Earth Matters

The Lost Food Project (TLFP) is a not-for-profit organisation in Malaysia that rescues good food that would otherwise end up in landfills, and redistributes it to those in need. They have also teamed up with other organisations to tackle issues on saving food and reducing waste, and in 2023 alone, they rescued a whopping 2.28 million kg of food, the equivalent of over 6.5 million nutritious meals, and prevented 5.7 million kg of greenhouse gases from being emitted. Their latest endeavour is the Surplus Pet Food Project, an initiative aimed at supporting animal shelters, rescuers and street feeders. We catch up with Suzanne Mooney, TLFP's founder, and Gayathri Liew (PR and Communications Manager, TLFP) to discuss their new initiatives in preventing food waste.

Image credit: The Lost Food Project

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The Ecotourism & Conservation Society of Malaysia (ECOMY) is an environmental NGO that is focussed on conserving Malaysia’s unique habitats, plants and wildlife, and to actively promote and pursue sustainable tourism as one key element in conservation. The group, founded by leading naturalists in Malaysia, have also been working on several projects with the Orang Asli Bateq tribe of Kampung Aur, who live along the Tembeling River in Kuala Tahan, Pahang. The initiatives include assisting them to gain access to clean water and proper sanitation, providing the community with solar lamps to assist with their energy needs, and even supplying humanitarian aid during the monsoon season. Another recent project has been to train the community's youth to become certified tour guides, to promote sustainable tourism in the area. We catch up with Andrew Sebastian, the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ECOMY, to discuss the group's latest initiative, which saw 10 Orang Asli youths receiving training and doing fieldwork to become certified tour guides, to generate income for themselves and their community.

Image Credit: Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia FB Page

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In Malaysia's race towards achieving 70% renewable energy by 2050, hydroelectric power claims 11% of that share. More mini-hydroelectric dams are being built, as they are cheaper, and said to have less environmental impact. In Perak, the state government has awarded 31 mini-hydro projects in the state involving 49 rivers, but several have already impacted and are in conflict with several indigenous communities there. This is being explored in Macaranga's latest article, Perak Dams Threaten Stone Spirits and Ancestral Graves, and we discuss the clash between renewable energy goals and indigenous communities with Ashley Yeong, the writer of the article, and also with Wong Siew Lyn (editor and co-founder, Macaranga) and Piarapakaran Subramaniam (President, Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (AWER).

Image Credit: Ashley Yeong

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Malaysia is recognised as one of the world’s megadiverse countries, and is listed among the top 12 biodiversity rich countries, in terms of species richness and endemism. This biological diversity spans through ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity, but, there seems to be a general lack of awareness of the importance of biodiversity throughout the country, as well as significant knowledge gaps. The National Policy on Biological Diversity 2022 –2030 aims to tackle that through its five goals, 17 targets, and 61 actions, by providing the direction and framework for Malaysia to not only conserve its biodiversity, but to promote its sustainable use, and ensure fair and equitable sharing of its benefits in the face of increasingly complex challenges, both now and in the future. We discuss this and more with Preetha Sankar, an environmental lawyer.

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COP28, the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was held in Dubai from 30 November to 13 December 2023. It was bound to be a controversial COP, being held in the UAE, whose economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas. That said, among the many outcomes from the negotiations was the agreement to “transition away from fossil fuels" (as opposed to phasing out of all fossil fuels) and US$700 million being pledged to the "loss and damage" fund (which falls short of the estimated $400bn damage caused by climate change each year.) So what were the controversies and highlights at COP28, and more importantly, what lies ahead following these negotiations, for an already climate-impacted world? We discuss this and more with Meenakshi Raman, the President of Sahabat Alam Malaysia and the Head of Programmes at the Third World Network (TWN).

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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We are at the end of 2023 – as always, it's been quite a year for our environment and natural resources, so we take a look back at the year past with the co-founders of environmental journalism portal Macaranga, Wong Siew Lyn and Law Yao Hua, who will remind us about some of the big stories from 2023. In particular, we discuss the achievements of the (now former) Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry (NRECC) and the challenges that remain ahead, before we focus on Pahang, and some of the state's achievements, including the gazettement of the Al-Sultan Abdullah Royal Tigers Reserve. We also discuss our oceans and the increase of Marine Protected Areas in Malaysia, before taking on rare earth mining, which is big business for countries with reserves like ours, but how are we working on ensuring transparency and accountability in the rare earth industry? Then we discuss the European Union's new regulation to curb the EU market's impact on global deforestation and forest degradation, or the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and how that could impact Malaysia, before finally discussing how a changing climate has impacted our food security in Malaysia.

Image Credit(s): 

Shutterstock/Paman Aheri, Zeti Akhzar

Kementerian Ekonomi

Reef Check Malaysia

Lynas

World Animal Foundation

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The rise in price for imported rice in Malaysia saw consumers chasing cheaper locally grown products - but Malaysia isn't producing enough rice to support our local demand. In the village of Long Semadoh in Sarawak though, rice is abundant in both variety and amount - they grow what is known as heirloom rice. Environmental journalism portal Macaranga recently released an in-depth article on this, called "Sowing Seeds of Resilience in Heirloom Rice" which looks at heirloom rice farming in Sarawak, and its contributions to addressing food security concerns and safeguarding heirloom rice varieties. We discuss the history and future of heirloom rice farming in Malaysia, and what steps can be taken to further enhance its contribution to food security and economic development in rural areas with Liani MK (contributing writer, Macaranga), Wong Siew Lyn, (Editor, Macaranga) and Peter Tadam, a tour guide from the farming community of Long Semadoh, Sarawak.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Abang Faizul

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In March 2022, a global commitment was made to negotiate a comprehensive plastics treaty, addressing the entire life cycle of plastic. Now at the end of 2023, countries are still grappling with disagreements, particularly from "low-ambition" nations disputing fundamental terms like "plastics" and "life cycle." Despite some progress, such as increased support for tackling harmful additives, the recent third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) ended in frustration. Negotiators now lack a formal work plan for the upcoming five months before the next discussions, and multiple advocacy groups express concerns about the significant delays, questioning the fulfilment of the promise to establish a robust, binding plastics treaty that the world urgently requires. Will the treaty succumb to inertia and eventual disaster, if no progress is made? We discuss this and more with Mageswari Sangaralingam, a Senior Research Officer from Sahabat Alam Malaysia, and the Consumers Association of Penang.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/aldarinho

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Born in 1823, Alfred Russel Wallace was a pioneering naturalist and biologist whose significant contributions to the field of natural history paralleled those of Charles Darwin. Wallace independently formulated the theory of evolution through natural selection, a concept he developed during his extensive explorations of the Malay Archipelago, and his groundbreaking work in the 19th century is said to have laid the foundation for modern evolutionary biology. Wallace's collections from the Malay Archipelago included a vast array of specimens, from insects to birds, providing crucial evidence for his evolutionary theories, and his book, "The Malay Archipelago," chronicles his travels and observations, offering invaluable insights into the region's biodiversity and cultural diversity. We reflect on his life with Palaeontologist & Zooarchaeologist Lim Tze Tshen, who is attached with the Sarawak Museum and the Geology Dept of Universiti Malaya, to mark the bicentenary of Wallace's birth, and to discuss how Wallace's life and legacy continue to inspire and shape our understanding of the natural world.

Image Credit: Natural History Museum, PBS, Wikimedia Commons

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Methane is the second-largest contributor to global warming after Carbon Dioxide and reducing methane emissions is crucial due to its significant impact on short-term global warming. Recognising this importance is often hindered by unclear information, but scientists are working hard to increase awareness on the issue, as methane emission reductions are considered a readily achievable and cost-effective solution, making them a low-hanging fruit in the quest for overall emission reduction. Malaysia signed the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) in November 2021 along with around 100 other countries - what progress have we seen from our country in that area since then? In 2022, civil society organisation CERAH formed a partnership with the University of Malaya, the University of Nottingham Malaysia, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to promote transparency, public engagement, and progress on methane emissions reduction in Malaysia, through the CERAH-EDF Project. The project which recently concluded offers some key findings and recommendations, including the need to clearly articulate a national direction for methane action. We find out more from Dr. Helena Varkkey (Associate Professor of Environmental Politics and Governance, Universiti Malaya) and Dr. Matthew Ashfold (Atmospheric Scientist and Assoc Prof, University of  Nottingham Malaysia), who were both involved in the research project.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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