Earth Matters

Climate change denier Donald Trump has won the 2016 presidential race. What are the environmental prospects under Trump and how does that tie to ecological economics? Would President Donald J. Trump spell the end for environmental progress? Author and economist Rob Dietz, who co-authored the book “Enough is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources” joins us to share his thoughts on these troubling questions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Manoj Gautam is an animal welfare campaigner who has been working tirelessly to change the way humans treat animals. The Executive Director of The Jane Goodall Institute of Nepal, as well as the President of Animal Welfare Network Nepal, he joins us to discuss his work and how he uses the approach of animal welfare-related human behavior change to reach out to the communities across Nepal to work on animal welfare issues.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organization that focuses on critically important landscapes in Africa, which was founded in 1961. Dr. Patrick Bergin, the CEO of AWF, joins us to discuss the group's efforts to stop the degradation of animals and the world's environment and to give us some updates from the recently concluded CITES Conference of Parties meeting in Johannesburg.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival or KLEFF for short, is a home grown not-for-profit festival with a focus on environmental issues.
Back for it's 9th installation, the event continues to engage the Malaysian public on latest issues and solutions pertaining to the environment.

We find out what's in store from Fadly Bakhtiar, the festival's director, and Kamaradzaman Mohd Bakri, a Senior Manager at Greentech Malaysia Corp, one of the festival's partners for this year's event.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Copenhagen Zoo's Southeast Asia Programme began in 1998, by providing capacity building to Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) concerning Captive Breeding management. The programme continues to be involved in original applied research about wildlife ecology, management and conservation, as well as to provide advice, support and capacity building support to local universities, students and policy makers in the region. We find out more from Dr Carl Traeholt, the programme's director.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kebun-kebun Bangsar, the proposal for a garden project on a piece of TNB reserve land in the Bangsar area, has been strongly met with both support and opposition from the community at large. The project that was intended to bring the Bangsar community together hasn't quite had that effect, and saw the residents of Bangsar's Taman Weng Lock successfully launching a petition drive against the garden project, which was proposed on a hillslope above their neighbourhood. Kevin Mark Low, an architect and resident of Taman Weng Lock, joins us to share his and the other residents concerns, against the project.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buildings are the largest energy-consuming sector in the world, and account for over one-third of total final energy consumption. They are an equally important source of carbon dioxide emissions. Is achieving significant energy and emissions reduction in the buildings sector a challenging policy goal, here in Malaysia?
Ahmad Zairin Ismail, the National Project Manager of the Building Sector Energy Efficiency Project, for the United Nations Development Programme, joins us to discuss the concept of energy efficiency in buildings, specifically here in Malaysia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we celebrate the nation's independence this week, Andrew Sebastian, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Malaysia, joins us to take a look at our everyday actions that are causing environmental degradation in our own backyards, and discuss how we can make small changes for a better tomorrow.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fruit flies are often viewed as pests that need to be destroyed before they destroy our precious fruit. But research by entomologists are showing that they are also in fact, pollinators of rare and endangered orchids, including those in Malaysia. Is it time to shed our chauvinistic views about them? Entomologist Dr. Alvin Hee weighed in, and also discussed how we need to change our view on insects and acknowledge the important roles they play in our planet. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The degazettement of forest reserves for the construction of highways here in the Klang Valley has irked many of the residents in the areas affected. The affected forests are the Bukit Cherakah forest reserve and Sungai Buloh forest for the Damansara Shah Alam Highway (DASH) construction cutting through it. The Bukit Sungei Puteh forest in Hulu Langat has also been identified to be degazetted for the Sungei Besi Ulu Kelang Highway (SUKE). Building works have already begun on the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) which will require the Ampang state forest, the Selangor state park up to the Ulu Gombak forest reserve to be degazetted. We speak to several grassroots activists who have banded together to object the construction of these major highways, to find out their concerns.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.