儿都飞往一个婆罗洲海湾

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)

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Locals Feeling Loss of Wild Pigs

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)

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Where Are All The Sabah Pigs?

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)

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