Earth Matters

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.

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In a recently published two-part series, local journalism portal Macaranga, in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network, identified gaps in forest data for the years 2002—2021, with a focus on Peninsular Malaysia. Their investigations revealed that the data is pretty messy - supposed forest reserves not gazetted, oil palm plantations inside reserves, outdated maps - discrepancies and bad forest data that will hamper Malaysia’s conservation, flood management and sustainability plans, just to name a few. In conjunction with International Day of Forests, we catch up with Law Yao Hua, an environment journalist and editor with Macaranga, and a former fellow with the Rainforest Investigations Network with the Pulitzer Centre, to discuss his navigation through the multiverse of forest data in Peninsular Malaysia. We discuss what official government documents reveal about forest reserve changes in Peninsular Malaysia, and the implications and impacts of inaccurate forest datasets.

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Earlier in March, Sarawak assemblyman Dennis Ngau claimed that logging in Ulu Baram, Miri, was welcomed by indigenous communities, and did not harm their way of life. This was swiftly refuted by indigenous land rights defenders, including Save Rivers and Keruan, who criticised the assemblyman's comments, saying that it demonstrated a real lack of understanding of the issues and needs on the ground. We speak to Celine Lim, the Managing Director of Save Rivers for a clearer picture of the situation on the ground, and whether indigenous communities have benefited from logging, as claimed by the authorities.

Image Credit: Save Rivers

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Rewilding is described as an innovative way of restoring wild nature. It’s also said to be about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, and restore degraded landscapes. On our part - having caused most of the destruction facing this planet - we can give rewilding a helping hand by creating the right conditions, for example by allowing natural forest regeneration, or by reintroducing species that have disappeared as a result of human’s actions, then taking a step back and letting nature manage itself. Ahead of World Rewilding Day on the 20th of March, we find out all about this growing movement from Abdul Razak Abdul Aziz, the founder of  Social Eco Enterprise Development for Sustainability (SEEDS) Malaysia.

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These past few weeks have seen several states in Malaysia experiencing continuous rainfall, and subsequently with that, the occurrence of floods, evacuations, massive disruptions and destruction, and even the loss of life. Over in some areas in Sarawak, flooding has become more frequent and intense in recent years, as witnessed by the local communities there. NGO  Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), who have an office over in Marudi, Sarawak have also expressed their continued concern over this, and have noted that prior to the large scale conversion of forests for the purpose of monoculture plantations, such floods were rather uncommon in the upstream areas of interior Sarawak and believe that it's likely they are part of the adverse environmental consequences of deforestation. We speak to Shamila Ariffin, to discuss the situation over in Sarawak, and to help us connect the dots to how clear-cutting forests, and then turning them into monocultures has come to impact the landscape and the indigenous communities living there adversely.

Image credit: Mary Puyang, via Sahabat Alam Malaysia website

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For nearly 50 years, Greenpeace has been sailing the world's oceans, protecting our planet and fighting for environmental justice. Through the Greenpeace Fleet - Rainbow Warrior, Arctic Sunrise and Witness - and tireless Greenpeace activists, they have been successful in obstructing nuclear tests in the Pacific, documenting plastics in our oceans, conducting research into the effects of climate change in the Arctic, and stopping shiploads of illegal timber leaving the Amazon. The fleet of ships has even brought humanitarian relief to communities devastated by extreme weather, and are fundamental to Greenpeace campaigns. Come mid-March, the Rainbow Warrior will be docking here in Malaysia, and we speak about the ship's history and the milestones reached through the campaigns carried out on it, with Greenpeace's Malaysia's Yvonne Nathan (Digital & Media Campaigner) and Thing Siew Shuen (Senior Program Manager).

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It's World Wildlife Day on the 3rd of March, an annual UN International day to celebrate all the world's wild animals and plants and the contribution that they make to our lives and the health of the planet. Malaysia is of course  recognized as one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world, meaning it is one of the top biodiversity-rich countries and home to many animals including sun bears, Malayan tigers, Sunda Clouded Leopards, Asian elephants, pangolins and more. On this episode of Earth Matters, we revisit some of our previous coverage of Malaysia's incredible wildlife, from our miniseries The ABC's of Biodiversity, where we explore why biodiversity loss is our. You'll hear more about sun bears from Dr Wong Siew Te, (CEO and Founder, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre) Sunda clouded leopards from Chrishen Gomez (biologist and researcher, WildCRU, University of Oxford), and finally Sunda pangolins from Elisa Panjang (Pangolin Conservation Officer, Danau Girang Field Centre) and Dr Chong Ju Lian (Associate Professor & Lecturer, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu).

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For this month's roundup of environmental news, we're joined by Wong Siew Lyn, the co-founder of environmental journalism portal Macaranga. First, the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad recently proposed increasing the punishment for water pollution from RM100,000 to RM10 million and the maximum jail time from one year to 15 years, or both. Are harsher penalties for water pollution the solution? Then we turn our focus to the Penang Nature-Based Climate Adaptation Programme (PNBCAP), a nature adaptation initiative for the urban areas of Penang, which is being hailed as something that could serve as a model for Malaysian urban areas across the country in fighting climate change. Looking forward, there are several thematic days coming up in March - we give props to two in particular: World Wildlife Day on the 3rd of March, and International Day of Forests, on the 21st of March.

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Malaysia's Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim retabled Budget 2023 last Friday on the 24th of February, after the first tabling in October 2022 by the previous Ismail Sabri administration was thrown out, due to parliament being dissolved. With a new unity government at the helm, there are significant changes to what was initially tabled, with the newly consolidated Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) ministry receiving about RM6.53 billion in allocations, said to be an increase of 8.4 percent from last year. Is this a sign of the government's commitment to combat environmental issues and climate change in the country? We dissect Budget 2023 to discuss if conservation of the environment and inclusive and sustainable growth was prioritised, with Meenakshi Raman, the President of Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

Brought to you by Mah Sing. Reinvent Spaces. Enhance Life.

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Malaysia's Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim retabled Budget 2023 last Friday on the 24th of February, after the first tabling in October 2022 by the previous Ismail Sabri administration was thrown out, due to parliament being dissolved. With a new unity government at the helm, there are significant changes to what was initially tabled, with the newly consolidated Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) ministry receiving about RM6.53 billion in allocations, said to be an increase of 8.4 percent from last year. Is this a sign of the government's commitment to combat environmental issues and climate change in the country? We dissect Budget 2023 to discuss if conservation of the environment and inclusive and sustainable growth was prioritised, with Meenakshi Raman, the President of Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

Brought to you by Mah Sing. Reinvent Spaces. Enhance Life.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.