IPOH: For the past decade, a conservation group that conducts expeditions to the Royal Belum-Temengor forest complex has found, to its dismay, that it has spotted just about 20 Helmeted Hornbills. The number of these critically endangered birds has not shown any signs of an increase, said Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia (Ecomy) president and chief executive officer Andrew Sebastian. “This is worrying, ” he said, attributing it to logging, poaching and habitat los

PETALING JAYA: Better coordination between the federal and state governments is needed to overcome water woes, with some experts calling for a single federal agency to manage the country’s precious water resources. Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia president S. Piarapakaran said there must be a central team of experts, at the federal level, to protect and prevent the pollution of our country’s water resources. “Yes, water resources fall under the state governm

PETALING JAYA: An environmentalist has called for water supply to come under the purview of the National Security Council in the wake of the water crisis in the Klang Valley caused by river pollution. K Kalithasan, river care manager for the Global Environment Centre, said he supported the call by Klang MP Charles Santiago for a single federal authority to regulate rivers. Santiago had said rivers should be treated as a national security area with buffers of around 200 metres

Another day, another forest making way for development. This time it's in Gunung Bujang Melaka in Kampar, Perak. The new proposal shows plans to convert the project area from a forest into a commercial zone. We find out more about what's happening, and share how you can participate in the public hearing and objection process. Learn more at BFM

IPOH: An environmental non-governmental organisation is urging the public to object against a 60.38ha private Chinese cemetery project earmarked at a hill slope of Gunung Bujang Melaka in Kampar. Eco-tourism and Conservation Society Malaysia (Ecomy) president and chief executive officer Andrew Sebastian said several protected species of wildlife had been sighted in the primary forest in Gunung Bujang Melaka. He said the under the proposal, there were plans to convert the proj

KUALA LUMPUR: Naturalists are concerned that the 15-storey resort and spa, slated for Fraser's Hill will open the development floodgates in the 83,000ha forest complex it rests in. Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia head Andrew J. Sebastian said the threat was not just to the area of the development, but the greater Fraser's Hill Forest Complex due to the precedent being set in the ecologically-sensitive area. He said the forest complex, which includes six permanent