Malaysian Nature Society

Articles Tagged with: Malaysian Nature Society

18 November, 2011

Volunteer Architect/Designer for MNS

Cover image courtesy of Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)
Text by Ian Hall

Applications for this position are now closed

Malaysian Nature Society are looking for a volunteer architect or designer to help them with the fit out of their community outreach centre in Gerik, Perak. Start date: 30th Jan 2012. Applicants should contact Arkitrek using our contact form.

The volunteer will take the lead in space planning the first floor of the ‘Hokkien Association’ building in Gerik. Work will also include design of furniture, screens and fittings using reclaimed or recycled materials or sustainable forest produce such as Bertam Palm. The volunteer would also have to coordinate with street artists who will be engaged to paint murals and with local Orang Asli who will supply forest products and craftsmanship.

The position would suit a Malaysian student or graduate who is willing to committ a minimum of 2 months working in Gerik. MNS will provide overland transport from within West Malaysia to Gerik and accommodation in Gerik. The volunteer will be expected to work independently and should be willing to oversee the whole cycle i.e. design to working with Orang Asli to sourcing the materials and completion of finished products. This could take 2-3 months with opportunities for additional return visits at weekends.

The volunteer will live and work together with MNS field staff in Gerik. They will report weekly to MNS head office and liaise with the field staff. There will be ample opportunity to explore the magnificent rainforest and learn the ways of it’s plants and animals from the locals.

The purpose of the MNS Gerik Community Centre is for MNS and other conservationists working in the Belum Temenggor Forest Complex to engage with local residents to build consensus and support for conservation rather than logging of this 130 million year old rainforest.

For more information about the MNS Save Temenggor Campaign please refer to the MNS website. Even if you can’t volunteer, join MNS to add your voice to the call for conservation.
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GO ON! what are you waiting for? If you can’t volunteer, join MNS now from as little as MYR70

To date MNS has saved over two thousand square kilometers of rainforest in Malaysia

…That’s an amazing effort, especially given how small the organasation is. Imagine how much more they can do if you and your mates join. Membership starts from MYR70 for Malaysians and anyone from any country can join.

Logging of Temenggor continues today. MNS successfully lobbied the state government to stop the logging in Royal Belum. The State thinks that this is enough to keep environmentalists happy. You need to tell them that it is not enough. Iconic animals like Tapirs, Tigers, Elephants and Hornbills need large contiguous areas of forest to sustain them. Areas like the entire Belum Temenggor Forest Complex.

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8 May, 2010

Nuclear Powered Malaysia

By Ian Hall

Nuclear Power has been in the Malaysian news recently after the government gave the go ahead for a nuclear power plant to begin operating from 2021

Environmentalists and NIMBY’s are usually vocal in their opposition to such announcements and indeed the Malaysia Nature Society has been debating the issue for some time before the government announcement. As an environmentalist and a disciple of James Lovelock I felt the need to weigh in on the debate with a letter to the editor of Malaysian Naturalist magazine which was published last month

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Sir,

I have read in Malaysian Naturalist recently arguments against nuclear power. This has prompted me to write a letter to the editor to come out of the closet as an environmentalist who is in favour of nuclear power.

I don’t believe that we can change our energy consumptive behaviour quickly enough to avoid climate change. Therefore we need an instant low carbon way to generate power. Nuclear power seems to be the only technology that we have available right here, right now, that can do the job.

Opponents will talk of alternatives; but wind, hydro, tidal and biomass all have their own environmental costs or are unproven, solar is promising but does not work at night, hydrogen is not so much a source of power as a good way to store it and clean coal does not exist. Only natural gas seems viable as our other option for a low carbon fuel.

The high cost of disposing of radioactive waste is often highlighted as a downside of nuclear power. In fact I see this as contributing to its credibility. Nuclear power generation is one of the few industries that is forced to pay the environmental clean up costs of its operation. Most other industries cut and run leaving others to deal with their mess.

Of course any debate about nuclear power eventually comes down to one key factor; we’re scared of it. My feeling is that although the dangers are real, they are over-exaggerated by paranoia. I liken this to the relative danger of air travel versus car travel. Many more people are killed by car travel but in our minds air travel is much more dangerous because each incident is more catastropic.

Then finally we come to the issue closest to my heart which is environmental conservation. For this point I refer you to an ongoing debate about the wildlife that apparently thrives in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl (the site of the world’s most catastropic nuclear accident). The science is still unclear as to exactly how much damage has been caused to wildlife at Chernobyl but analysis seems clear on one thing; that the benefits to wildlife of removing people from the zone, have far outweighed any harm from radiation.

In this I support James Lovelock (Author of the Gaia Theory) by saying, let’s dump our low level nuclear waste in the rainforest. It will cause far less environmental damage than logging or plantations and we can turn paranoia about nuclear power to the benefit of conservation by keeping people away from the area. We will also have responsibly generated low carbon energy to keep up with demand.

Sincerely

Ian Hall

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Further reading:
Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy
The Mystery of Chernobyl

25 October, 2007

MNS at Royal Belum

I had heard of the Save Belum-Temengor Postcard Campaign but had no idea where Belum-Temengor was. An invitation to join the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Bird Group trip to Belum was a great incentive to find out more. The sum of my knowledge was that MNS had successfully motivated the Malaysian public to lobby the government on an issue of environmental conservation. The cessation of logging in Temengor and the gazettement of Royal Belum as a State Park are remarkable achievements and a source of optimism for protection of other threatened ecosystems. I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to explore a tiny part of this 117,500ha ParkMy initial observation was disappointment at the disturbed forest and low quality development at Banding. This faded as we took to the water and an MNS flotilla buzzed toward the upper reaches of Temengor Lake. Here I was quickly lulled into the beauty of the landscape characterised by an intact jungle canopy with many tall emergent trees. I couldn’t quite shake the feeling however of floating above a submerged forest. Bleached white tree trunks at the lake margin are eerily photogenic and a nagging reminder of the many more skeletal branches reaching for the underside of our fragile craft.

As the lake narrowed I kept a keen eye out for Belum’s most famous resident, the Malayan Tiger. Apparently not constrained by water, it would be my ideal scenario to meet a wild tiger while it was swimming and I was on a boat with the engine running. For birdwatchers Belum-Temengor has the cachet of being the only place where you can see all ten of Malaysia’s Hornbills, of which the writer recorded a paltry five. I like to think of it as leaving some for next time.

Of those ten species it is the Plain-pouched Hornbill which is most appealing as it cannot be seen anywhere else in Malaysia. This vulnerable Hornbill was until recently considered conspecific with the Wreathed Hornbill. Although visually almost identical, it differs significantly in its habit of gathering in large flocks occasionally over 1000 strong. To add to the mystique, nobody knows where these birds roost and no one has ever found a nesting site. As the Hornbill’s habitat is being lost to deforestation there is urgent need to answer these questions if we are to come up with an effective conservation strategy.

Conserving Belum is a great first step to securing a contiguous area of old-growth forest that might just be large enough to sustain populations of large charismatic mammals and birds. As a conservation model however it is compromised by the fact that it necessitated the destruction (through flooding) of over 15,000ha of forest.

The conundrum is that in the current political climate it is difficult to argue for conservation for its own sake. It also helps to have an economic incentive. In this case conservation of forests in the catchment area will slow down the rate at which Temengor Reservoir will silt up. Another powerful incentive is that the creation of a large man-made lake provides far more recreational opportunities which appeal to a broader spectrum of people than a simple rainforest reserve could on its own.

As a purist birdwatcher I might claim that being stuck on a boat can not compare to sweating it out on steep muddy trails and being torn by rotan. But on the other hand, there is something civilised about watching ospreys whilst sitting amongst friends with your binoculars in one hand and a parasol in the other.

If the convenience of boat travel helps to encourage more people to visit the rainforest, be they bird-watchers, fishermen or day trippers, then on balance it could be a good thing. From a conservation point of view, visitors create more than just an economic incentive. People, especially locals, who come to value nature for recreation and as part of their heritage, are more likely to sign a postcard saying ‘Save Belum-Temengor’.

In all it was a most memorable trip and gives me hope for more Nature Conservation in Malaysia. And while I am being optimistic – I will see a Plain-pouched Hornbill next time.

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