Earth Matters

Peatlands are a type of wetland which occur in almost every country and are known to cover at least 3% of global land surface. Peatlands are an integral part of our ecosystem - they are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store, and can store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. Sadly, these are areas that have been undervalued for years, seen as no-man's land, or one that only has value if modified for some "better" use. Working towards improving the image of peatlands are the good people from the People for Peat (PFP) coalition, who over the last four years, have supported peatland communities in Southeast Asia (SEA), to promote sustainable use of peatland in ASEAN. Malaysia's Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) were also part of the coalition, and they join us to share more about the People for Peat programme, and to shed more light on their achievements thus far. We speak to Mariam Ghani (Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Manager) and Dr. Lee Jo Kien (Lead Analyst, Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC) for more

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Back in late January of this year, Malaysia witnessed a major win for environmental law in the country, when the Federal Court - in a landmark decision -  quashed a hillside development that was issued by the local authority in Penang. Many have noted that this ruling might have impacts on other public interest litigation cases in the country, including the ongoing Taman Rimba Kiara case. On a two-part special, we discuss this apex judgement, and what significance it holds in Malaysia with Peter Leong, a researcher and environmental activist, and former secretary of Friends of Bukit Kiara, and also Datuk P. Gunasilan, a veteran town planner and Fellow with the Malaysian Institute of Planners.

Listen to Part 2 here.

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Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta is a new ecotourism-centred series on Earth Matters, which aims to highlight lesser-known  ecotourism spots right here in Malaysia. Done in collaboration with the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia (ECOMY) the series will take you back to nature, by visiting off-the-beaten-track spots in our country. In our second episode, we head over to Teluk Intan in Perak, and find out about Pulau Bangau, an island in Sungai Perak which is now a thriving heronry. We train our binoculars to discover the different species of birds and wildlife found in the area, before setting sail on a gentle river cruise to view the light display by fireflies! Guiding us along for this adventure is Andrew Sebastian, the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ECOMY, who assures us that we won’t regret visiting Teluk Intan, and the island of egrets!

Listen to our previous episode in this series:

Ep1: Kuala Tahan

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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RimbaWatch recently brought attention to the Department of Environment’s (DOE) approval of an EIA for a palm oil project in Pahang, which amounts to 8,498ha. This project involves the deforestation of intact natural forests nearly twice the size of Putrajaya, and is the largest single palm oil project approved in Peninsular Malaysia in recent years. Why is this happening, considering the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil certification (MSPO) does not allow for deforestation occurring after 2020? We discuss the major issues related to this project, including how the EIA was approved without there being adequate measures to mitigate impacts that include unavoidable adverse impacts to the area's ecology and biodiversity.

RimbaWatch recently brought attention to the Department of Environment’s (DOE) approval of an EIA for a palm oil project in Pahang, which amounts to 8,498ha. This project involves the deforestation of intact natural forests nearly twice the size of Putrajaya, and is the largest single palm oil project approved in Peninsular Malaysia in recent years. Why is this happening, considering the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil certification (MSPO) does not allow for deforestation occurring after 2020? We discuss the major issues related to this project, including how the EIA was approved without there being adequate measures to mitigate impacts that include unavoidable adverse impacts to the area's ecology and biodiversity.

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The Royal Belum State Park, under the management of the Perak State Parks Corporation (PSPC), has been awarded the prestigious Conservation Assured |Tiger Standards (CA|TS) approval, in recognition of its exceptional conservation efforts and commitment to tiger conservation. This milestone places Malaysia on the map as the very first country in Southeast Asia to implement CA|TS. But what does this accreditation mean for tiger conservation, and how can it pave the way for other sites to strengthen their management and protection? We discuss this and more with  Mohamed Shah Redza Husein, the Director of the Perak State Park Corporation, who manages the conservation of Royal Belum and other Perak State protected areas.

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A growing population also means a growing trash problem - just looking at Malaysia's stats, we reportedly generated over 38 thousand metric tonnes  of solid waste per day in 2021 (1.17 kg/capita/day). Of which, 82.5 percent is disposed of in landfills. Experts have warned that there will be no more land left in Malaysia by 2050 if nothing is done to reduce waste. Some have said the solution lies in waste incineration - burning refuse in incinerators to make electricity, which will also supposedly help to reduce carbon emissions from waste treatment in the future. But is this truly the answer? We discuss the environmental and health impacts of waste incineration with Mageswari Sangaralingam (Senior Research Officer, Consumers' Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Khor Sue Yee (Co-Founder and Director, Zero Waste Malaysia) and Tasha Sabapathy (Programme Outreach and Communications Executive).

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Earlier in March, RimbaWatch - formerly known as the Rimba Disclosure Project - released a study which revealed that Malaysia is set to lose 2.3 million hectares of forest, reducing forest cover in the country to 47.35%. The "State of the Malaysian Rainforest 2023" report further put that into perspective by explaining that the area earmarked for deforestation would roughly be 100 times the size of Kuala Lumpur, and larger than the size of Perak, Penang and Melaka combined. The top driver of this loss was said to be fuelled by timber plantations - the “forest” plantation program in Peninsular Malaysia, the licenses for planted “forest” (LPF) in Sarawak and industrial timber plantations (ITP) in Sabah - but also by regulatory, social and environmental issues. We speak to Adam Farhan, the co-founder and director of RimbaWatch, to dive into the findings of their study.

Image Credit: RimbaWatch

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Another month almost over, another roundup of top environmental news with the co-founders of journalism portal Macaranga. This month, Law Yao Hua and Wong Siew Lyn join us to discuss the Sarawak Premier's announcement that the state will establish a Sarawak Climate Change Centre, before tackling the news from the Dewan Rakyat by Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, that the government are mulling the idea of granting the authority to the Environment Department to appoint its own consultants to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIA) on development projects. Lastly, we look forward to Earth Day,  on the 22nd of April, and discuss how we can all "Invest in Our Planet."

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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The 'Rainbow Warrior' is one of three ships in the Greenpeace fleet, patrolling the world's oceans and fighting for climate and environmental justice. The ship was named after a North American Cree Indian prophecy which goes: “When the world is sick and dying, people will rise up like Warriors of the Rainbow.” We catch up with Captain Pep Barbal Badia, the Captain of the Rainbow Warrior, to find out more about his voyages with the Greenpeace crew.

Image Credit: D_Zheleva / Shutterstock.com