Earth Matters
Episodes
Environment Look-Back 2016
05 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 plague...
Citizen Science and the Case Study of Smooth-coated Otters in Singapore
21 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Smooth-coated otters returned to Singapore a few years ago after a long absence and an extremely active group of enthusiasts, both scientists and nons...
Prospects for the Environment Under President Trump
14 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change denier Donald Trump has won the 2016 presidential race. What are the environmental prospects under Trump and how does that tie to ecolo...
Animal Welfare in Nepal
07 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Manoj Gautam is an animal welfare campaigner who has been working tirelessly to change the way humans treat animals. The Executive Director of The Jan...
The African Wildlife Foundation
17 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organization that focuses on critically important landscapes in Africa, which w...
Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival 2016
10 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Copenhagen Zoo's Southeast Asia Biodiversity Programme
26 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Copenhagen Zoo's Southeast Asia Programme began in 1998, by providing capacity building to Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks (D...
The Case against the Kebun-kebun Bangsar project
19 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Energy Efficient Buildings in Malaysia
05 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Environmental degradation in our own backyards
29 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As we celebrate the nation's independence this week, Andrew Sebastian, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at the Ecotourism and Conservation S...
Fruit Flies - Friends or Foes?
22 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Degazetting Forest Reserves for Highways
15 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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. ...
Earth Overshoot Day 2016
08 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Earth Overshoot Day 2016 lands on August 8, marking the date when humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year, as measured by the Global...
Wildlife Conservation in Myanmar with Antony Lynam
01 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We spoke to Antony Lynam of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who has more than 20 years of experience implementing and advising wildlife conservatio...
Thomas E. Lovejoy and Climate Change Solutions
25 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dubbed the Godfather of Biodiversity, Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy is also among the first scientists to coin the phrase Biological Diversity. An ecologist w...
Malacology 101 - Why Mollusks Matter
18 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Having colonized land and ocean, garden and tidepool, mollusks exemplify how life adapts, evolves, and moves into new niches. Associate Professor Dr. ...
Enough is Enough - Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources
11 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
“Enough should be the central concept in economics,” wrote Herman Daly, one of the founders of ecological economics. The world's economy, ...
Combating the Illegal Wildlife Trade: The Legal Trade Option
04 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Wildlife economist and conservationist Dr. Brendan Moyle is an experienced researcher of wildlife smuggling, who has travelled the world and tracked s...
Engineering Global Warming
27 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As our earth heats up more and more each day, solutions are being searched for in every corner. Combining his engineering skills with his passion for ...
Pumpkins Against Poverty
20 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
50,000 farmers who lost their land to climate change-related river erosion in Bangladesh, participated in a radical project which transformed barren l...
World Oceans Day 2016: No Blue, No Green
13 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Celebrated annually on the 8th of June, World Oceans Day is a global day of ocean celebration and collaboration for a better future. We speak to Brett...
Wildlife Conservation in Myanmar
06 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A while back, Bigger Picture producer Dr. Law Yao Hua attended the 3rd Asia Regional Conference of the Society for Conservation Biology - Asia Section...
World Environment Day 2016
30 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's World Environment Day this coming Sunday, and the theme for this year is “Go Wild for Life”, and it sees international communities ma...
The Quiet Destruction of Ulu Muda
23 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Ulu Muda Forest Reserve lies on the north-eastern flank of Kedah, bordering Thailand.Despite its rich biodiversity, immense natural beauty and fun...
World Turtle Day 2016
23 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
World Turtle Day is celebrated annually on the 23rd of May. In conjunction with this year's celebration, we speak to Chen Pelf Nyok, the co-founder of...
The Don Sahong Hydropower Project
16 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Don Sahong Dam, which is being built by Malaysian project developer Mega First Corporation Berhad, is the second of eleven hydropower dams planned...
Harimau Selamanya
09 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Last November, Terengganu made headlines when it became the first state in Malaysia to issue a fatwa prohibiting the illegal hunting of wildlife. A fi...
Averting a Water Crisis
25 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The El Nino phenomenon we're currently facing has wreaked havoc on our weather with Malaysia facing a hot spell which may last till June. Will Klang V...
Conserving and Preserving Tropical Rainforest Plant Species
18 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
According to the WWF, half of the world's original forest cover has been lost over the past 50 years. This has resulted in the entire ecosystem fallin...
Landscape Architecture - Designing Ecologies
11 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s show, we discussed how everyday landscapes have the potential to serve environmental, social and cultural functions. We are joined by...
Cold Blood in a Hotter World: The Future of Reptiles in the Anthropocene
04 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Adam Algar is an ecologist, macro-ecologist, biogeographer, herpetologist, and evolutionary biologist whose research focuses on how climate affect...
If You Plant It, They Will Come
28 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A recent study titled “Fruit Gardens Enhance Mammal Diversity and Biomass in a Southeast Asian Rainforest” has found that the traditional ...
Man Vs. Wild - Big Cats and the Human-Wildlife Conflict
21 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Professor David Macdonald is the founder and director of the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Unit or WildCRU as it's better known, ...
Fins - Best on Sharks
14 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It's estimated that at least 100 million sharks are killed every year for their fins. Malaysia has been identified as among the world's largest shark'...
Facebook - The New Marketplace for Wildlife?
07 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysians are turning Facebook into a wildlife marketplace, driving a roaring and often illegal trade in iconic and threatened animals, according to ...
An Analysis of the Revised National Policy on Biological Diversity 2016-2025
29 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the revised National Policy on Biological Diversity, which has outlined five key principles ...
Marine Mammal Strandings
22 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Louisa Ponnampalam and Fairul Izmal Jamal Hisne, the co-founders of The MareCet Research Organization, joined us to give some factual afterthought...
Making the Case for Sustainable Tourism
15 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no revelation that most travellers don't worry about the problems of the world and take into account environmental and social sustainabilit...
Citizen Science and the First Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count
18 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Citizen science involves everyday people who volunteer to help scientists with their research, and it is widely regarded as a tool for creating public...
COP21 – Outcome and Future of the Agreement
11 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hailed as a turning point for action to limit climate change below dangerous levels, The Conference of Parties (COP) 21 Climate Change Summit in Paris...
The High Carbon Stock Study
04 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Called a true ninja of sustainability, Sir Jonathon Porritt has more than 40 years of work dedicated to the field of environmental sustainability. Fou...
Round-up of top Environmental Issues 2015
28 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It was another dismal year for the environment, what with the haze, continued deforestation, loss of wildlife and the pervasive effects of climate cha...
The Wildlife Conservation Society
14 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is committed to protecting the world's wildlife. With a goal to conserve the world's largest wild places in 15...
Tropical Forestry, Horticulture and Gardening
07 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysian botanist Dr Francis Ng's research areas cover tropical plants, forests, landscapes and gardens. He has worked across the globe, including in...
Food Print - The Environmental Cost of Food
30 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's estimated that the world's population might hit 11 billion by 2050, and understandably with that will come an increase in the demand for food as ...
COP21 Episode 4: What Next?
23 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Exactly a week from now, on the 30th of November, countries will gather in Paris for the much anticipated COP21 negotiations. Over the past three week...
COP21 Episode 3: Building Finances, Technologies and Capacities
16 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In order to make the necessary shifts and implement greener policies, developing countries require sufficient funding, technologies and institutional ...
COP21 Episode 2: The Developed and The Developing
09 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The notion of development must take a turn away from fossil fuels, but to achieve this, both developed and developing countries have to pull their res...
COP21 Episode 1: COP21 101
02 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change is expected to cost the world trillions of dollars in economic damage aside from the irreparable environmental impact some communities ...
Uprooting The Haze
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
By now a frequent topic of daily conversation and a pest we can’t seem to get rid of. Every year, Malaysians become more and more familiar with ...
Malaysia's Nuclear Plans
12 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A bill to adopt nuclear energy to generate power may be tabled soon, in the next parliamentary sitting which starts in October. But Malaysia’s a...
Interfaith Dialogue on Climate Change
05 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Faith plays a prominent role in the lives of many, and as the issue of climate change becomes more pressing by the day, alternative, innovative measur...
The Tainted Lives Of Malaysia's Marine Mammals
28 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The East and West coasts of Peninsular Malaysia and the coasts of Sabah and Sarawak are home to 27 species of dolphins, whales, porpoises and dugongs....
Trailing Our Solid Waste
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How often do we stop to think about where our waste goes? I’d say very rarely, if not never. In one day alone, Malaysia produces 33,000 tonnes o...
Belum-Temengor expedition and conservation challenges
07 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Belum-Temengor forest complex in Perak has 130-million-year-old rainforests, with some of the world’s most threatened species. Now a group k...
Bukit Kiara’s forest under threat?
24 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For more than a decade, Bukit Kiara’s status as a forest reserve has remained ambiguous. And despite several public campaigns to save one of the...
Sustainable Seafood: The Answer to Malaysia’s Dwindling Stocks?
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
By 2048, the world's oceans will no longer be able to provide people with seafood, according to the WWF. And 90 percent of global fish stocks are dep...
What next at the December climate change talks?
03 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The December UN Climate Change conference in Paris offers a last chance to reach a deal that would keep global warming from reaching risky levels, say...
Micro-Hydro Systems.
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Some of Malaysia’s remote Orang Asli villages are now lit up, thanks to a community-based group, Friends of Village Development or Tonibung. The...
Greening local communities
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
All over Malaysia, green grassroots projects are springing up. And they’re sometimes just a click away. The Negawatt Revolution, a Malaysian web...
Climate Engineering
20 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change is crushing bee populations, according to the journal That’s because their habitats have shrunk due to rising temperatures, threa...
India Air Pollution
13 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
India has the second-worst air pollution levels in the world, according to The World Bank’s latest report. And that’s set to get worse as ...
Malaysia Scores Badly in Environmental Democracy Index
06 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Malaysia has come in second-last in a report published in May on environmental legislation. The Environmental Democracy Index ranks 70 countries, and ...
The 11th Malaysia Plan & Green Growth
15 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
With the recent announcement of the 11th Malaysia Plan, we dissect the key points of the environmental agenda under the blueprint with Yin Shao L...
World Oceans Day Special: Sustainable Seafood
08 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Unsustainable fishing and farming practices have severely impacted many of our most popular seafood choices. Without urgent measures we may be the las...
Seagrass 101
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Although they get little attention, seagrasses are a vital part of the marine ecosystem and home to a diverse range of organisms. But seagrasses are i...
Climate Change - The Biggest Challenge of All Time?
27 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The United Nations Climate Change Conference is set to be held in Paris this December and governments from over 190 nations across the globe mus...
Connecting the Green Dots
13 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Malaysia Environmental Sustainability Youth Movement (MESYM), is a one-stop platform which hopes to provide the general public with everythi...
Protection of Wildlife: Successes and Challenges
06 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Suwanna Gauntlett is a founder of the Wildlife Alliance, a conservation group who are regarded as leaders in direct protection to forests and wildlife...
Ecotourism in Langkawi & the launch of the Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia ECOmy
16 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dubbed the Jungle-wallah of Langkawi, Irshad Mobarak gave up the corporate rat-race over 20 years ago, and became a self-taught naturalist whose knowl...
Raptor Watch 2015 & Malaysian Nature Society’s 75th Anniversary celebrations
09 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We catch up with Andrew Sebastian, the Head of Communications at the Malaysian Nature Society, about the annual Raptor Watch event organised by the MN...
Updates from EcoKnights & the Importance of Keeping your Corporation Sustainable
23 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
EcoKnights is a collective effort with a vision to raise a nation of ecologically conscious Malaysians that embrace and adopt sustainable lifestyles. ...
Roots & Shoots
09 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, which has local chapters in over 132 countries, has now added Malaysia to its fold. With a focus on ...
Geographic Information Systems & Remote Sensing in Flood Forecasting
19 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Associate Professor Dr. Lawal Bilal's research is in geospatial applications in environmental planning and management, particularly in flood forecasti...
Status and Function of Mangrove Forests in Southeast Asia
12 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Warm and humid, mangrove forests protect our coasts and serve as a nursery ground for much of our seafood. Sadly, we are fast losing these mangrove fo...
Look Back at Environment-related Stories and Events of 2014
05 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Widespread deforestation, pollution, overfishing, changing weather patterns, poaching of wildlife - it's been a poor year for the environment in Malay...
The Near Extinction of the Sumatran Rhino
22 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most endangered animal species anywhere in the world, the existence of the Sumatran rhinoceros is still critical. John Payne, the Executive...
The Great Gamble on the Mekong
17 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The Mekong, one of world's great rivers which sustains the lives of 65 million people, is under dire threat from a cascade of hydroelectric dams. Jour...
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Malaysia
08 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), is an international not for-profit, multi-stakeholder organisation established to promote responsible management...
Sustainable Palm Oil Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT)
01 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The Sustainable Palm Oil Transparency Toolkit or SPOTT is a free, interactive resource, designed for investors and other stakeholders in the palm oil ...
Progress Update from the RSPO
13 Nov 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a non-profit association which aims to transform markets to make sustainable palm oil the norm. The S...
Traveling Green Even When You’re Red Hot
31 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Time to rethink how we can move our behinds from one part of town to another and commute (or travel) in ways that hurt the environment less. A city wi...
Redevelopment of Heritage Buildings
20 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Vivekananda Ashram at Jalan Tun Sambanthan in Brickfields has been earmarked for major redevelopment. What are the challenges of social organisations ...
Rising to the Challenge of Saving Tropical East Asia
08 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The forests of East and Southeast Asia are trampled by bulldozers and thrown into disorder by invasive species. Conservation ecologists must gear up, ...
Fighting Illegal Wildlife Trade
03 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 b...
Discovering the Malayan Tapir
18 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 Z...
Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright
10 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Saving Turtles
02 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Ancient creatures that came before dinosaurs, turtles now struggle against the threat of a much younger species--people. Some of us though, have dedic...
A Map to Build Roads to a Better Future
28 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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, a...
Can't See the Forest for the Wood
18 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Parting the foliage to uncover the forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia, once an unbroken landscape, now fragmented. Dr. Bala worked on the Central Spi...
Kota Damansara Forest Reserve
14 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Kota Damansara Forest Reserve sits in the middle of a sprawling urban landscape. Threatened by development a few years ago, the forest was gazetted th...
Saving Private Leopards
12 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Managing the human-and-leopard conflict begins with an understanding of leopard ecology when they live among humans who clear its habitat for agricult...
Primate Conservation in Sarawak
05 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Melvin Gumal recently won the Whitley Award for Conservation in Ape Habitats. The conservationist tells of the research, documentation and educatio...
Organic Farming in China
26 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Organic food in China has a relative short history, but farmers, government and development agencies are paying attention. AnLong Village, outside of ...
Climate Change and Malaysia
22 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Over the last few years, climate change has become one of the main topics of international negotiations and is now being identified as one of the grea...
Sustainable Timber and Forest Management
15 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
With the growing demand for timber how will the industry be satiated without destroying the environment? Koo shares on the initiatives and certificati...
Mother's Day with the Animals
09 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
As we celebrate Mother’s Day this weekend, let us not forget that every animal out there has a mother too. Our mothers comfort, fed and protect ...
Rain, Rain Everyday but 'Most the Pipes are Dry
09 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
More than 6 million people in the Klang Valley are impacted by the water rationing exercise being carried out. It started in March and is carried on i...
Keeping Dugong Alive
04 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Ponnampalam was a recently announced recipient of a2014 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, specifically to conduct new research in Malaysia&rsq...
Saving the Integrity of the Selangor State Park
12 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
The Selangor Forestry Department has announced that 106.65 hectares of four forest reserves are proposed to be degazetted to make way for the Kuala Lu...