Protecting the environment an uphill task

I saw this article titled "10 things to do if I were the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment" and i think that it is very insightful and perhaps if some of the things were to be implemented, it would do the environment more good than harm.

Revenue sharing between federal and state government
I will formulate a scheme that will give the state governments a better slice of government revenue while giving them greater responsibility for caring for the environment.
I will provide performance-linked incentives to the state governments to protect their forests, water catchments, and other natural resources.

Environmental Quality Council
I will revamp and revitalize the Environmental Quality Council. The council, despite being in existence since the enactment of the Environmental Quality Act, 1974, has not made any impact on environmental protection and management. When I say advice, I expect advice at a policy and strategic level, advice on the direction to move forward, advice on how the Department of Environment is doing, and advice on where we are going wrong.

A more visible minister
I will be more visible, more vocal and strive to be the face of the country's environmental management. This sector has a visibility problem. All the key government people keep a low profile. The public has no icon, no champion to look up to.

Better support for NGOs
I realize that many of the effective environmental programmes in this country, particularly those at the community level, have been implemented and funded by NGOs. I will ensure that my ministry appreciates and accepts their independent thinking and constructive criticism.

National transportation policy
I will cajole, and if necessary threaten, my colleague, the Minister of Transport, that the National Transportation Policy should be jointly formulated by three ministries -- my ministry, Transport Ministry and Ministry of Energy, Water and Telecommunications. Transportation has such great impact on the environment and energy use that it cannot be left just to one ministry to decide. I do not want the Transport Ministry to just invite one of my officers to sit in some committee.

National Biological Diversity Policy
I will reformulate the National Biological Diversity Policy. The present policy is outdated, so obscure that almost no one outside my ministry knows it, sets no targets, provides some vague directions and was formulated without serious stakeholder engagement.

Environmental impacts of the Malaysia Development Plans
It is time that we started looking at how our major policies, programmes and plans are affecting the environment. For example, we can't blame a farmer for opening farm land in Cameron Highlands -- our National Agriculture Policy encourages temperate agriculture. We can't blame TNB for building coal-fired power plants -- our Energy Policy explicitly calls for the use of coal.My ministry will study the environmental impacts of the major initiatives under the 9MP so that we can advise the Cabinet appropriately when the 10th Malaysia Plan is drafted in two years' time.

Biofuel
Although the original intentions were noble, viz to produce more environment-friendly fuel and to rely less on fossil fuels, there is now an increasing body of scientific knowledge that there are unintended adverse consequences. Demand for palm oil and other biofuels is now threatening forest land and many important wildlife species, as well as pushing food prices up to the point where they threaten the welfare of millions of people, especially in the Third World. Given the volume of scientific and economic analysis that is emerging, it is just a matter of time before many developed countries change their biofuel policies, almost certainly reducing demand for palm-oil based biofuels. We need to rethink our strategy now

Water resource management
If you look at our rivers, you will know instantly that we have not got it right.
I will push for a re-examination of these shortcomings, streamline the roles and responsibilities of the various agencies, and push for greater responsibility of state governments in water resource management.I will also give emphasis to the many grey areas such as catchment management and protection, sullage discharges, riparian reserves, quality of surface runoff, and protection of river aquatic life.

Environmental awareness and education
I will work with the Education Minister to infuse greater environmental understanding into the school curriculum.While there is some ongoing effort in this respect, this is not enough. We need to nurture teachers who are "environmentally-sensitive" -- hence the need to expand environmental education in teachers' training.

Source : News Sunday Times October 26 2008

Meeting with MENGO.

MENGO which stands for Malaysian Environmental NGO is basically a community of 19 green NGOs formed under the DANIDA-supported (which stands for Danish International Development Assistance) programme for environmental assistance to Malaysia. One of its main causes is to facilitate an effective interaction and provide strategic input to the local government on environmental-related policies.

We met up with Dr. Sundari who is the main coordinator and holds a PhD in Marine Biology (plus a wealth of experience and knowledge on education and research as well) to give us an overview of not just what they do as a unit but also how they are impacting the society indirectly through their involvement in the government's planning process. Aside from that, it was also interesting to note that the members of MENGO come from pretty diverse backgrounds, from technology and development to consumer associations to tree savers to research - all coming together to promote environmental conservation and sustainable living. Shows that perhaps this 'business' is not all about stopping the cutting of trees huh.

It was our first meeting, so the overview opened our research parameters to a lot of possibilities (and work!) and also provided us with an understanding of how MENGO supports the relevant parties and in turn, receives some funding. I think as with the nature of any non-profit organisations, it is rather hard to employ and sustain professionals because they were 'never meant to earn any money'. Is that true at all? It's funny how the society wants the environment to stay clean, safe and ever green, yet when we need money to provide a livelihood for experienced professionals to do just that which is competitive to the business sector, we think of it as greed. To create great, effective and sustainable projects, we must first be able to effectively employ and sustain great minds, no?