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, 2022
An examination of how environmental NGOs banded together and drove public discourse to save the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve from development.
THE MALAYSIAN public almost always has no say over one thing that covers one-third of their country – forest reserves. Going against that norm is the fate of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) in Selangor.
Last August, the Selangor state government degazetted 536.7 hectares of the KLNFR. But unrelenting public outcry and political pressure pushed the government to announce it would gazette the reserve again. Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari has since said that the gazettement will be completed within the first three months of 2022.
(Photo: Shaq Koyok (left) and other members of the PHSKLU coalition protesting the degazettement of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve | Pic by Shaq Koyok)
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)
It is in virtually everything that is constructed but cement has a climate impact that needs addressing.
CEMENT is a key material in construction. According to the UN, the cement industry is the fourth largest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter by fuel type after coal, oil and gas.
And Asia dominates as the emitter of industrial greenhouse gasses emissions from cement, iron and steel, reports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014).
But compared to fossil fuels, cement is not as widely known for its contribution to the climate crisis.
(Photo: From buildings to pavements, cement is everywhere around us. | Photo by SL Wong)
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]
From hill to sea, Malaysia’s newest biosphere reserve in Penang promises opportunities to test, engage, and manage ways to live sustainably with nature.
Text by SL Wong, images by David ST Loh.
Published: October 12, 2021
With Malaysia’s last Sumatran rhinoceros taking its final breath in 2019, conservationists are calling for serious intervention to reverse species decline.
MALAYSIA is a biodiversity hotspot but its endangered large animals are being pushed into smaller habitats. In a race against time, conservation scientists are mapping efforts to protect critically endangered species.
Extinction is an immediate threat for large animals in Malaysia.
(Photo: Mother and calf — only 300—500 Bornean banteng are left in the wilds of Borneo, the only place in the world they are found. | Pic by BORA)
Continue reading Can Experts Save Malaysia’s Remaining Endangered Large Animals?
[Updated 29 July 2021]
Funds and political support are reinvigorating the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah. But is there time to consider ways to mitigate its environmental and socioeconomic impact?
WITH 2,239 kilometres of new roads to be built by 2025, the Pan Borneo Highway is expected to boost connectivity, tourism and trade in and between Sabah and Sarawak.
Parts of the current route, however, would severely impact the environment and local communities, say local NGOs and researchers.
Continue reading Must the Pan Borneo Highway Dissect the Tawai Forest?
