malaysian naturalist, december 2018
HE GIVES it to us in numbers – in one day, one conservation message can reach 1.5 million people. And in the future, one message can reach the whole Malaysian population, in one day. Far-fetched? Not to the mind of Professor Dr. Ahmad Ismail, the new President of the Malaysian Nature Society, who says this is the power of MNS’s school nature club programme, known more familiarly as KPA, short for Kelab Pencinta Alam. Breaking it down, he says: “If we have 500 KPA schools, each with 1,000 students, we would spread the message to half a million people, in one day.” Factor in parents, and the message would be shared with 1.5 million people. |
And reaching the whole population? That would take the effort of all MNS members, state branches and staff to increase the Society’s membership from the current 3,000-odd to 10,000, which he hopes to see before 2020. “If we have MNS members and KPA schools in every district in the country, our conservation message can go out to the whole population, in one day,” he says.
This can be achieved through KPA, which offers a systematic approach and has the support of the Ministry of Education. And further via KPA for Youth, the offshoot for young MNS members from the university sphere. “We haven’t seen as much support for KPA for Youth among local universities, although they support MNS activities,” he says, and this includes Society programmes on campus grounds, or with students volunteering for MNS events, for instance at Raptor Watch or the recent Pesta Sayap in October.
“We need more MoUs [memorandum of understanding] with universities. If we have [commitment from] universities in our focus regions, we can move fast, and people will be well educated on conserving nature.”
This can be achieved through KPA, which offers a systematic approach and has the support of the Ministry of Education. And further via KPA for Youth, the offshoot for young MNS members from the university sphere. “We haven’t seen as much support for KPA for Youth among local universities, although they support MNS activities,” he says, and this includes Society programmes on campus grounds, or with students volunteering for MNS events, for instance at Raptor Watch or the recent Pesta Sayap in October.
“We need more MoUs [memorandum of understanding] with universities. If we have [commitment from] universities in our focus regions, we can move fast, and people will be well educated on conserving nature.”
As we sit down for the chat, Prof. Ahmad, who has been Advisor to the MNS Environmental Education Division for the past 10 years, is keen to expound on why he thinks educating the public is the main path towards effective conservation action. This has to do with a lack of awareness about linked conservation issues, which leads to efforts that do not necessarily work.
A clear example of the dichotomy between knowledge and action, he says, is the mudflats of Kuala Gula, which is renowned for its economically vibrant blood cockles and as a stopover for migratory shorebirds.
“The government has not gazetted it as a protected area, but recognises its importance. And yet, at the same time, they opened the area to shrimp ponds by cutting down forests used by the birds to roost. The ponds also utilise chemical treatments, which is then flushed out into the mudflats and cockle beds.” Add to that the fertilisers and pesticides used in the surrounding oil palm estates, which are washed into the rivers during heavy rain.
“This is the conflict of thinking and application in society, so we need to break through it,” says the lecturer who brought to Universiti Putra Malaysia the once “unrelated” courses of wildlife ecology and eco-toxicology, following his Doctorate in 1986 on the effect of heavy metals in animals and plants, and how they get transferred into the food chain. (Think atmospheric deposition, surface contamination and heavy metals in underground water, channelled to plants and then onto insects and higher-level wildlife.)
People are beginning to think about these issues, but many still cannot make the jump. So, it’s back to educating the general public, says Prof. Ahmad, who wishes to see more money channelled to public education and awareness, which some people might deem unquantifiable (and thus an unproven return on investment).
On this, he gives the example of money being spent to beautify rivers, which produces a tangible result, yet the problem of garbage and effluents in waterways will not directly be solved. “But, through education, people will stop throwing rubbish into rivers, and effluents from houses, industry, will not be directly discharged into our waterways.”
There will also be a call, he says, to activate MNS state branches, members and staff in sharing the message of the Society’s tenet, which is to “protect and conserve nature”. This involves getting branches and members to identify the areas they wish to protect, and at what level. This will be followed by activity planning, focused on producing benefits, be they financial, in terms of ecosystem services, or for society in general. And of course, he will push efforts towards a 10,000-strong membership, a larger KPA and KPA for Youth pool around the country, and expansive environmental education among Malaysians.
As he breaks off for another meeting, Prof. Ahmad hopes the MNS community will get behind his environmental education drive, because, he says, “An educated society will push the government towards conservation, and an educated government will do it for the people.”
A clear example of the dichotomy between knowledge and action, he says, is the mudflats of Kuala Gula, which is renowned for its economically vibrant blood cockles and as a stopover for migratory shorebirds.
“The government has not gazetted it as a protected area, but recognises its importance. And yet, at the same time, they opened the area to shrimp ponds by cutting down forests used by the birds to roost. The ponds also utilise chemical treatments, which is then flushed out into the mudflats and cockle beds.” Add to that the fertilisers and pesticides used in the surrounding oil palm estates, which are washed into the rivers during heavy rain.
“This is the conflict of thinking and application in society, so we need to break through it,” says the lecturer who brought to Universiti Putra Malaysia the once “unrelated” courses of wildlife ecology and eco-toxicology, following his Doctorate in 1986 on the effect of heavy metals in animals and plants, and how they get transferred into the food chain. (Think atmospheric deposition, surface contamination and heavy metals in underground water, channelled to plants and then onto insects and higher-level wildlife.)
People are beginning to think about these issues, but many still cannot make the jump. So, it’s back to educating the general public, says Prof. Ahmad, who wishes to see more money channelled to public education and awareness, which some people might deem unquantifiable (and thus an unproven return on investment).
On this, he gives the example of money being spent to beautify rivers, which produces a tangible result, yet the problem of garbage and effluents in waterways will not directly be solved. “But, through education, people will stop throwing rubbish into rivers, and effluents from houses, industry, will not be directly discharged into our waterways.”
There will also be a call, he says, to activate MNS state branches, members and staff in sharing the message of the Society’s tenet, which is to “protect and conserve nature”. This involves getting branches and members to identify the areas they wish to protect, and at what level. This will be followed by activity planning, focused on producing benefits, be they financial, in terms of ecosystem services, or for society in general. And of course, he will push efforts towards a 10,000-strong membership, a larger KPA and KPA for Youth pool around the country, and expansive environmental education among Malaysians.
As he breaks off for another meeting, Prof. Ahmad hopes the MNS community will get behind his environmental education drive, because, he says, “An educated society will push the government towards conservation, and an educated government will do it for the people.”