MPU 2323

ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT IN
MALAYSIA

5.0 Social Issues and the Environment

 Content

• Creating public awareness

• Conservation
• Future perspective and challenges
 Key concepts
• Public awareness = informing, sensitizing, drawing attention
through seminars, awareness materials (posters, flyers)
• •Public education = imparting knowledge, know how though
workshops, educational materials
• •Outreach: Activities designed to reach-out, build
relationships, inspire the public to support biosafety work
• •Communication: Process of delivering messages or other
information through various media
• •Extension: Sustained interaction with specific audiences to
transfer technical knowledge or skills
 Introduction
• Environmental education and awareness is increasingly being
promoted as a tool in managing our environment.

• In 1978 UNESCO Tbilisi Declaration, mentioned “ a process of

developing a world population that is aware of and concerned
about the total environment and its associated problems, and which
has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation and commitment to
work individually and collectively towards solution of current
problems and the prevention of new ones”.
 Introduction
• The need to continuously heighten awareness and educate the
general public on environmental issues is vital.

• Education, should be recognised as a process by which human

beings and societies can reach their fullest potential.

• Educations and awareness is critical for achieving environmental

and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour
consistent with sustainable development
The role and position of environmental education

The significance of environmental education

 Raise environmental awareness

Fit your actions to sustainable development which is the

basis of environmental protection

 Environmental education’s aim is to raise public

environmental awareness and makes the educated gain
necessary knowledge and values of understanding, protecting
and improving the environment.
Creating Public Awareness
• Seminars
• Workshops/conferences
• Awareness materials (flyers, posters, videos, etc)
• Exhibitions
• Public awareness events
• Field days
• Media (newspapers, radio, TV)
• Websites and other internet-based tools (e.g. webinars)
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs)
• Dedicated campaigns on specific issues
 Seminars and Conferences

• Discussions with stakeholders on specific

themes
• Hold conference to transmit org’s
achievements to selected audience, deliver
general info
• Invite questions and discussion from audience
 Exhibition

• Present and demonstrate the work/outputs of

your organizations to mixed audience in
various ways
• Allow interaction with public
• Inform and get instant feedback
• International, national and local exhibitions
 Social media

• Powerful/effective means of communication

(esp. with youth)
• •Good way to engage and maintain
relationships with the public
• •Use various tools to deliver targeted message:
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogs
• Note: Can be demanding, require dedication
• –Keep engaged, innovative, up-to-date;
• –Follow-up on messages/requests; Check on
your contacts
• –Feed your blog posts
• –Engage prominent personalities
CONSERVATION
 In situ andEx situ

In situ:
• Conservation of species in their natural habitat
• E.g. natural parks, nature reserves
Ex situ:
• Conserving species in isolation of their natural
habitat
• E.g. zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 In situ conservation
Setting up wild life reserves is
not just a matter of building a
fence around an area and
letting it grow “wild”

Without grazing animals

heathlands which contain a
number of rare species will
revert to woodland
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Nature reserves and national parks

• First the area that is suitable for the creation of

a reserve has to be identified and delimited
• This requires surveys to collect data on key
species
• Property may have to be expropriated
• A legal framework may need to be set up to
control human activities in the area and in it’s
immediate surroundings
• Policing the area may also be necessary
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Les Ecrins National Park, France

Park
Park

Buffer
zone
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Nature reserves and national parks

• If part of the area has been

degraded due to bad land use it
may need restoring
• Alien species that have penetrated
the area may need excluding or
eliminating
• Constant management will be
needed to maintain the habitat of
the species being conserved
• This may mean arresting natural
succession

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 The advantages of in situ conservation

• The species will have all the

resources that it is adapted too
• The species will continue to
evolve in their environment
• The species have more space
• Bigger breeding populations
can be kept
• It is cheaper to keep an
organism in its natural habitat
Wordpress.com

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Ex situ conservation Captive breeding
• The Hawaiian goose was
practically extinct in the wild
• 12 birds were taken into
captivity
• A population of 9000 was
released back into the wild
• The experiment failed because
the original cause rats had not
been eliminated.
• The rats eat the eggs and the
nestlings of the geese
State Symbols USA

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Ex situ conservation

• Captive breeding of endangered species is a

last resort
• These species have already reached the point
where their populations would not recover in
the wild
• It works well for species that are easily bred
in captivity but more specialised animals are
difficult to keep (aye aye)
• Isolated in captivity they do not evolve with
their environment
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS
 Zoos: The land of the living dead?
• They have a very small gene pool in which to mix their genes
• Inbreeding is a serious problem
• Zoos and parks try to solve this by exchanging specimens or
by artificial insemination where it is possible
• In vitro fertilisation and fostering by a closely related species
has even been tried
(Indian Guar – large species of cattle - cloned)
• Even if it is possible to restore a population in captivity the
natural habitat may have disappeared in the wild
• Species that rely on this much help are often considered to be
“the living dead”

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Zoos: The land of the living dead?
• They have a very small gene pool in which to mix their genes
• Inbreeding is a serious problem
• Zoos and parks try to solve this by exchanging specimens or
by artificial insemination where it is possible
• In vitro fertilisation and fostering by a closely related species
has even been tried
(Indian Guar – large species of cattle - cloned)
• Even if it is possible to restore a population in captivity the
natural habitat may have disappeared in the wild
• Species that rely on this much help are often considered to be
“the living dead”

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 Botanical gardens
• Botanical gardens show the same problems as captive breeding
of animals
• Originally the role of botanical gardens was economic,
pharmaceutical and aesthetic
• There range of species collected was limited
• The distribution of botanical gardens reflects the distribution
of colonial powers
• Most are found in Europe and North America
• But plant diversity is greatest in the tropics

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 International agencies
• CITES
(The Convention in International
Trade in Endangered Species)
• Set up in 1988 to control and
encourage the sustainable
exploitation of species
• The CITES conferences determine the
status of a species and whether or not
its exploitation requires regulation
• Species are placed into different
appendices depending on their status

CITES

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature
formerly World Wildlife Fund)

• Set up in 1961 as a non-

governmental organisation
• Raises funds for conservation
• Lobbies parliaments for
conservation
• Runs education programmes
• Provides advice to government
conservation agencies
• Raises awareness on
conservation issues

WWF

© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
AND TREATIES
• The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro
Earth Summit , was a major United Nations conference held in
Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.
The issues addressed included:
• systematic scrutiny of patterns of production — particularly
the production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline,
or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals
• alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels
which delegates linked to global climate change
• new reliance on public transportation systems in order to
reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health
problems caused by polluted air and smoke
• the growing usage and limited supply of water
Environmental Education (EE) in
Malaysia
• Importance of EE highlighted in the
National Policy on the Environment 2002 –
Green Strategies on ‘Education &
Awareness’
• EE addresses environmental challenges (air
pollution, water pollution, global warming,
littering, etc)
• EE - formal and non-formal
 Environmental Education (EE)
in Malaysia
• Formal Education
– Alam dan Manusia (Man and Environment) was
once incorporated in the Malaysian primary
school curriculum which began in 1982
– EE Across the Curriculum introduced in 1996
– EE is not taught as a single subject but infused in
each subject in schools
 Environmental Education (EE)
in Malaysia
• Formal Education
– In the pre-service teacher education programmes
such as The Malaysian Teaching Diploma
(DPM) and the Post Graduate Diploma in
teaching (KPLI) courses, environmental
education is a compulsory subject
– At the tertiary level, environmental science and
environment-related courses are offered at
degree level by many public universities
 Environmental Education (EE)
in Malaysia
• Non-Formal Education
– Various government organisations and NGOs are
involved in implementing EE
programmes/activities in all states
Tree/Flower Planting
Composting Environmental camp
Talks & Exhibitions
Environmental
Games
Radio talk/quiz
Gotong-
Royong
Sekolah Rakan Alam Sekitar (SERASI)
 General evaluation of overall EE
programmes: EPD
• Responses of EE programmes from target
groups are encouraging
• Co-operation among government agencies,
private sectors & NGOs enhanced
• Increased number of schools/higher
institutions/NGOs applying for
environmental grants
• Increased public awareness on environmental
protection and roles of EPD
 General evaluation of overall EE
programmes: DOE
• Through the implementation of environmental
camps, students’ knowledge on environmental and
pollution issues in Malaysia has increased.
• Invitation to conduct environmental talks has
increased by 100% in 2006 compared to 2003.
• Increased number of grant applications received
from schools to implement EE activities.
 Challenges
• to win broader support for EE
• changing people’s attitude
• generating action for environment
• limited funding
• duplication of activities
• lack of skills
• lack of co-ordination
• evaluation & monitoring