PROFESSOR EMERITUS DATUK DR ABDUL LATIFF MOHAMAD

Emeritus Professor at University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Fellow, Academy of Science Malaysia and 2015 Merdeka Award winner for outstanding contribution to the research and understanding of plant taxonomy and conservation biology in Malaysia

REFLECTIONS

Globally, the environment has been put in great peril as the human population keeps on multiplying, the economy continuing in an uncertain pattern while the earth’s natural resources are being steadily depleted. The situation in Malaysia is no exception to that of the global scenario although at a much lower scale, magnitude and impact. In other words, the planet is becoming much too small for the ever-growing population. Humanity will be facing even more serious problems unless they make a conscious and unconventional decision to change their unsustainable way of living.

Over the years, governments and scientists including the public at large have raised greater awareness on the impending environmental issues leading to many steps and actions being put in place — some with success and some failed. In Malaysia biodiversity isn't a new scientific discipline but a neglected one, especially in the last three decades. Though it became very popular locally after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (also known as the Rio Summit) in 1992, and the subsequent conference ten years later in Johanesburg (Rio + 10), the interests and concerns have steadily diminished because of many conflicting messages policy and decision makers sent to the masses including school teachers and researchers in local universities and research institutes.

However, the keystones to biodiversity is taxonomy or systematics — the arts and science of identifying, classifying and naming organisms, the tenets of our biodiversity. In this context the taxonomists are a dying breed because taxonomy is perceived as an uninteresting subject, possibly not scientific.

Malaysia is a megadiverse country with uncountable number of species constituting the various marine and terrestrial ecosystems that all of us treasure as our natural capital, resources and heritage While in many developed countries whose biodiversity — which forms the natural heritage — has been put on the pedestal and made important, it unfortunately takes the back seat here in this nation. I sincerely hope it won’t be the case in the coming years.

HOPES

As we approach the year 2020, my humble hopes for the biodiversity and the environment lies in our efforts to address the sorry state of our reference collections. While we’re deprived of a Natural History Museum to house our natural assets, we should start thinking of housing our plant collections in a National Herbarium and our animal and microbial collections in a National Zoological Museum. Another hope that I harbour in my mind is for the Federal government to start mainstreaming our National Biodiversity Policy to all the stake-holders, namely the state and local governments for they are the rightful custodians of our biodiversity. Without the involvement of the state governments and the private sectors, I believe our natural assets within the changing ecosystems and habitats will be in great jeopardy.