Macaranga Wrap-Up: February 2023

For this month's roundup of environmental news, we're joined by Wong Siew Lyn, the co-founder of environmental journalism portal Macaranga. First, the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad recently proposed increasing the punishment for water pollution from RM100,000 to RM10 million and the maximum jail time from one year to 15 years, or both. Are harsher penalties for water pollution the solution? Then we turn our focus to the Penang Nature-Based Climate Adaptation Programme (PNBCAP), a nature adaptation initiative for the urban areas of Penang, which is being hailed as something that could serve as a model for Malaysian urban areas across the country in fighting climate change. Looking forward, there are several thematic days coming up in March - we give props to two in particular: World Wildlife Day on the 3rd of March, and International Day of Forests, on the 21st of March.

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