Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

Malaysia has 306 species of wild mammal, more than 742 species of bird, 567 of reptile, 242 of amphibians, more than 449 of fresh- water fish and over 150,000 species of invertebrates [ ] 149 Improving judicial oversight in environmental cases In January 2012, The Honourable Tan Sri Arifin Bin Zakaria, the Chief Justice of Malaysia at the Opening of the Legal Year 2012, stated that Environmental Courts would be established. Within less than a year, a Practice Direction was issued to courts across the country to prioritize environmental cases and to ensure swift adjudication. Under the Practice Direction, almost 38 pieces of legisla- tion will come under the purview of the Environmental Court. Some key legislation together with a number of prescriptions contained within these various Acts over the past decade will now be considered under the jurisdiction of the Envi- ronmental Court : Provisions under the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008, under the auspice of the Envi- ronmental Court, range from offenc- es dealing with import and export permits to possession of scheduled species, and breeding or propagation of scheduled species. The Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, having the most number of provisions under the purview of the Environmental Court, relates to of- fences such as licensing requirements; prohibition of certain acts within wildlife sanctuaries and reserves; hunting; the possessing, dealing or keeping of wildlife without lawful authority; the disturbing of salt licks and various other offences involving cruelty to wildlife. Moreover, Malaysia has developed a number of new national policies pertaining to biodiversity, natural resources and the environment including The National Policy on climate change. This Policy was adopted in 2009 and thereby provided crucial recog- nition of climate change issues at the national level. It serves as the frame- work to mobilize and guide various government agencies, industries and communities, as well as all other stakeholders, towards addressing the challenges of climate change in a concerted and holistic manner. The emphasis placed within the policy is to strengthen the capacity of the country in relation to climate change vulnerability and towards promot- ing various mitigation responses to climate change impacts. The Policy aims to guide climate related responses and seeks to com- pliment all other existing national policies across all sectors. It provides pathways towards integrating climate change aspects. The policy contains a number of key strategic thrusts that guide the national response. Fern fiddlehead Malaysia M alaysia lies entirely within the equatorial zone, and belongs to the Sundaland biogeographical region. The territory covers an area of approximately 33.27 millionha, consisting of Peninsular Malaysia, the states of Sabah and Sarawak in the eastern region and the Federal Territory of Labuan in the north-western coastal area of Borneo Island. The two regions are separated by about 540 km of the South China Sea. Malaysia’s multi-racial and multi ethnic population is estimated at 29.7million as of 2013. Ariff Ateed