Getting to know MY Bee Saviors - Penyelamat Lebah Malaysia

­PENCINTA ALAM APRIL 2019

GREEN LIVING COLUMN

GETTING TO KNOW MY BEE SAVIORS – PENYELAMAT LEBAH MALAYSIA

By Wong Ee Lynn <wongeelynn@yahoo.com / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com>

All photo credits: From MY Bee Saviors – Penyelamat Lebah Malaysia’s Facebook page.

We all know that honey bees are the most important pollinator of food crops. It is estimated that one third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination mostly by bees, but also by other insects, birds and bats. Even for crops that are not directly pollinated by honey bees, the crop still benefits indirectly from being in an environment in which honey bees are found, due to the increased biodiversity in the area which stimulates the crop.

Bees pollinate not only food crops consumed by humans, but also other plants eaten by other animals and birds, so they play a vital role in the entire food chain. They pollinate wild flowers, thus enhancing biodiversity. Bee populations – whether healthy or declining – tell us about the health of the wider environment.

Unfortunately, bee populations worldwide are facing serious threats. Habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, climate change, diseases and parasites and invasive plant species have all contributed to the  decline in bee populations.

The global scientific and environmental community has been working hard to protect and restore bee populations by calling on governments to ban pesticides linked to declines in bee populations. In April 2018, European Union member states agreed to ban the outdoor use of neonicotinoid pesticides. France has gone one step further, banning 5 types of pesticides linked to bee deaths both for outdoor and indoor use. The US Donald Trump administration has, unfortunately, lifted an Obama-era ban on the use of bee-killing pesticides.

While Malaysia has made no such declaration on the use of bee-killing pesticides, one volunteer-run organisation has been quietly and heroically saving bees, one hive at a time.

MY Bee Savior / Penyelamat Lebah Malaysia is a group founded in January 2015 by Haji Musa Yaacob, a retired MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) researcher and Encik Izatul Lail Bin Mohd Yasar, another MARDI researcher.

As the group started growing and increasing its reach, MARDI decided to adopt the group as a Corporate Social Responsibility project in January 2017. As of March 2019, the group has almost 200 registered volunteers nationwide.

Volunteer registration is available online for members of the public who are interested in saving bees. Interested individuals can contact the group, and the administrators of the group will then ask the prospective volunteers a few questions to determine their suitability and readiness before registering them. Upon registration, volunteers will be given an e-book on how to relocate bees, and some video files on the bee relocation process. New volunteers will be invited to join senior volunteers on bee relocation operations in the areas nearest to them. New volunteers who are experienced beekeepers are permitted to undertake the relocation process themselves without the presence of senior volunteers. Active MY Bee Savior volunteers are given a protective beekeeping suit each, or may purchase their own beekeeping suits. Some tools and equipment may be used depending on the complexity of the operations, location or position of the bee hive, and species of bees. MNS members who have engaged the services of these helpful volunteers, though, report that the volunteers mostly use just a cardboard box and tape!

MY Bee Savior volunteers do not charge homeowners or property managers for their bee relocation services, as their goals are public outreach and education, preventing the killing and poisoning of bees, protecting and increasing bee populations and encouraging sustainable beekeeping and honey harvesting practices. The bee hives and colonies are usually relocated to sustainable bee farms, for example, the one in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). If there is honey collected during the relocation operation, the homeowner may share it with the volunteers. If the homeowner is interested in keeping the bees for honey production purposes, he or she may request that the volunteers bring or construct a hive box for a specified fee. MY Bee Savior accepts donations whether for the transport expenses of individual volunteers, or larger sums to enable the organisation to purchase more beekeeping suits and equipment.

In the event you find a bee colony on or around your premises, please do not smoke the bees out or spray them with insecticides. Instead, contact MY Bee Savior at 019 664 8081 and they will get one of their volunteers to contact you as soon as one is available. MNS members have reported that MY Bee Savior volunteers usually show up within 24 to 48 hours and the relocation is done efficiently without harming the bees.

To find them on Facebook, visit: https://www.facebook.com/penyelamatlebah/?ref=br_rs

Green Living Column: Of What Use Are Community Cleanups?

PENCINTA ALAM FEBRUARY 2019

GREEN LIVING COLUMN

OF WHAT USE ARE COMMUNITY CLEANUPS?

By Wong Ee Lynn

Green Living has been organizing and coordinating trail, beach and forest cleanups since our inception in 2006. Nobody can dispute that volunteers who give up their weekends to clean up natural spaces are doing an unselfish and responsible thing. However, just how effective and useful are community cleanups? Do they really help in reducing ocean plastic pollution and wildlife deaths? Here are some quick facts:

CRITICISMS:

1.       Critics argue that public cleanups do not address the root causes of plastic pollution. What we need to do is to reduce unnecessary plastic at source, design less harmful products and develop better recycling processes.

2.       David Katz, the founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, which monetizes plastic waste by turning it into a currency that helps some of the world’s poorest people, likens the problem to an overflowing sink: “There is no point in mopping the floor until you turn off the tap”.

POSITIVE RESULTS AND BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY CLEANUPS:

1.       Every piece of litter that is taken away to be recycled or deposited in a landfill means there is one less dangerous item for birds, turtles or whales to swallow. Cleanups also restore these animals’ habitats.

2.       In 2015, Mumbai lawyer Afroz Shah started coordinating regular beach cleanups at Versova Beach in Mumbai which saw thousands of volunteers removing over 13 million kilograms of waste in what the UN has called “the world’s largest beach cleanup”. In March 2018, around 80 olive ridley turtle hatchlings were spotted heading to the sea from Versova Beach. The turtles had not been seen on the beach for decades. The cleanup had turned the former litter-strewn beach into turtle breeding grounds once again.

3.       Community cleanups also serve to educate. When volunteers see just how much plastic is collected, they are often inspired to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics, and, crucially, to spread the word to others. Tiza Mafira, lawyer and director of the non-profit Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement, says beach cleanups give volunteers a clear sense of the scale of the problem.

4.       Cleanup campaigns often collect data on the litter found to determine where it comes from and thus aid longer-term efforts to cut down on marine plastic pollution. For example, the British Science Association and The Plastic Tide charity have asked the public to help chart plastic pollution by tagging items captured by drone technology and aerial photos taken of Britain’s shores.

5.       Community cleanups raise public awareness on the threat of plastic debris more effectively than in less participatory public education programs, multiple studies show. Volunteers say the cleanups make them more mindful of how they dispose of their own disposables.

6.       Community cleanups add to the growing body of knowledge about where and how plastics travel across the seas and where they end up in the greatest abundance. Findings from community clean-ups help to put pressure on corporations to reduce waste and make their products less wasteful and more easily and frequently recycled. Greenpeace, in partnership with a consortium of environmental groups known as Break Free From Plastic, conducted an audit of the rubbish collected from community cleanups and found that the brands of packaging most commonly retrieved belong to 3 multinationals: Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Nestle. After these results were published, all three companies have since pledged to reduce plastic waste by redesigning products to make them more recyclable, reducing unnecessary plastic packaging, and increasing the amount of recycled material used to manufacture their plastic products. Each company has set targets for those goals that range from 2020 to 2030.

7.       There are economic and social benefits to community cleanups. If beaches and national parks are covered with litter, tourists will not come. Community cleanups also draw people closer together and create a sense of unity, camaraderie and belonging.

 (Sources:

1.       https://oceanconservancy.org/

2.       https://www.unenvironment.org/

3.       https://www.nationalgeographic.com/)

Green Living Activity Report: The Last Hurrah of 2018 -- A Forest Cleanup Party at the Bukit Gasing Educational Forest

Green Living Activity Report: The Last Hurrah of 2018 -- A Forest Cleanup Party at the Bukit Gasing Educational Forest

By Wong Ee Lynn <wongeelynn@yahoo.com>

MNS Selangor Branch’s Green Living SIG organised a forest clean-up or ‘plogging party’ at the Bukit Gasing Forest Reserve on 29 December 2018 and named the event “The Last Hurrah of 2018” as it was likely to be the final community cleanup of the year for most of the participants. The purpose of the event was to get hikers and members of the community to clean up the popular hiking and recreational spot as a way of giving thanks to Mother Nature for all the good things that took place in 2018, and to set good intentions for a more environmentally-responsible 2019.

A whopping 46 volunteers of all ages, races, faiths and persuasions  showed up for the event and invested a lot of time and effort into cleaning up Bukit Gasing. It was a very heartening and encouraging show of civic consciousness and environmental awareness on the part of the volunteers.

Recyclables were separated and the MBPJ truck arrived at the right time to remove all the sacks of rubbish. A potluck picnic was held at the playground after the cleanup session and Lucky Draw prizes were given out to 6 lucky participants. 

 Volunteers wading through and removing litter from the streams.

2.     

S     Starting them young and making volunteering a family affair!

3

       Cikgu Sazali brought his students to help out.

4      

       Tired young volunteers sitting on the road in front of the Bukit Gasing water treatment plant.

5

      Getting ready to haul the sacks of rubbish out.

6     Smile and say GREEN!

7

      Volunteers Hari and Malathi (in green) who led the troops in.

8    One of the Lucky Draw winners, Azizan, who did the entire plogging session with baby in tow!

Special thanks go to Hari Shanmugam and Malathi Chandran for assisting Green Living with the recce and for leading the volunteers safely in and out of the trails, and to Fashilah Ahmad for sourcing and bringing the discarded gunny sacks for the rubbish. For and on behalf of Mother Nature and MNS Selangor, my heartfelt thanks go out to all the volunteers who gave up their Saturday morning to give back to Mother Nature.

Letter to the Editor: Much Still Needs To Be Done To Protect Environment

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

MUCH STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Selangor Branch would like to congratulate the Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change YB Yeo Bee Yin on being recognised as one of Nature Journal’s top ten people who made a difference to the environment in 2018 (TheStar, 20 Dec 2018).

MNS Selangor along with other local environmental organisations have long lobbied the Malaysian government for better energy, water, land and waste management policies, and stronger laws against single-use plastics.

While we are heartened by YB Yeo’s pledge to phase out single-use plastics in Malaysia, we are concerned that the 12-year timeline is simply too long to be effective in dealing with an issue as urgent as marine plastic pollution. Kenya took drastic action to ban plastic bags over a year ago, while Bali is set to ban plastic bags and other single-use plastics by next year. Malaysia should not be lagging behind our neighbours in taking decisive action to cut down on the manufacturing, consumption, use, distribution and disposal of single-use plastics. This is especially so after we have witnessed how inadequate our recycling and waste management systems are in dealing with the world’s plastic waste that was foisted on Banting, Klang and other Malaysian towns following China’s refusal to accept any more plastic waste from developed nations for recycling. A 5-year roadmap would be a better testimony of the government’s seriousness and sincerity in dealing with the issue of single-use plastics and plastic pollution.

Much more needs to be done to conserve Malaysia’s environment, biodiversity, wildlife and natural resources, and unfortunately we have not seen very much concrete action or moral courage on the part of the relevant authorities, enforcement agencies and government ministries. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), Ministry of Works and Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources have been conspicuously and alarmingly silent, for instance, on the issue of hill slope development in Penang, the encroachment into native customary lands by plantation companies, and the clearing of green lungs for development projects in Taman Bukit Kiara and Bukit Lagong, among others.

The issues of the degazettement of forest reserves, deforestation and development and infrastructure projects in previously forested areas should not fall within the purview of State governments or the Ministry of Federal Territories alone. It is not enough to say that a particular piece of land is under state ownership and management, and the public or other government ministries and agencies are therefore not authorised to discuss, question or challenge any development plans in green lungs and forest reserves. It is not enough to claim that the cost of cancellation or need for housing are too high, and therefore environmental protection must be relegated to the back burner. It is not enough to argue that the issue of deforestation and degazettement of forest reserves fall within the purview of the Forestry Department and the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources, as deforestation has an impact on climate change and should therefore be inconsistent with MESTECC’s climate change mitigation policies.

Deforestation and development projects in forested areas, especially ecologically sensitive areas with high biodiversity and high conservation value, affect more than just the value of neighbouring properties. Increased disasters such as landslides, flash floods, and drought, and increased air, water, noise and light pollution, will have an adverse impact on climate and environmental quality, and will affect human and animal quality of life and a particular community and ecosystem’s ability to sustain itself. Wildlife populations may end up unable to breed, find food, or avoid conflict with humans. Highway and development projects may end up bisecting or fragmenting wildlife habitats and lead to an increase in wildlife roadkills. New roads and highways may create access for illegal loggers and poachers where there was none before.

The degazettement of forest reserves and destruction of the natural environment are taking place on the watch of those entrusted to protect the environment. Those of us in environmental organisations are fully aware of the need to balance environmental protection with economic needs. However, in many instances, there is no actual pressing social or economic need resulting in a genuine conflict, and there should be no compromise on environmental protection. For far too long, the Malaysian authorities have been defending environmentally destructive projects that benefit only a selected few with economic and political leverage. Environmental organisations and citizens’ action groups with no ulterior motives or hidden agendas other than to speak up for the natural environment are treated as adversaries, instead of as valuable and impartial allies. Hill slope development is clearly dangerous, unsustainable and indefensible especially after so many disasters and loss of lives, yet hill slope development projects continue to be approved. The continued destruction and acquisition of native customary lands and the oppression of indigenous communities by corporations, developers and plantation owners cannot be allowed to proceed unchecked. The gazettement of forest reserves becomes meaningless if degazettement and forest-clearing can take place at any time with impunity.  

All of us have only a small window of time to help protect natural spaces and vanishing species. Politicians’ windows of time are even smaller. While praise and credit must be given where it is due, we must remember that environmental conservation in Malaysia is an uphill battle and many issues are not afforded the urgency and importance they deserve. We need to prioritise the environmental challenges with the highest stakes and greatest potential for lasting and irreversible damage. Environmental organisations are always ready to meet with the government to discuss solutions. Environmental organisations are not trying to win a popularity contest against governmental agencies, we are racing against time to prevent the annihilation of the natural world. It is wonderful that Malaysia has a Minister acknowledged by a prestigious science journal to be a champion for the environment. It would be more wonderful still if we could have all the relevant government ministries work together with each other and with environmental organisations and citizens’ action groups to expeditiously and courageously take action to protect Malaysia’s natural environment and deliver environmental justice.

WONG EE LYNN

MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY

SELANGOR BRANCH

Eco Kids Column: Microadventures for Eco Kids

PENCINTA ALAM JAN 2017
ECO KIDS COLUMN
MICROADVENTURES FOR ECO-KIDS
By Wong Ee Lynn
<wongeelynn@yahoo.com  / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com>

 

The school holidays may be over, but this doesn't mean that your outdoor time has to come to an end. Experts agree that children need at least one hour of outdoor time a day to improve their muscle tone, physical coordination, sense of balance and general health and fitness levels. Outdoor time helps children unwind and relax. Unfortunately, for many children living in urban and residential areas, 'outdoor time' consists of structured physical activity such as taekwondo, swimming or tennis lessons. While all sports and physical activities are good for you, unstructured free play outdoors helps to develop your creativity, self-confidence and problem-solving skills. Many children look forward to road trips, camping excursions and visits to national parks and places of natural interest during the school holidays. This does not have to come to an end when the new school semester begins. 'Microadventures' are short adventures in the great outdoors, as opposed to 3-day camping trips in Taman Negara or Tasik Chini. They are usually day trips or may be only hours long. Sometimes they are overnight weekend camping trips that involve camping out on Friday or Saturday nights. What makes a microadventure a microadventure is that they have to be generally unstructured. A sunrise hike up Broga Hill is a microadventure. A birdwatching workshop is less so, because it is structured and involves other people advising you on what to see and do. A football training session is an outdoor physical training session without being a microadventure at all. 

To prepare for a microadventure, you need:
1. To go in a group for safety if the trip involves some degree of risk, or to ensure whoever remains at home (or perhaps relatives, neighbours or close friends) know where you are going and what time you expect to be back;
2. To have fully charged phones or walkie-talkies or some other means of communicating with others in the event of an emergency;
3. A basic First Aid Kit and first aid skills;
4. Sufficient drinking water, and a light snack or two, 
5. Lightweight outdoor emergency equipment, such as a knife for cutting through thorny bushes, fishing lines or bird mist nets with, 
6. A whistle for each member of the group to blow in case you are lost or in case of an emergency,
7. Rubbish bags or a dry sack to carry rubbish out in,
8. A change of clothes in case of bad weather or if you are sleeping out.

Field guides, binoculars, log books, compasses, torchlights and other such items are optional.  

If going on microadventures is new to your family, here are ways you can start small:
1. Set a goal of going on one microadventure each month, if doing it every weekend seems too challenging. 
2. Ensure everyone -- adults and children alike -- get one hour of Outdoor Time each day. Tick it off on a chart, calendar or whiteboard to ensure this is done daily. This can be a nightly walk around the neighbourhood after dinner instead of sitting down in front of the computer, tablet or TV. 
3. If your daily outdoor activity consists of going to the neighbourhood playground, playing in the garden or swimming in the apartment pool, set a goal of going to a different playground or park in a different neighbourhood once or twice a week. Explore different parks and playground equipment. One family wrote a blogpost on how they spent the entire summer exploring and testing out all the slides in all the playgrounds in their district. 
4. Set a Family Goal for the month or quarter (i.e. every 3 months), for example: (i) One place with water; (ii) One place we have never been to before; (iii) One overnight weekend stay; (iv) One item on the MNS Newsletter activities announcement page; and (v) One new way of travelling. 

To make it more meaningful for the family or as a group activity, you can add a volunteering component to your microadventures. For example, you can volunteer for worthy conservation causes, such as the Malaysian Nature Society Urban Community Forest (UCF) plant nursery for the first two hours and then spend the third hour exploring the trails. You can volunteer with the Eats, Roots and Shoots Edible Garden in Petaling Jaya and then spend the next hour hiking the Bukit Gasing Trail. You can help to clean up parks and nature trails.

Here are suggestions on microadventures you can try out in KL and Selangor:1. Explore the KL Forest Eco Park (also known as the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve) and try to locate the suspension bridge that takes you to the hidden playground. 
2. Explore the trails and streams of Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Lembah Kiara Park in TTDI, Bukit Gasing Forest Park, Ketumbar Hill, Broga Hill or Templer's Park. 
3. Go on a long bike ride and picnic at Taman Botani Negara Shah Alam (commonly known as Bukit Cherakah).
4. Take the bus or LRT to a different part of town and walk home without the use of Waze, Google Maps or any other mobile apps. 
5. Go rafting, kayaking or paddleboarding.
6. Explore the playgrounds at Desa Park City, Bukit Jalil Recreation Park, KL Lake Gardens, National Science Centre and Perdana Botanical Gardens.
7. Fly a kite at the Kepong Metropolitan Park or Morib Beach.
8. Bring a brew kit on your next hike and practice starting a fire and boiling some water for tea when you stop to rest. Learn to cook yourself a simple meal outdoors, e.g. instant noodles or toasted sandwiches, once you have mastered the art of starting a fire and keeping a fire going. Remember to put out your fire completely and bring your litter out with you when you are done.
9. Bring a container of plain flour with you. Work in teams of 2-3. The leading team leaves a pattern of flour on rocks and the trail as a trail marker and the 'hunting' team starts off 5-10 minutes later and tries to catch up with the leading team by following the markers. Please do not use bits of paper, crayons, marker pens or non-biodegradable materials as trail markers. 
10. Explore the Kuala Selangor Nature Park and go to Kg. Kuantan after nightfall to see the fireflies along the Selangor River.
11. Go birding, caving or herping (i.e. looking for and spotting reptiles and amphibians) with the Malaysian Nature Society Special Interest Groups. 
12. Go on night hikes and night walks to build up your self-confidence and sense of balance and spatial awareness in the dark. 
13. Have a scavenger hunt on your next hike or park outing. Participants can use their phone cameras to capture photos of things on the list, for example: 'something with wings', 'something with a shell', 'something with more than 6 legs', 'something man-made', 'something that looks like a human face', 'something red' and 'something not native to the area'.
14. If your microadventure consists of going to a playground, urban park or a place to volunteer (e.g. an animal shelter, a community garden, a plant nursery or a homeless assistance centre), add the element of adventure and novelty to it by going there using a different mode of travel (e.g. LRT, bus, on foot, by bike, or on a scooter or skates) or using a different route, and then finish off with an outdoor picnic meal, or a meal at a restaurant you have never been to, particularly if it serves cuisine of a different culture. 
15. Check out the city and community pages of the newspaper or events near you on social media to find out about local events with a community service or environmental objective. For example, environmental documentary screenings, organic markets, art fairs, school fundraisers, treasure hunts, recycling campaigns and community cleanups. Participate in the activities to learn more about these causes and your local community. Make new friends, try new foods and learn new skills and games. 
16. If it is raining but there is no lightning, put on a raincoat and go out in the rain. Watch where the water flows. Are there any birds or animals that go out in the rain?
17. If you live in an urban area, take the LRT, monorail or some other form of public transport to visit a place of historical interest, for example, the old part of Kuala Lumpur, around Masjid Jamek and Central Market. Make notes and sketches about things you observe and how they make you feel. Ride the LRT all the way to the end of the line and back. 
18. Sleep out in your garden, and once you have done this, try out other friends' gardens, the local playground and the school compound, a little further away from your home each time.