Earth Matters

Vivekananda Ashram at Jalan Tun Sambanthan in Brickfields has been earmarked for major redevelopment. What are the challenges of social organisations and is redevelopment a last resort to continue serving communities? We find out with Tan Sri Dr. K. Ampikaipakan of Vivekananda Ashram and Elizabeth Cardoza of Badan Warisan Malaysia.

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The forests of East and Southeast Asia are trampled by bulldozers and thrown into disorder by invasive species. Conservation ecologists must gear up, but are Asian ecologists ready for the challenge? Prof. Richard Corlett, tropical forest ecologist and author of two ecology textbooks, tells us about educating conservationists.

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In the past forty years, we have lost half of our wildlife in the past forty years, even as illegal hunting and trading of wildlife swell into a $20 billion industry. Grace Ge Gabriel has led very successful campaigns against illegal wildlife trade in China. She reveals  the operations of tiger farms and illegal wildlife trade syndicates, and the role of traditional Chinese medicine in wildlife trade. She shares her experience fighting illegal wildlife trade through advertisements and education.

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Malaysia is home to the Malayan Tapir, an animal that is black and white like the panda but gets much less attention. Boyd Simpson of the Copenhagen Zoo and Chris Wong of WWF Malaysia share with us what little we know of tapirs, and why these large herbivores of our jungles deserve more studies.

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Fewer than 3,000 tigers roam the wild. Within a decade, there might be none left as they are poached and their habitats destroyed. To save wild tigers, scientists and conservation groups work hard to study tigers and lobby for better policies to protect tigers. All of these need funds, which can be as scarce as tigers themselves. In response, Simon Clinton used his experience in brand marketing to raise funds and awareness for saving wild tigers through his aptly named organization, Save Wild Tigers.

To learn more about Save Wild Tiger's events, check out their website.

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Ancient creatures that came before dinosaurs, turtles now struggle against the threat of a much younger species--people. Some of us though, have dedicated our lives to protecting turtles, like Dr. Chan Eng Heng and Marilyn Connell. These veterans of conservation share with us their uphill battles, and victories.

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By 2050, we would have built new roads long enough to circle the Earth 600 times over. Although crucial for improving our productivity, these roads, and the waves of exploitation that follow, will cut through and destroy intact ecosystems. How should we build roads for the better? Prof. William Laurance, Australian Laureate and Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University, has just published a map to guide road-building. He shares his decades of experience and new paper with us.

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Parting the foliage to uncover the forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia, once an unbroken landscape, now fragmented. Dr. Bala worked on the Central Spine Forest Masterplan, which we can use as a case study to explore the kinds of planning and cooperation between private and public sectors that are required to conserve and perhaps restore the ecological connectivity of our divided rainforests. Dr. Ahimsa shares with us his experience working with large mammals in Peninsular Malaysia.

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Kota Damansara Forest Reserve sits in the middle of a sprawling urban landscape. Threatened by development a few years ago, the forest was gazetted through efforts of environmental groups and local residents. We speak to representatives from the groups to learn the current status of the forest and how locals are using the green space.

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Managing the human-and-leopard conflict begins with an understanding of leopard ecology when they live among humans who clear its habitat for agriculture.

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