Earth Matters

From adventure activities to community service, Raleigh KL runs expeditions in various locations around the world with the purpose of promoting youth development by participating in adventure (outdoor activities), community and environmental projects. Joining us on the show today to tell us more are Carrot Ho, president of Raleigh KL and Loo Shen Quang, expedition officer of Raleigh KL.

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Most, if not all of us depend on the use of plastics daily. But once they have served their use, we throw them away. So, imagine industrialized countries doing just that to Southeast Asia - dumping plastic waste to certain parts of this region and transforming those places into toxic dumpsites. That is what a recent research has exposed about the global trade of “recyclable” plastics. Mageswari Sangaralingam, a research officer from the Consumers’ Association of Penang joins us on Skype to discuss this.

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As the fasting month comes to an end and with Raya around the corner, we look back and reflect on what we could have done better when it comes to food wastage. On today’s show, we discuss how we can eat and prepare our food responsibly this festive season with Fadly Bakhtiar from Ecoknights.

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Christine Milne was a former Senator for Tasmania and leader of the Australian Greens, and is considered one of Australia’s most experienced environmental and community activists, with more than thirty years of front line activism. “Clean, Green and Clever” sums up the policy frameworks she pursued during her career in the Australian Parliament, which was focused on driving action on global warming and a transformation to renewable energy and a green economy. One of her proudest parliamentary achievements was the negotiation and passage of the Clean Energy Package in 2012, which was recognised by the International Energy Agency as a template legislation for developed countries. Christine was in Kuching in March for the Clean Energy Collaboration, and she joins us to share why she thinks Malaysia is well-positioned to transition to a renewable energy economy, and position itself as Southeast Asia’s clean energy and renewable industries leader.

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Just last month, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that "our effort to become a developed nation will not be achieved or recognised if all we can see are tall skyscrapers, but our rivers are polluted, forests are barren and the air we breathe is polluted." Almost a year since taking power, has the Pakatan Harapan government placed more importance on protecting our country’s natural resources, biodiversity and environment? We discuss this and more with Surin Suksuwan, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, Preetha Sankar, an Advocate and Solicitor Specialising in Environmental Law, and Kevin Hiew, an Independent Consultant, and a member of the Board of Trustees at Reef Check Malaysia.

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The Earthworm Foundation was formerly known as The Forest Trust, and has 20 years of experience in finding solutions to the major social and environmental problems that our world is facing today. We find out more about the foundation and the work they do from Bastien Sachet, the CEO of Earthworm Foundation, and Quek Karl Yen, the Regional Lead of the foundation.

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The Klang Valley City Nature Challenge is a 4-day bioblitz style international competition between cities, to engage as many people as possible to document as much urban wildlife as possible. Today on Earth Day, we find out more about this challenge from Tan Kai Ren and Nurul Fitrah Marican, from the University of Malaya's The Rimba Project, who are part of the organising committee for this challenge.

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The greater Ulu Muda is a 160,000-hectare forest located in east Kedah. Rich in biodiversity, it's also a main source of raw water for South Kedah and Penang. Despite its undeniable importance, the Ulu Muda forest remains unprotected, despite calls that the whole area be given permanent protection by declaring it a state park. Helping us understand the importance of Ulu Muda to our daily lives and our future generations are Prof Dr Chan Ngai Weng, the President of Water Watch Penang and Prof Dr Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, a Professor in Tropical Conservation Ecology and the Principal Investigator at The Management and Ecology of Elephants (MEME).

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There has been heated debate over the radioactive waste produced at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Kuantan, which is owned by Lynas Corporation, Ltd. an Australian rare-earths mining company. Lynas insists that it abides by international safety standards and industry practices, and that critics have ignored the science in the matter. Together with guest host and science journalist Dr. Law Yao Hua, we try to understand the science of radioactivity with the help of medical physicist Prof Ng Kwan Hoong from Universiti Malaya, and Dr Abdul Muin Abdul Rahman, the Deputy Director General of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency.

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Sampah-Menyampah has been going from strength to strength since it was launched back in 2017, helping to get us all moving towards a cleaner, healthier, unpolluted, and community-spirited Malaysia. Carolyn Joan Lau, the co-founder of the Sampah, Menyampah! joins us to give us updates on the movement and also to fill us in on all the events lined up at this year's Sampah, Menyampah and Friends' Earth Weekend event. Also joining us is Jasmine Tuan of Rent My Wardrobe - KL, to talk about how fast fashion is destructive to the environment and what we can do to move towards a healthy, trash-free lifestyle.

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