Wednesday February 23, 2011
Scientists cannot be greedy when preventing biodiversity loss
By CALVIN YEO
yeop@thestar.com.my
KUCHING: It is the responsibility of scientists to work closely with government bodies and developers on the best way to prevent biodiversity loss due to development.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid said it was for this reason that Unimas completed a multi-disciplinary assessment of Kuching Wetland National Park last year where the data obtained was used to produce a management plan which had been accepted by the state government.
“Gone are the days when as natural historians we could greedily collect and catalogue endless specimens purely for the sake of expanding our knowledge of biodiversity, ” he said at a regional workshop in determining and quantifying threats to coastal cetaceans at Permai Rainforest Resort here yesterday.
His speech was read by his deputy for students affairs Associate Professor Dr Mohd Fadzil Abdul rahman.
Khairuddin said the Sarawak Dolphin Project under Unimas’ Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation (IBEC) and founded in 2008 was taking the similar approach.
“After two years of study aimed at identifying the core habitats and habitat features of the coastal dolphins and porpoises in Sarawak, they are now turning their attention towards means to diagnose and quantify the threats these animals and their habitats face.
“One of the Master’s students will be looking closely at fisheries interactions while the other will be looking at water quality parameters and how these affect dolphin distribution,” he said.
He said the strength of modern times had also made the protection of biodiversity and environment less restricted to only the academic elites.
“Through collaboration with stakeholders, we will be able to design effective conservation and management strategies,” he said.
- Thousands attend Pakatan rally in Malacca
- Cops uncover extortion gang targeting China entreprenuers
- EC: Photograph of ‘blackout’ on polling day was a lie
- Traffic slow heading north
- Barisan mulls name change. Parti 1Malaysia?
- Civil and Syariah laws should be reviewed to prevent child marriage, says Azizah
- Palanivel denies “no contest resolution” allegations
- Idris Jusoh to sue PKR and Rafizi for slander
- Mural proves so popular, owner forced to whitewash it
- MIC is the 'mother party of the Indian community', not Hindraf, says Palanivel
- Malaysian Buddhists celebrate Wesak Day
- Robber shot dead after attacking out-of-uniform cop with meat cleaver
- PKR preparing five-year GE14 'war' plan, says Azmin (updated)
- Tian, Tamrin and Haris released after remand denied (updated)
- Sea lanes, barter trading to be reviewed, says Esscom D-G
- Malaysia tycoon Vincent Tan plans IPO of football club Cardiff City
- Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil
- Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting(Update)
- First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000
- Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
- Markets face rough summer ride as Fed pullback feared
- Wall Street sags, HP hits 52-week high
- Commodities trader sues BP, Shell others for alleged oil price fixing
- Billionaire Icahn seeks up to US$7bil for Dell bid
- Google faces new federal antitrust probe
- Goldman Sachs unveils checks on conflicts in bid to fix tarnished image
- Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
- Maybank bullish on growth, to expand regionally under new leadership
- Khazanah appoints Nor Mohamed deputy chairman
- Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August
- British police arrest two men on diverted Pakistan flight (Updated)
- Britain scrambles fighter jets to escort Pakistani passenger plane
- 5,000 cave paintings discovered in Mexico
- Cars, schools ablaze in fifth night of Stockholm riots
- London's Heathrow airport closed after emergency landing
- Far East quake felt in Moscow, tsunami warning lifted
- Police make new arrests in London soldier killing
- Britain's press demands jailing of Islamist preacher
- Tsunami warning in Russia's Far East after 8.2 quake
- US bridge collapse sends cars, people into river
- Strong quake strikes off Tonga
- Jury fails to decide on US murderer death sentence
- One killed in Brazil giant fuel depot blaze
- British Open: Nicol David deals with disruptions for semi spot
- Kingston leads, McIlroy in Wentworth woe
- LPGA plans 12-hole rounds in water-logged Bahamas
- Ryan Palmer sizzles with 62 to seize lead at Colonial
- Kelly overcomes scare to clinch title in KLGCC
- Time to make amends Garcia wants to meet Woods to defuse racist row
- American Johnson back to defend Colonial crown
- Rain dampens debut of LPGA Bahamas event
- Tianlang adds another US event to schedule
- Clock ticking for next golden generation
- Nadal wants to create history at Roland Garros
- Serena out to tame French Open demons
- Zheng Jie stuns Wozniacki in Brussels
- British Open: Ramy Ashour racks up 38th successive win
- Nicol David sails into quarter-finals of British Open in 35 minutes
- KL car number plates to bear ‘W1A’
- Fernandes does his first firing in Apprentice Asia
- Thousands throng thanksgiving rally by DAP
- DJ stands by hubby in molest case
- Tian, Tamrin and Haris released after remand denied (updated)
- Three held over May 13 statements
- Rally organisers told to adhere to Act or face the music
- Robber shot dead after attacking out-of-uniform cop with meat cleaver
- Rafizi: PKR filing election petition for Balik Pulau parliamentary seat
- Barisan mulls name change. Parti 1Malaysia?
- KL car number plates to bear ‘W1A’
- Air Asia's Tony Fernandes to ‘fire up’ investors
- Singapore GDP growth surprises, beats economists’ forecast of contraction
- Tian, Tamrin and Haris released after remand denied (updated)
- Malaysia leads the way in Basel III debt
- Inventions a-plenty, but no real innovation
- Robber shot dead after attacking out-of-uniform cop with meat cleaver
- Thousands throng thanksgiving rally by DAP
- EC: Photograph of ‘blackout’ on polling day was a lie
- Lafarge Malayan Cement to finalise next expansion plans by August
RSS
