IEN Consultants
More than 10 years of experience and expertise in energy efficiency and sustainable building design, planning and certification.
Loading pure awesomeness, please wait...
Many thanks to our Sponsors and Supporters:
More than 10 years of experience and expertise in energy efficiency and sustainable building design, planning and certification.
Interests
Activism Biodiversity Climate change Economics Education Empowerment Sustainability Technology
“Know nature, value nature and act for nature”
Freelance Writer
The broad range of topics I have covered include protected area conservation and management, wildlife-related issues and indigenous knowledge.
For a straight-laced bio, check out http://www.siewlynwrites.com.
less...This post is put up on behalf of Janda Baik resident Christine Lim, who is trying to raise awareness on the destructive logging in Janda Baik. This is her English translation of a Bernama article carried by Free Malaysia Today.
Loggers prevent media from investigating logging in Janda Baik
Bernama | October 11, 2016
They prevented the passage of the media and environmental activists who wanted to see the uncontrolled logging activities of the past 20 years in the Permanent Forest Estate of Janda Baik
BENTONG: The greed of those carrying out uncontrolled logging activities in the Permanent Forest Estate of Janda Baik over the past 20 years is a nightmare for the close to 2,000 residents of Janda Baik Village.
Their livelihoods are increasingly affected because five major tributaries including Ulu Sungai Benus, Sungai Kuala Lurau and Sungai Tampik, which supplied clean water and were tourist attractions, have been “raped” by certain parties for their own interests.
Accordingly, the Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia (PEKA) has taken the initiative to defend the plight of the villagers by urging the cessation of logging activity before the situation worsens.
President Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil said that although the various parties deny the situation, Peka has clear evidence that the deforestation is increasingly serious.
As proof, PEKA and several media agencies including Bernama surveyed the area and found that forest clearing is still in progress.
Among the proof they found is a new trail enabling log removal that was found 3 kilometers deep into the forest, when they entered by a 4-wheel-drive vehicle.
However, when the parties involved became aware of the presence of PEKA and the media, they acted to block the passage they were clearing by placing the equipment in the middle of the route.
Sabrina Shariffa described their actions as extreme because not only do they harm the environment but they also affect the livelihood of the majority of the local population who provide homestays.
“This is a permanent forest reserve. Janda Baik is an ecotourism area but it is losing the natural resources such as rivers, including flora and fauna.
“I feel this is unfair to the residents who have invested money to provide homestays. They are disappointed and they are now speaking out to stop the logging because it has gone overboard,” she said.
She said her organization is always monitoring the situation in the area but needed the cooperation of local residents to ensure that those responsible stop their logging activities.
“It is time for the residents to take action out of desperation. PEKA will always provide support for the welfare of the population and the environment before we lose this valuable resource,” she said.
Meanwhile, local area representative Mat Sabri Ahmad Malek, 58, said that such activities do not only affect the income of the population but also cause several other problems such as mud floods, shallow waters, and decreasing fish population.
“We are no longer able to cope with this situation. We, with PEKA’s help, will put up barriers immediately for the good of all,” said he, who used to work in freshwater aquaculture.
Jefri Jais, who represents the tourist guides in the area, also expressed disappointment in the steep recent decline in the number of tourists in this ecotourism area, which has been deeply felt.
He claimed that tourist visits to the area have fallen by about 50% as many are aware of the destruction of flora and fauna.
Learn all about sharks and learn to be with sharks in a unique marine awareness programme on Pulau Tenggol, Terengganu.
Join MNS Marine (the Malaysian Nature Society Marine Special Interest Group) and SSI (Scuba Schools International) for World Oceans Day 2016 as we focus on the ocean’s top fish.
This programme is held in conjunction with the anti-shark’s fin soup campaign My Fin My Life Campaign #myfinmylife, of which SSI and MNS are partners.
By joining this programme, you will:
Here’s what you will experience:
At the end of the programme, you should have
Date: 3 – 6 June 2016
No of participants: 30
Facilitation & training: MNS Marine facilitators and SSI instructors
Location: Pulau Tenggol, Terengganu
Fee: RM830 (quad share) / RM910 (triple share)
The fee covers all island costs including accommodation (air conditioned rooms with attached bathrooms on a triple/quad share basis), all meals, boat transfers from Dungun jetty, snorkeling gear, activities, guided boat trips for snorkeling, marine park and MNS marine fund fees and group travel insurance. (see Registration Form for details)
Please arrange your own transport to and from the jetty.
The MNS Marine facilitation are volunteers led by Wong Siew Lyn (MNS membership no. F/Q/9321/B) and Adeline Loh Chooi Ping (MNS membership no. O/E/20559/B).
The SSI Snorkeling Certification and SSI Shark Specialty Certification to the value of RM9,600.00 are generously sponsored by SSI.
For more information, email Adeline. Trip info and registration form are on https://www.facebook.com/groups/mnsmarinegroup.selangorbranch/, also check out #myfinmylife, http://www.divessi.com/sc-sha; http://siputscuba.com/ and http://pulautenggol.com/
Talented filmmaker and marine conservationist Leong Hon Yuen has spent 2 years making a documentary about fish-bombing in the Tun Sakaran Marine Park, off Semporna. She’s almost done but needs a last push of funds to complete the documentary, which is why she is turning to crowd-sourcing.
As we know, fish-bombing destroys coral reefs and is dangerous to humans too. Enforcement is difficult because it’s impossible to pin-point where the bombing occurs. Hon Yuen’s documentary has been following the development and implementation of a ‘listening device’ project that would solve that.
At the same time, she covers the issues surrounding fish-bombing.
Now she needs to return to the dangerous Semporna area to finish the final bit of filming.
Do help her out at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tracking-asia-s-fish-bombers#/
Her profile is at http://www.factualtv.asia.
Are you passionate about the environment and about writing? Come along to the Green Blogging Workshop @ the 8th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF). Facilitated by environmental writer S.L. Wong, the workshop aims to help young people find and develop their voice in blogging about the environment.
The workshop covers the following:
>> What is blogging?
>> How to find and develop your voice
>> Telling a story – some building blocks
>> Getting the story – yes, literally getting the story (practical component)
>> Review and sharing
>> Where do you go from here?
What you will get out of the workshop:
>> Building blocks for writing for a blog
>> Practical experience in writing a post for a blog
>> Getting you on your way to producing your own blog
>> Contribution to the festival in the form of a collective blog
Date: Sunday 18 October 2015
Time: 9.30am – 12pm
Venue: White Box, Publika, Kuala Lumpur
Registration fee: RM50
To register: email info@ecofilmfest.my or tel (03) 7731 8361
Full details are here: http://www.ecofilmfest.my/attractions/forum,-workshops-talks/180-green-blogging.html
Workshop Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Greenbloggingworkshop-893567940699126/
S.L. Wong (http://www.siewlynwrites.com) is a Kuala Lumpur-based freelance writer/photographer with 25 years’ professional experience in the print, broadcast and online media. Her specialty areas are travel and environment. In the environmental arena, she focuses on grassroots support, awareness raising and documentation.
The broad range of topics she has covered included protected area conservation and management, wildlife-related issues and indigenous knowledge. In workshops, she has worked with participants of all ages including NGOs, Orang Asli youth and local tour guides.
MESYM.com is a crowd-sourced platform and a living database for environmental movements in Malaysia. There are many good actions being done out there. Our goal is to bring them together. We connect the green dots.
Please copy/paste the html code below into your website.
Please select and copy (Ctrl + C) the URL below.
Please select and copy (Ctrl + C) the URL below.