Earth Matters

Researchers estimate that fewer than 100 Sumatran Rhinos remain in the wild, distributed among three wild populations in Sumatra. Have we reached the point of no return? We catch up with Dr. John Payne, Executive Director of the Bornean Rhino Alliance (BORA) to find out.

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Dr. Aaron Shunk is a geologist/ biologist with a passion for nature and science. He co-founded PubliSci.com, a non-profit crowdfunding website which seeks to break down the walls of inaccessibility to science by providing an online forum to share and build science for people anywhere the internet is available. He joins us to discuss his work and the importance of science communication.

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The Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project was launched in 2011, with the 51 kilometer Sungai Buloh - Kajang line the first phase to be completed in 2016. The MRT project aims to provide a convenient, safe and cost-efficient transport alternative, as well being as a more sustainable, eco-friendly and efficient way of moving people. But is the MRT really more environmentally friendly? We speak to Piarapakaran Subramaniam, President of the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia, to find out.

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A recent paper published in the academic journal Cogent Environmental Science presented the results of a multi-stakeholder exercise aimed at identifying conservation priorities in Peninsula Malaysia. The paper ranks 35 conservation priorities, which the authors hope will influence the work of policy-makers and others in Peninsula Malaysia and be used as a model to identify conservation priorities elsewhere. Joining us to discuss this are co-authors of the paper, K Nagulendran and senior author Dr. Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz.

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For indigenous peoples, the recent UN Biodiversity Convention was as crucial platform to highlight their role in the sustainable use of biodiversity. Most of the world’s biodiversity is found within areas customarily governed by indigenous peoples, so engaging with the custodians of the land and sea is necessary if the planet’s biodiversity is to be safeguarded and used sustainably. But why do they often become victims of “conservation”?

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For indigenous peoples, the recent UN Biodiversity Convention was as crucial platform to highlight their role in the sustainable use of biodiversity. Most of the world’s biodiversity is found within areas customarily governed by indigenous peoples, so engaging with the custodians of the land and sea is necessary if the planet’s biodiversity is to be safeguarded and used sustainably. But why do they often become victims of “conservation”?

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Back in June last year, a group of 40 scientists banded together and co-authored a scientific paper for the Oxford Journal, BioScience, which painted a grim picture of the future of the planet’s megafauna. In essence, if we continued on the same trajectory that we are currently on, massive species extinction would occur, with dire consequences for us all. One of the co-authors of that paper, Dr. Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, who is also the Principal investigator at the Management & Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME), joins us to discuss this imminent extinction crisis, and to highlight the steps that need to be taken to stop this.

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In this second and final part of our look-back at the top environment stories of 2016 that we featured on Earth Matters, we revisit topics like Combating the Illegal Wildlife Trade: The Legal Trade Option, Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, De-gazetting Forest Reserves for Highways, Prospects for the Environment Under President Trump and The Temiar Community and their relationship with the Forest, among others.

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It's December already, and with only two working Mondays for the month, we start our Earth Matters look-back at the top environment issues that plagued us for the year.

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Smooth-coated otters returned to Singapore a few years ago after a long absence and an extremely active group of enthusiasts, both scientists and nonscientists, have been following the otters antics almost daily. Technology and online conventions have enabled people to collect a large quantity of high quality behavioural data, which scientists may not necessarily have had access to. Joining us to discuss the return of the Singapore otters and why Citizen Science is a new frontier in scientific research is Dr. Philip Johns, an Assistant professor in Life Sciences at Yale-NUS College in Singapore.

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